Mattress Forum

Dewey made an interesting point about the potential for condensation to occur when a warm foam mattress meets a cool piece of wood. This is more likely to happen in humid climates than in arid ones. If you're still set on using a sheet of plywood or MDF however, it would probably be a good idea to cover the wood by slipping a mattress pad, sheet or bed skirt over it to keep the mattress from resting directly on the wood.

From experience I wouldn't recommend placing a foam mattress--especially a Talalay latex mattress on an box spring. This makes the mattress way too bouncy--and Talalay is bouncy enough all by itself. Years ago latex mattresses came with box springs--but they were Dunlop latex, which is less bouncy, and only about 5 1/2" thick. A box spring foundation just makes today's 9-12"  latex mattresses hammock. Memory foam mattresses should always be placed on a solid foundation. I think Tempurpedic tells you the warranty is void if the mattress is placed on anything else.

I will not be changing my mattress setup from being on the smooth box type foundation that I am currently using. There's no other foundation that makes more sense to me for a latex mattress.  This setup does have some breathability. The *theory* that condensation can occur if a latex mattress is placed on a flat surface seems very plausible; but I think in the real world, not very probable.  I have studied the latex mattress topic with a passion the last 8 mos and have never heard or read of this situation where someone's latex mattress developed mold from sitting on a flat surface due to condensation. That's not to say I couldn't have my mind changed....  This is just the opinion of a layman who has good intuition and common sense, but is not an expert. Just a user.

Placing a latex mattress on a regular box spring also does not make good sense to me. Too much variability in what you might get out of it. Too springy, not enough, too soft or hard in different places, noisy, etc, etc....