Flexible slat foundations
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This is going to start out as a smattering of links and quotes and pictures that I'm pasting in as I find them. LINK: The premium foundation for the natural rubber mattress is the Flexible Slat Foundation, with thinner slats than the basic foundation. This slat system allows airflow on the underside of your mattress. The manufacturer covers the sides of this foundation with organic quilted cotton and wool to match the mattress.  LINK: A Euro slat foundation bed is a bed that uses wooden slats, rather than a traditional foundation to support a mattress. The Swiss invented this system 50 years ago over the years in Europe the technology has advanced significantly making it the most used sleeping system in the continent. European Sleep Design Slat suspensions provide independent support, with no sag or roll-together. The suspension system can be tuned to match each individual's body contour and ease pressure points. With its adjustable support, a slat suspension provides the optimum contour according to your comfort preference. The slats' give and rotation constantly respond to the shifting planes of your body. And the slat settings can be modified to accommodate changing body needs or comfort preferences over time. Each side adjusts separately allowing individual adjustments for couples. Slats are a popular alternative to what we're used to. The slat suspension was invented in Switzerland over 50 years ago and accounts for about 70% of the bed sales in Europe. Yet it is relatively new here.  Ergo Customized Comfort Slat suspension technology was invented in Switzerland over 50 years ago and is the primary foundation for beds in Europe; however very few U.S. mattress manufacturers are taking advantage of its benefits. Benefits of Slat Suspension With its adjustable support, slat suspension provides a contoured foundation for your mattress based on your preference. Due to the flexible nature of the technology, the slats give and rotate in response to the shifting planes of your body. At any time your slat settings can be modified to accommodate changing body needs or comfort preferences. A slat base also improves air circulation increasing comfort.  This message was modified Sep 20, 2007 by haysdb
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Re: Flexible slat foundations
Here is a variation on the theme, a Euro dowel foundation Earth Shake Euro Slat System The Slat System is a popular alternative to traditional boxsprings. The Swiss invented this suspension system years ago and now almost 70% of Europeans choose the slat system. Although it is relatively new in the United States, our customers love the ease and customized support options. The curved wooden slats offer flexible support for your mattress, with no sag or roll-together. And because the slats are adjustable, you are able to customize your foundation to the firmness that best supports your back and hips, easing pressure points. The give and rotation of the slats constantly respond to your body’s needs. Although the feel is firmer than an innerspring system and you have the ability to make adjustments in the center area of the foundation. And because the slats allow air to flow through your mattress, it helps to eliminate the buildup of moisture in your mattress due to perspiration.  Just Living Adjustable Slat Frame Our adjustable wood slat frame is made of laminated birch wood which is left exposed so personal adjustments can be made. These adjustable slats make it possible to adjust the support level, softer to slightly more rigid, to better support the body's personal preference on firmness. The sides of the wood slat frame are covered so they appear to be a regular, ordinary box spring. Hulsta Studio (UK website)  The interesting thing here is they don't offer just one flexible slat base, but more than EIGHT of them. Unfortunately they don't provide pictures of the different variations.
Article on slat beds (Australian website) There are two types of slat bed available on the market nowadays: the traditional rigid slat bed and those with adjustable slats that act like springs. FloBeds Euro Slat FoundationIn the premium bed market, flexible slats are the optimal way to create individualised comfort. A flexible slat operates like springs in a mattress. Each slat has a small amount of give, which provides support or flexibility as required. "Flexible slat beds are divided into two halves, with each side able to be adjusted specifically for that person," Tim says. "We can even adjust for specific regions - for example, someone with broad shoulders might need a flexible top area, but likes the rest of the bed to be firm." While rigid slats are best combined with spring mattresses, a flexible slat is best with latex or foam. "Because the slats are essentially the spring, the mattress becomes an incredibly thick pillow top - rather than three inches of support above the 'springs', you'll get 20 inches!"  
