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The mattress and topper finally arrived here from Michigan on Wed, Nov 26th. We could not set it up until Fri as that is when the old bed was going to be picked up by JCPenneys. So it took 9 days from order to delivery; Michigan to Oregon. FBM did send out a UPS tracking number as soon as it was sent. As you can see by the pictures, it was packed up very well and although the boxes look a little ragged, it was well packed inside with several layers of plastic. On Friday morning, I went and picked up the two king foundation pieces from the local furniture store and then waited for the shippers to come and pick the old bed up. They arrived just after noon, and took the so-called "green" Simmons mattress and foundation set away, so we were able to then go ahead and set up the new king size latex mattress set. To call that mattress "green" is really stretching the core of the English language, but I guess they have a right to do it.
This message was modified Dec 27, 2008 by BillB
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Hi Leo, good to see you're still with us. I haven't seen any posts from you in awhile so I thought you'd solved your problem. Sorry to hear you're still having problems getting comfortable. I took my mattress apart in stages and I'm still tweaking the rebuild. I'll have more to say about it in awhile. Basically I removed 2 1/2 inches of extremely soft, squishy convoluted toam from the quilting. This made the bed feel quite firm. Hard in fact, but still not really supportive. This is my big issue with this mattress and I'm not sure whether my back just doesn't like sleeping on foam--even firm foam, or whether the spring unit in these no-flip--no box spring mattresses are just not as rigid as the spring units in the old flippable mattresses. OR it could be that replacing 2 1/2" of soft foam with a featherbed topped by 1" of MF is still undermining support. It's actually quite frustrating because tearing the bed apart and remaking it all the time is-- well you know--a pain in the patooty. Anyway, I got the featherbed at Kohl's. They had it for an unbeatable price on Black Friday and I thought if I was going to try it now would be a very good time. As featherbeds go it's pretty firm--which is what I wanted, but after a few nights I had to put the carpeting back on because apparently it isn't firm enough, or as compressed enough as the old feather pillow I'd been sleeping on. Overall I like the feel of the featherbed better than the soft foam that was sewn into the quilting , but I'm not sure that I've really improved anything as far as my back is concerned. It still hurts! The full report--with pictures will follow. |
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Hi Cloud9,<BR><BR>What brand of featherbed is it? Pacific Coast? Is it sewn in single rows without stitching between? That is what I have. I loved it EXCEPT the feathers wouldn't stay in place. I had to fluff it every day! It was exhausting to do that every day.<BR><BR>Yes, I know what a pain in the XXX it is to change out the layers in the bed all the time. That is why I have left it alone for 4 months or so.<BR><BR>I think you need more padding! But you always said you like firm. But what you have right now isn't enough (in my opinion). Thank God my back is good. So I just have issues with the legs having pressure and shoulders. I end up sleeping on my back, which I don't like. I may have too much padding. EXCEPT my shoulders needs lots of padding.<BR><BR>As for the springs you have I have no clue. The non-flippable mattresses are not the same. Take pics of the old padding, I want to see what was in there before.<BR><BR>I wonder if there is a 100% solution to a comfortable bed...... Good luck Cloud9, look forward to pics...<BR><BR> This message was modified Dec 14, 2008 by Leo3
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I have been away at a training and also have been very busy at work lately.... Just wanted to give a brief update, more to come in the next week or so when I get a chance to catch my breath. We put the Costco Cuddle bed mattress pad on just after Thanksgiving and it has helped my wife's pressue points in her shoulder area, without making it too soft for me. So we have the 6" med core, 2" soft topper, with FBM's terry cover, then the 2" Fiber-filled Costco Cuddle bed pad. For me, sleeping on my stomach it is just a touch soft but I haven't had any back pain and don't think I will. It is perfect for both of us sleeping on our side. For anyone that weighed substantially more than me (155lbs), I would recomend the firm 6" core piece. I really like how many new posters there are on this thread. I would say to them that, yes you can! Be sure to read many posts on here before