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Hi - this forum has been very helpful for me during my bed shopping troubles. I wanted to post with my experiences in case it would help others. I had made two mistakes on mattress purchases, and both were bought on clearance, non-returnable. The second mattress was way too soft and I was getting neck pain and a pinched nerve which caused my arms to go numb and hands to tingle. It was a Euro top pillow top Sealy. I say "was" because it is not a pillowtop anymore! I decided to take the plunge and remove the pillow top layer. After reading here for a while, I felt pretty sure it was just a single layer of cheap polyurethane foam, laid over the main part of the mattress. Since it was a EuroTop, it was really easy to just cut with scissors along the "wall" of the pillow top section. I cut one side only, plus half of one end. I cut right in the center between the top cord/seam of the pillowtop and also the seam where the pillowtop meets the main bed. I didn't cut both ends and open it like a suitcase, basically just cut the one long side and then a little ways down one end, because I wanted to minimize the damage to the cover. Here is what was AMAZING to me - how effortless it was!! Anyone who has a pillowtop giving them trouble - don't get rid of the bed. This was so easy, and I felt very empowered. I found that the main part of the mattress (under the pillow top layer) had a cover, so I left it sealed up. Then there was a separate compartment where the pillow top foam is, which I had cut open along one side. In the compartment was a single piece of convoluted foam, fairly flimsy. It was attached in 6 places by little pieces of plastic to the main part of the mattress. These are plastic tabs like hold price tags on. I cut the plastic tabs near the edge I'd cut open, then I sort of slid myself in under the cover to reach the tabs in the middle and the back. It stunk a lot in between the layers of foam, very much a suffocating foam odor, and it was hard to breathe. But, it only took a few seconds to cut the plastic tabs. Then the foam layer just slid right out! So simple! I wanted to share this so everyone would know how ridiculously simple it is to remove a flattened down pillow top layer. I might add a latex topper in its place, or I might just use the mattress as it is now. It still has all its foam layers that I didn't dig into, and it has a layer of convoluted foam still bonded to the cover. But the annoying, thick, pillow layer is gone. I did love the softness of that pillow top, but it was causing me too much neck pain. I was thinking I could get sheet suspenders to hold down the one corner of the mattress cover, but the mattress pad holds it in place so I'm not sure it's even needed. |
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Great job and great post! I have been an advocate of mattress surgery for years and it's good to hear another sucess story. I would try it without the pillow top for awhile - at least a month unless it really bothers you. Then if you want to add a pillowtop again I'd recommend 1" or 1.5" (not 2" - buy 1" and then you can add another 1" if necessary) of a very soft latex, maybe 18-20ILD. I think (?) sleeplikeabear has it... I am sleeping on just about 4" of latex toppers over a bowed-wood base and it's working pretty well. I too want to add an inch or so of soft latex on top. |
| Thanks Jim! Your posts are always great and very helpful! |
| If I truly understand your post, you took off the topper? I have been thinking about doing this (vs. getting rid of the brand new bed) and I think you have just "empowered" me to do so. I believe it has created back and neck pain that I have never before experienced. Mine too is a SealyPosturpedic Tahoe Plush Euro Pillowtop. So if I understand correctly, underneath the pillow top is a plain old mattress....??? |
| I also did surgery last year, and I removed all of the cheap foam that Sealy uses and replaced it with 4" of latex and 1" of high density memory foam. It is much better than the Sealy mattress as it was. However, I cut the top completely off, since it had foam imbedded in it. Instead of the top I put 2 mattress pads over it (one cotton filled and one wool filled). With the sheets on, you would never know the difference, except maybe the corners might bulge a little if the foam is not tucked in. |
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vickim wrote: If I truly understand your post, you took off the topper? I have been thinking about doing this (vs. getting rid of the brand new bed) and I think you have just "empowered" me to do so. I believe it has created back and neck pain that I have never before experienced. Mine too is a SealyPosturpedic Tahoe Plush Euro Pillowtop. So if I understand correctly, underneath the pillow top is a plain old mattress....??? |
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Welcome to the sisterhood! I too have done some surgeries. After the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on (Kingsdown) started to flatten after about 5 years, and with no chance of activating the ten year warranty, I started out with simple, let's call them, exploratory surgeries. Those led to some major 'transplants' . I learned a lot about mattress construction. Several years and beds later, I am of the notion that all pillowtops/pads (the part that keeps you from contacting the springs) should be designed to be removeable. Using zippers, buttons, the price tag like plastic 'stays', whatever means needed. Not only does this make your bedding at least dry cleanable, but there is a huge green element to this if people aren't discarding mattresses because the pillowtops have prematurely worn out. In the end, if you purchase a moderately decent mattress, the springs will last for the manufacturer's warranty period or longer. But the pillow top won't. And who's body doesn't change in even a five year period? The pillowtop in your twenties may not meet your sleeping requirements in your thirties. The manufacturer that re-designs mattresses to accomodate a removable pillowtop will win multiple sales from me. Having said all that, I think the mattress companies have considered this, but have chosen not to design beds this way. Most likely it impacts their profits. I also believe that so much of the inconsistencies that people find between the bed they tried on the showroom floor and the bed that is delivered to them is because the materials may change depending on who manufactures the bed. That is something a mattress company would not want you to learn by being able to access a cross section of a pillowtop. |