Mattress Forum

I’ve been reading and researching mattress purchases and have found this Forum to be extremely helpful.  The more I read, however, the less certain I get.  We have a 16-year-old King Koil queen innerspring mattress on a solid platform bed.  Within the last year or so I have been less and less comfortable on it.  I feel like I can feel the springs, although nothing seems broken.  No depressions, lumps or anything like that.  It’s all muscular, but I wake up achy.  .  My husband was also uncomfortable but last year we got a wool topper and he is now content.  He is willing to buy a new mattress to improve my comfort, however, so I started my research.  I quickly decided I wanted a latex bed.  No memory foam as I have the pillow and find it is too hot for me.  I also don’t really like the feel, at least not in a mattress.  Discussions of body impressions associated with pillowtops quickly led me to decide to stay away from another innerspring.  My early readings led me to the Sealy Springfree line.  We’ve tried those at the store and I liked the plush (Beachside) and my husband was ok with it but preferred the firm (Weybridge).  As I’ve read more however, I realize the polyurethane foam may not give the long life we want from a $1400+ purchase and that the Sealy line includes 1.5 (Weybridge) or 3” (Beachside) of polyurethane foam as the top layers.

So then I began looking at the kit options, focusing on SleepEZ and Flobed blended Talaly latex options.  We’re somewhat nervous about purchasing sight unseen, but the exchange options help us feel somewhat better about it.

My husband is 5’10” and 145 pounds and sleeps primarily on his side, although sometimes on his back.  I’m 5’5” and range between 150 to 160 pounds depending on the success of my exercise/eating program, sleep primarily on my back, but often switch to my side.  I like a softer feel, but don’t like to sink into the mattress the way some of the pillowtops work.  My husband prefers a firmer feel.  The kit seems like the good approach, although we’re not sure all the fussing with layers is for us (read: husband may not have the patience for it).

I just found the old forums and now see that in some situations people recommend just buying a topper to put over the old mattress if it’s still in good condition.  Now I’m wondering if we should try that.  I’m not sure if our differing preferences make the topper approach impractical.  My husband is very concerned about his hips/rear end sinking down into the mattress, which he experienced on some of the more plush store models he tried.

With all of that background, here are my specific questions, although if you have other advice I welcome it.  Thanks for your time and thoughts.

1. Based on our situation are there any options any of you would warn us away from?  Any sure fire winners?  If the latex topper approach seems like a good one, is there anyone that makes a blended Talaly topper?
2. I see some discussion of the value of a convoluted latex topper (Flobed) versus plain latex core top layer (SleepEZ).  While I see that some feel it’s too soft, is there any value in having a top layer that covers the whole bed so you don’t feel the split bottom layers?  Shawn at SleepEZ says he’s never had anyone report that as a problem.  (Visions of 2 twin beds pushed together at my parent’s house haunt us!)  Is there anyone who likes the convoluted latex layer as a topper?