you buy and try your darndest to go out and find some actual latex to lay on and not the S brand's latex with their 8" of fluff on top of the latex but the actual real stuff. It is out there. Try to get the feel of what you need for your particular situation. Do you like a firm or medium bed? How much do you weigh? Do you sleep on your side, stomach or back? Look for posts that address these issues and try to find someone who has a similar situation to yours and see what they did. Cloud9 - About the posting of pictures.... First, if you use Windows XP, go and get the Microsoft picture resizer (google this). It will take the pictures that our current digitals are taking and turn them from 2 mb into 50 kb size without a big loss in clarity. This is a must if you are posting a bunch of pictures. You don't want to put 2 or 3 mb pictures up on webpages. So take all your pictures and then resize them down to under 100kb. Then find one of the numerous websites that freely host pictures and figure out how to upload your pictures to the site. I used imageshack.us to host mine, it is free and works well. There are many others. When you upload the pictures, you will get a web address for the picture, and then you will insert this into your post using the "insert/edit image" button on the editor toolbar. I had a little trouble getting the address right as there are a few possibilites depending on where you are going to post your pictures. Sager noticed my frustration and gave me a hand. Try it and see what happens. You'll figure it out. More pictures to come as I noticed I don't have the final shots of the mattress or the Cuddle bed pad. Bill |
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Thanks for the update Bill! I went ahead and ordered the 2" medium latex topper from foam by mail to start with and if all goes well, I hope to order the 6" firm latex core from there. Hubby and I are heavier, so it seems like that's the general firmness advice for that issue. The thing I'm still overthinking is the configuration. Looking at Flobeds and Sleep EZ, they tend to have more layers. Is that primarily for flexibility in firmness b/c you can switch them out? I'm having a difficult time finding smaller 2-3" layers in the firmer range:most are medium-soft, so a firm configuration seems best accomplished by the 6" core from FBM (and cheaper) Do most of you feel the quality of FBM is comparable to online merchants like Flobeds? Do they just order from a general source as well, or make their own? I look at the online companies and it looks like they basically DIY, so I think I can do it, but it sounds weird to say "I'm making my own mattress" out loud. I had no idea that a google search for latex mattresses would lead to this...... Thanks for the encouragement and feedback. |
| Bill, thanks for the info on including pictures. I think I can handle it. It's kind of like building a web page. I'm still messing around with my mattress configuration. It can take a few days before I know if something is working or not. Haven't found the winning combination yet. |
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Any updates on the mattress, Bill? Still comfortable? I think there are quite a few of us who are waiting for your final opinion(s) before pulling the trigger on our own DIY beds... |
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Ok, I did it. I just made my own mattress-similar to Bill's. We ordered the 2 in latex medium topper from FBM and used that on top of old mattress to sample. Then I ordered a 6 in latex firm core from FBM with upgrade to terrycloth cover b/c they assured me it would fit the core and topper both-it has zipper all around. Hubby is CHEAP (hence the DIY plan) so we're trying to re-use our spring foundation. It has slats on the bottom and our bed frame has 6 legs instead of 4 (center support for queen). We flipped the foundation over so slats were bedside up. Then hubby went and got 2 pieces of plywood to go on either side of center support and make a seamless layer. I put a fitted sheet on top to protect mattress from the wood. When we opened the core (on foundation as Bill suggested), it was already in the terry cover, so I opened one side and slid the topper in on top of the core and zipped the whole thing shut. We're just using current mattress cover for now, but if we need more fluff, we'll get Cuddlebed. FYI-I think the latex smells when you first sleep on it. So if you are ordering some, be ready for that. Also, FBM does a crummy job of packing. It's tightly sealed in several layers of plastic and vacuum packed, but the boxes were torn with each shipment. Does anyone have reason current foundation plan will be disastrous? I know the slatted ones are around $200, so it's not cost prohibitive, but cheapskate prohibitive. LOL Will give you update on comfort after a few nights sleep. Hubby can't stop guffawing over fact that I made my own mattress. |
