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Background: My wife and I bought a Cal King Tempurpedic mattress 6 years ago. I took some getting used to but seemed like we were sleeping well the last few years. Lately we both wake up sore and I have back problems. It seems that the mattress is too FIRM. We both wake up with sore hips, back, ribs and shoulders. I am 6'4" and weigh 210 lbs. and she is 5'9" and weighs 135 lbs. (she might kill me for that). I'm a side sleeper and she is a side and back sleeper. It seems as if the way to build a good mattress is to use correct layering. Since we have a FIRM foundation, would a softer latex topper make us more comfortable? I hate to get rid of the tempur mattress because it is still in great condition and we have a lot of money invested in it (can you really invest money in a mattress? seems like a poor choice of words). If a topper would help, what thickness and ILD would we need to look at? Also, store recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for you time! |
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cfulmer wrote: Background: My wife and I bought a Cal King Tempurpedic mattress 6 years ago. I took some getting used to but seemed like we were sleeping well the last few years. Lately we both wake up sore and I have back problems. It seems that the mattress is too FIRM. We both wake up with sore hips, back, ribs and shoulders. I am 6'4" and weigh 210 lbs. and she is 5'9" and weighs 135 lbs. (she might kill me for that). I'm a side sleeper and she is a side and back sleeper. It seems as if the way to build a good mattress is to use correct layering. Since we have a FIRM foundation, would a softer latex topper make us more comfortable? I hate to get rid of the tempur mattress because it is still in great condition and we have a lot of money invested in it (can you really invest money in a mattress? seems like a poor choice of words). If a topper would help, what thickness and ILD would we need to look at? Also, store recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for you time! This is a difficult question to answer as I have never heard of anyone saying memory foam or Tempurpedic foam got FIRMER over time; usually it's the other way around! My guess is (?) that it is not getting firmer, but rather you are sinking down to the core now so THAT makes it feel firmer. Maybe? And my guess would be that putting latex on top of it will only hurt your back more because you are not getting support from the Tempurpedic. Again this is just my take on it from having slept on one for awhile and from having used many memory foams in many DIY mattresses. My guess is that your T Foam has crapped out, unfortunately. I know you hate to hear that, and hey, I might be wrong. Let's see if anyone else chimes in. |
| Thanks for the reply jimsocal. I don't think the mattress has gotten firmer, I think my wife and I have gotten softer in the last few years. The mattress still feels the same way it did when we bought it, but we have always struggled with it being too firm. When we were in our late 20s, I guess it didn't bother us that bad. But now that we're in our mid 30s, it's taking a toll on us. It might be that it has lost it's support, it just doesn't feel that way. It just feels firm. Again, thanks for your input. |
| im going to recommend something to you that I would recommend to my own customers. and it might potentially help with additional pressure relief. Try a pure wool filled topper on your mattress, Natura makes one called a "Classic Comfort Plus" that is reasonably priced. The thing we found with these toppers is that they actually do not seem to interfere with the feeling of the Tempur material, but they just make the initial feeling of the mattress a lot more pliable and inviting. Wool is also a proven pressure relieving material, so if your mattress is too firm I would say try this first. I have actually had a lot of people like these so much in the store they buy them with their Tempur when its brand new to make it more comfortable. If it isn't enough to do the trick than realistically this mattress may not be the right one for you. I just personally think trying to add a foam topper to this mattress is going to interfere too much with the feel and will only add a limited amount of plushness to the top. |
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A little more info: My wife and I just inspected our mattress. We were always under the impression that it was visco foam from top to bottom. Now I see that it is a 5 inch base layer of firm eggcrate-type foam covered by a 3 inch visco topper. We turned the mattress around and it does appear like the area where we have slept for the last 5 years has indentations and doesn't feel as spongy and resilient. jimsocal may be right in that we may be sinking through the top layer and hitting the firm bottom layer and that is where the firmness is coming from. With this information, would it make sense to buy a 2 inch firm foam piece to place under the visco layer? Or maybe a new foam topper? |
