Mattress Forum

Be sure to keep us posted for when it comes and you get it set up, your impressions, sleep experience, etc.

Edit - just looked through another post and see you generally weigh over 200 lbs.  I'm pretty sure you'll find you don't get enough support with that configuration.  I weigh somewhat more than you, but on my daughter's bed, I have no real support.  My guess is that after trying out this initial configuration, you'll want to move to some firmer layers, at least on your side of the mattress.

This is my only real complaint about Sleepez, I feel they tend to recommend soft bed configurations, and do not really understand that heavier people need addtional support.

However, I hope you find the bed you ordered pleasing, and it might be right for you.  And if it isn't, yay for layer exchanges.

I discussed that with Shawn and he suggested we try the soft on top because my wife has pressure in her hip and myself in my shoulder. Also that if I didn't find that supportive enough to reverse the M & F on my side as a first step, then to switch to S/F/F on my side and S/M/M on my wife's as a second step (she weighs 130lb)... then of course if layers need to be exchanged, so be it.

After talking to Shawn I can see what they recommend this config frequently for semi-average weight people. For someone new to latex there is no way of knowing what is going to work until the individual sleeps on it and this setup provides a good baseline for figuring that out as there are a lot of options possible. Then if necessary, specialized configs can be zeroed-in-on through experience & layer exchanges.

I think you'll find that latex does a great job on pressure points.  I've never had shoulder pain, but I had terrible lower back issues (well, still do) and hip pain/burning/numbness.  Sleeping on my old mattress was an agony.

Even with the three 36 ILD layers and the convoluted topper, I no longer have the hip pain/burning/numbness issues, and my back issues are a lot better (well, better at night, still horrific during the day).

Looking forward to hearing your report on the mattress.

Unfortunately everthing is still encased tightly in their shipping cocoons and has not been set up yet due to lack of a bed frame.

A trip to Ikea this evening should resolve that and hopefully I'll have more of a report (with pics) this weekend.

The real drama of the day revolved around my wife finally finding a bed frame that she liked and having it arrive damaged. Rather than return it and set this process back another week or 2, I chose to repair the bed myself and swap out the damaged part once the replacement arrives.

We chose the Ikea Sultan Laxeby as our slatted base. As I posted in another thread, I still don't quite understand the logic behind the adjustable tension slats in the shoulder and hip zones. I still chose this one because it is far and away the best base Ikea sells and one of the better designs I have come across for the money.

During my research, I read over and over again that the Laxeby was a nightmare to assemble so I can't complain as I knew what I was getting myself in to.... but it is a nightmare to assemble. Not really physically difficult, just extremely tedious and time consuming.

It seems like a good base though, with plenty of strong, springy slats to provide support.

Once the base was assembled, the mattress was a breeze. I wont go into a bunch of detail as to the process as it has been covered many times and is very simple.

The Packaging:  The product is folded and wrapped in black plastic and vacuum packed into clear plastic cocoons with each end taped shut. These cocoons are shipped in heavy duty boxes with some serious stapling to keep them shut... very solid. I appreciate that the boxes have handle holes punched in them... It makes them much easier to move.

The Cover:  We received the organic cotton and wool cover and it is very nice. Not what I would call "plush", but very well made with a nice layer of wool padding that does not completely isolate you from your latex with a lot of fluff. The fabric has no sheen to it at all and looks and feels very raw and natural. The zipper seems very rugged and has a handle that is very easy to grasp.

The Latex:  We went with the split king (S/M/F on both sides) and received 6 pieces of clean, beautiful latex, each with a SleepEZ label in the corner clearly showing the firmness. No stains, no tears... very nice.

Comfort:  We have had 2 nights sleep on the new mattress. I am 5'8" / 220lb,  wife is 5'5" / 130lb.   As he apparently does so often, Shawn at SleepEZ recommended S/M/F on both sides to start so that is how we set it up. We are new to latex and I expected this setup to be very soft... probably too soft for me. It feels firmer than I expected it to, to be honest.

It does feel very different than what we are used to. It is comfortable to lay on, but I have done some tossing and turning the last couple of nights due to the unfamiliar feel more than anything, the wife is sleeping like a baby. Neither of us have woken with any pressure point or back pain with this arrangement yet so we're going to give it at least a week or 2 before deeming it "good" or making any adjustments.

I'm pretty pleased so far!

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I find the jiggly nature of latex, especially talalay.. to be somewhat unsettling to sleep on.  It feels unsecure and I suspect that may bother my subconscious.   A while back I was comparing a 2 inch piece of talalay from rockymountainmattress to a 2 inch piece from FBM that I think might have been dunlop.. though they sold as "talalay".  Much firmer, did not have the jiggle.  I preferred the dunlop feel, but have needed softer feel than you can get in dunlop...

But I digress.  I now find that a just one inch 4 lb density memory foam from overstock.com on top of multiple layers of latex both gives some soft conform to my side sleeping boney frame .. but also kills the jiggle feel.