Ezine articles - Designer's Guide to Choosing the Right Bed Flexi-slat Base This is becoming a popular choice of bed as it allows for air movement under the mattress, leaves space for under bed storage, has adjustable slats to personalise the support of the bed and is easy to get in and out of small apartments or through narrow stairwells as the base comes apart and can be reassembled. It is easy to clean around and the bed will never sag in the middle due to the style of slat construction- a support strut through the centre of the bed. This message was modified Sep 20, 2007 by haysdb
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I am giving one of these a try. I am a man of extremes. First I buy the least expensive slat foundation I can find, so cheap in fact that I have to make a trip to Lowe's to buy some additional slats, then I swing to the opposite extreme and buy the most expensive slat foundation. Go figure. Initially I thought I just needed something solid. Now I think I need the foundation to be an active part of the "sleep system." One thing I picked up from my reading, and it's "intuitively obvious" if you think about it, is that a flexible slat base works best with a low profile and firm mattress. The thicker the mattress, the less influence the foundation will have. The only ways to avoid "bottoming out" on latex is to go very firm on the bottom layer, or go with a very thick mattress. The flexible slat system offers the option of a lower profile. This message was modified Sep 20, 2007 by haysdb
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My "Euro slat foundation" arrived via UPS today in three boxes. The Cal King foundation is two separate foundations, each shipped in 3 sections which bolt together with 4 carriage bolts. This is going to sound like gibberish, but I am going to attempt to describe how this foundation works. Looking at the pictures should help make sense of my descriptions. There are 13 pairs of 1.5" beachwood slats on each side. The slat spacing is less than 2". Each pair of slats are held by a flexible plastic carrier at the ends which acts as a sort of shock absorber, rotates about a central axis allowing the pair of slats to rotate as a unit, and also allows some independent movement of the individual slats. It's a deceptively simple mechanism. The 4th thru 8th pairs of slats have a third slat positioned in between and 1.75" below. The top pair of slats compress relatively easily, but then gain additional support when they contact this 3rd helper slat. There are 14 plastic "interlocks" (my word) that can be attached to mechanically couple a set of three stats (two on top plus the third lower slat) together. These pieces have the effect of firming up that section of the foundation by coupling three slats together and immediately calling the third lower slat into play. One piece can be placed in the middle to provide maximum support (?), or a pair can be placed symmetrically about the centerline to provide more or less support depending on how close to the center they are. I have not come across any instructions or guidelines for "tuning" the support, but it's relatively intuitive how it works. Even with my 240 lbs, I can lay directly on the foundation where the effect is most obvious. It's rather frightening to sit down, where your weight is initially on just one or two pairs of slats, as you think for sure that something will snap, but I don't think there is really any risk of that because the slats are designed to flex under the load and the load is then distributed longitudinally along the length of the slats, hammock-like, so in order for a slat to break it would have to be pulled apart. I don't know what the tensile strength of 1.5x by 5/16" birch is, but I guarantee it's "a lot." |
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[This was written last night but I fell asleep on the new mattress before I posted...] I will sleep on the "bed" as it now stands tonight, which is the flexible slat foundation, 5.6" of Talatech ILD 38 latex, and an Intelli-Gel topper from MyComfort.. One immediate thing I notice is I no longer "bottom out" the 5.6" latex core. If I plop down on the center of the mattress I can feel the "strong back" where the two units meet, but thanks to the flexible slats, there is no bottoming out feeling except in the middle or right on an edge. The flexible slat foundation makes a thinner mattress a viable option where it would not be on a rigid platform. The sinking hips sensation seems to be lessened a bit, due to being able to firm up this section relative to the upper body. It's zoning at the foundation level. Note: the thicker the mattress, the less the effect and benefit of a flexible slat foundation. |
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| I think that is a wonderful solution to the "zoned" mattress dilemma, since it will be some what adjustable. Much better than trying to get pieces of latex glued together. What was the cost of that thing? I'll be interested in your results. |
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$778 for the Cal King, shipped. This is offset a bit because you can use a thinner (and therefore less expensive) mattress. In fact, in order to take advantage of this foundation, you specifically need a thin and firm mattress. |
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| So is this a current result of your frankenbed? Any chance of posting some photos? What changes in your purchases would you make '20/20' ? Is the bed heavy with the comfort layer and the mattress core? What is [so far] sleep temp of that layer? With the slat foundation, what is the overall height? Will it fit a headboard? Are you still adjusting it? What pillow seems to work best with your bed so far ? Thanks for all the research time you've put in and posted information.. |
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Post moved by the author to this thread. This message was modified Sep 28, 2007 by haysdb
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| Thanks for your hard work. Are there 'feet' on the slat foundation? You mentioned to get more of the full 'slat' feeling, a thinner core mattress could be used. Based on your recent discoveries and experience. You would still buy the adjustable slat foundation, mycomfort gel layer, but a thinner core mattress [med or firm?], with a HR foam layer UNDER the gel, but above the core mattress? You seem very close at this point, once it 'fits' a zippered mattress cover will enclose it all. Will you need deep pocket sheets? I think reg is up to 10 inches, deep is up to 15', and very deep up to 18-20', depending on brand. |
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tossnturn wrote: Thanks for your hard work. Are there 'feet' on the slat foundation? You mentioned to get more of the full 'slat' feeling, a thinner core mattress could be used. Based on your recent discoveries and experience. You would still buy the adjustable slat foundation, mycomfort gel layer, but a thinner core mattress [med or firm?], with a HR foam layer UNDER the gel, but above the core mattress? You seem very close at this point, once it 'fits' a zippered mattress cover will enclose it all. Will you need deep pocket sheets? I think reg is up to 10 inches, deep is up to 15', and very deep up to 18-20', depending on brand. I did not get any feet with my foundation. I did not request any. I upgraded my bed frame to a set of 3 "Bed Beams" which will support the weight of an elephant. However, since the flexible slat foundation is comprised of three sections bolted together, and because the Bed Beams do not provide the recommended center support running head to foot, and because FloBeds recommends 5 slats, two under each head and foot sections, I may add back the two cross supports I replaced to bring the total to 5. That seems like massive overkill, but they are just going in the trash otherwise so I might as well use them. I definitely like the flexible slat foundation, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to like the Intelli-Gel topper once I get the right amount of cush underneath. The support mattress could be anything. MyComfort sells innerspring, air and memory foam support mattresses that are specifically designed to be used under their Intelli-Gel overlays. I'm doing latex because I liked the feel of Intelli-Bed's $4000 latex mattress. You could do all Pulyurethane, with maybe a layer of HR, or even the more conventional 2.2 or 1.8 lb foam, on the very bottom for the support core and then something like 4 lb Energia (ILD 27), or memory foam, under the overlay. I can't begin to recommend any one of these over another because I haven't tried them all, and you might like something different anyway. It's this middle layer that's "fun" because you have so many choices, from maybe $400 for 6" of 1.8 lb polyurethane, to $1000 for a solid core latex mattress or an innerspring unit, to $1800 for a 9" all-latex or latex and memory foam mattress. This message was modified Sep 28, 2007 by haysdb
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