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Very nice post, Bill. I would only add that if I were going to do a similar project, I would probably buy each side seperately - instead of one big latex medium core, I'd buy 2 extra long twin cores, one medium and one medium firm. The same with the toppers : one extra long twin medium and one twin extra long softer topper. That way I could change it up a bit and if one side is definitely better for either partner, one can change it up. For a more radical and adjustable approach, one can also divide each extra long twin up into 3 parts, divided equally length-wise and instead of a 6" core, get 2 x 3" cores. With 3 different ILD's: very firm, firm and medium, one can then make the same bed in the same way as Bill's photos, but with a compartmentalized and adjustable method - adjusting each side individually for the top, midsection and lower section of each side. This is what I have done, only with HD foam (10 year warranty high-quality foam) instead of latex (I do not like the feel of latex). The individual pieces butt up against each other very easily and do not move around. We put a fitted sheet over the whole deal to kind of hold it together, then the cuddlebed topper over that, then an extra sheet to protect the cuddlebed topper, and voila! |
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Bill (and other sleep gurus), I'm about to do the same as you did, but my wife is a little afraid of the DIY approach (I'm very, very competent at DIY). All of my figures come from Foam By Mail. I probably won't consider another supplier. They did, BTW, tell me over the phone that this was not chinese latex, if that makes a difference, and that it was 100% natural Talalay. I did want to try the 2 twins, instead of 1 king (mainly to give her more options), but worry about the extra 2" in width. If its an issue, can I shave an inch off each side myself (our bed frame has an inset at the corners 77" wide max)? I'm a stomach sleeper about 180 lbs. She's a side mainly, about 130 lbs, and she likes the top soft and "luxurious". I figured a firm 36 ILD and medium 29 ILD base, for me and her respectively, than a firm 32 and soft 20 topper (his-hers). I thought of the 3" toppers just because it seemed she always gravitates to the thick pillow tops when we shop, and I still shouldn't sink much with the 3" 32 ILD topper. If I felt my side was too firm (which I doubt), I could exchange just my topper for a soft at minimal shipping expense. The Costco cuddletop sounds good too. Anyone have any words of wisdom? 3" too overkill for a topper? 36 ILD base and 32 ILD topper too firm in general even for me (I like soft too, but firm keeps my face from sinking in). It does seem like the FBM toppers, at 20, are still firmer than most (and I hear you when you say numbers don't tell the whole story, but I have to start somewhere). If I had to buy just one king, I would get the firm 36 base and soft 20 ILD 3" topper for both of us. I know she'd like the topper, I just worry if the base would be too firm...but would the 3" make up the difference for her? FBM says I worry too much, and there isn't much difference between the medium and firm base feel (29 vs 36) yet Bill says get the firm base at my weight, and that his wife felt too firm at the shoulder with the medium 29 ILD base and 2" soft 20 top...would the extra inch of a 3" soft top have helped her (and my Pam) even if I get the firmer base? Also, do you think the 3" topper would also fit in the terrycloth cover? |
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jeffandpamsmith wrote: Anyone have any words of wisdom? 3" too overkill for a topper? 36 ILD base and 32 ILD topper too firm in general even for me (I like soft too, but firm keeps my face from sinking in). It does seem like the FBM toppers, at 20, are still firmer than most (and I hear you when you say numbers don't tell the whole story, but I have to start somewhere). If I had to buy just one king, I would get the firm 36 base and soft 20 ILD 3" topper for both of us. I know she'd like the topper, I just worry if the base would be too firm...but would the 3" make up the difference for her? FBM says I worry too much, and there isn't much difference between the medium and firm base feel (29 vs 36) yet Bill says get the firm base at my weight, and that his wife felt too firm at the shoulder with the medium 29 ILD base and 2" soft 20 top...would the extra inch of a 3" soft top have helped her (and my Pam) even if I get the firmer base? Also, do you think the 3" topper would also fit in the terrycloth cover?
Let us know what you end up with and how you both like it, |