I, too, am heat sensitive, and one inch of mem foam is not enough to create the heat problem normally associated with thicker memory foam.

Here it is:

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Comfort-Dreams-Enviro-Green-Memory-Foam-1-inch-Mattress-Topper/3657732/product.html

Good luck!

shovel99

I agree that a little memory foam can reduce the jiggly feel.  I also think it is something you get use to.  When I first tried a Flobed I found it a bit unsettling, but I got use to it after a while. 

I will probably convert these zones into regular non-adjustable single slats and if anything add a 6 or 7 slat adjustable zone in the lumbar area, though I'm not sure it's going to be necessary.

My third night was about the same, sleep wise. A little restless and sensitive to the springy (not really jiggly to me) feel, but my body is not complaining upon waking and I feel better rested than I have in a while so something is working here.

As of right now I think I would like to add a thin super-soft plush layer to the top just for the feel, not sure if it would be visco, latex or something else.

I will also need to add a protector eventually but for now I am keeping it as-is for a week or two to adjust before I change the mattress.

Thanks for the advice so far!

Ganderson,

How easy would it be to convert adjustable double slats into single ones, or to rearrange position of the double slats in this Laxeby base? I'm seriously considering this base, but just like you, I'm confused about location of those adjustable slats.

I haven't done it yet but it shouldn't be difficult.

The only difference between where the double and single slats are located is that the center ribbon has a slightly larger slot to accomodate the double slat.

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You should be able to thread a single slat through the double slat slot or run the 2nd slat under the ribbon if a double wont fit through the single slot.

I think I'm going to make one side softer and one side firmer in the next few days just to see if we might be missing something that might be even better.

One thing I would like is a more soft, plush feel on the top surface that doesn't affect the support.

I may try Shovel99's suggestion of adding 1" of visco once we get the Dormeir protector in place.

I have been sleeping on my all latex mattress for 9 months and recently decided to try 1 inch of memory foam on top.  Right now I have 3 inches of 24-28 ILD all Natural talalay as my top layer and find it is "pushing back" just a little more than I would like.  I've ordered 1 inch of Sensus from Overstock but it has not arrived yet.   I'll let you know how it changes the feel of the mattress as soon as possible.

Please do Mark, I am very interested to hear what you think.

"Pushing Back" is a good description for it.

It's a very lively, active, taut surface feel that provides terrific support but lacks a relaxing, plush quality.

It's hard to describe.

That is what I did not like about all latex as well.  Some memory foam on top does help.  The problem is that it is hard to find the ideal memory foam especially in 1" increments. 

I am interested in your set up as I am pretty close to ordering something similar to yours ... I am thinking of going with the Flobeds VZone king bed with a regular slat base from Ikea.

I was at an Ikea in Toronto, ON and walked by someone who said the Laxenby frame fell apart on him ... is it sturdy?

Perhaps also you might find less jiggle if you use a regular slat base ...

It seems sturdy to me. If assembled properly I'm not sure what would fall apart.

Ikea products are kind of funny that way... you can find someone somewhere who has had pretty much every Ikea product ever made "fall apart" on them.

I think this is the nature of assemble-it-yourself furniture combined with the sheer volume of Ikea products sold in general.

The Ikea bed my wife wanted was out of stock when I went to buy it so she went shopping at local furniture stores. She found one she liked at a "real" furniture store that was about 3X as expensive as the Ikea bed. When it arrived, the footboard was coming apart apart because it wasn't glued properly. I have yet to have an Ikea item be defective or fail like that but it can happen.

A regular "solid" slat base might indeed be less springy but I like the additional give that the bowed slats provide. When I reduced the tension on the adjustable slats their was a noticable difference in the pressure in the hip and shoulder areas.

Also, the Laxeby was the only model that had the slats captured on the ends by rubber cups so they cannot slip off of the frame.

Without disassembling, I slid the shorter bottom slat out from each position and pushed the sliding adjusters over the rubber end cups to secure them.

Since the loops in the center ribbon are larger in these locations these slats are now have more play and freedom of movement not being as tightly "tied" to the surrounding slats.

I haven't seen a problem with this in the last couple of nights and there is noticably more give in the shoulder and hip zones than with the double slats in place... so that is good.

I am holding off on the Dormeir protector for now and added a pad from Ikea as a layer of protection. It is the Ikea SKYDDA MJUK with their version of a Coolmax-like temperature-regulating liner. It is pretty nice and the temp regulating action works pretty well. I actually woke up last night due to the unfamiliar feeling of lying on an unusually cool feeling surface... neat. Another thing I like is that the pad only covers the top surface and is secured by really stretchy elastic straps on the corners. It seems a little cheesy until you realize that because it doesn't stretch over the sides and wrap under the mattress, it doesn't add any tension (snare drum effect) to the top surface.

In my first attempt at adding a plusher top surface I have ordered the Costco Cuddlebed since it is inexpensive and I can return it locally if it doesn't work out.