| sounds like you have a classic. maybe in this case a small 1" topper would work for you. the problem with these mattresses is with a limited amount of tempur material on top is not enough to distribute your weight over a wide area on the base foam and the base foam can actually wear out. |
| Personally, I don't see how a 1" topper over this mattress will help at all. I had a Sealey Truform (Tempurpedic copy) and it felt great the first 6 months, then like you I sank in I ached from top to bottom. I flipped the mattress over, and tried the foam only with latex toppers, featherbeds, you name I tried it. It didn't work. |
You are lucky it lasted 6 years in my humble opinion that is 5 1/2 years more than I got out of my Sealy. |
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Hi cfulmer, I have a question for you. When you first go to bed are you comfortable for the first hour or few hours, then wake feeling as if you are sleeping on a hard surface? I'm asking because I have a TP Cloud Supreme which has 2" of 4.1lb comfort foam, over 2" of 5.3lb support foam, then the two air Airflow base layers one 3" and one 4", (egg crate type foam you speak of). So basically 4" of foam over 7" egg crate. The bed is so soft and comfy when I go to sleep, but I wake a few hours later with severe pressure points on hips and shoulders and feel the bed has "bottomed out". This has been my experience since I've owned it (going on three months). Which model do you have? I've tried putting a 2" plush fiberfilled mattress pad on the bed, which only made it firmer/ harder. IMHO if you want to keep the bed (they ARE a huge investment), budgy's suggestion of using the wool topper, that doesn't interfere with temperature transfer, is definitely worth trying. If I knew I was going to keep my TP, I would get one. A fast search on Google for "Natura Classic Comfort Plus" shows a CA King size sells for approx. 389.95, though you may find it cheaper.  Best of luck, Natalie This message was modified Feb 21, 2010 by Natalia
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| No you weren't asking me, but I too have the first few hours sleeping on my side the hips are fine. Then 2-3 hours later I wake up form the worse pain in my hips. Apparently I sink in further. I have 4" of latex over spring mattress. So it isn't just isolated to memory foam and/or foam.......I think it is just too soft. |
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Thanks for all the replies. It is 6 years old so I assume it is the Tempur classic. It's 8 inches in total depth: 5 inch foam with 3 inch visco foam over the top. Some nights it seems fine when we lay down, but other nights it seems too firm. My thinking on adding a topper was to keep the body heat from warming up the visco foam, thereby making it firmer/adding more support. This message was modified Feb 21, 2010 by cfulmer
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Leo3 wrote: No you weren't asking me, but I too have the first few hours sleeping on my side the hips are fine. Then 2-3 hours later I wake up form the worse pain in my hips. Apparently I sink in further. I have 4" of latex over spring mattress. So it isn't just isolated to memory foam and/or foam.......I think it is just too soft. Oh Leo, I feel your pain  . The hips are killer! I'm hoping I'll have Kimberly's luck with the Flobed. Best to you, Natalie |
| I was thinking, if the problem with my mattress is bottoming out on the firm base layer, couldn't I place a medium firmness middle layer in there? That way I would have the 5" firm base foam, followed by 2 or 3 inches of medium firmness latex?, followed by 3 inches of the soft visco Tempur material. I could even add a cotton fabric topper for extra plushness on top. What do you think? |
| Does anyone have experience with this type of layering? |
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I have no experience, but I did find a site that says they are authorized to customize Tempur-pedic mattress. http://www.artisansmattress.com/. I don't know if the site is still active (some of the links don't work), but here is their email: 411@ArtisansMattress.com Maybe they can help? Best to you, Natalie |
| Thanks for all the replies. I went ahead and ordered a Flobed today. My wife and I are very excited and ready for it to arrive. We can't take one more night of the back-breaking unsleep we are getting. I feel confident we made the right decision after talking with Dave Turner today on the phone. He seems like a stand-up guy with a reputable business. I know he'll do his best to make sure we have the perfect mattress. |
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Congrats! I'm just taking a break from laying the Flobed layers.... so far so good (finger's crossed). |