Mattress Forum

All of my latex is talalay.  Dunlop will tend to feel firmer.   I am not convinced that the FBM is real talalay, or at least the process is quite different from LI.

Of course, this assumes your coils are in good shape and fairly firm.  Hard for me to judge that.

GK -- we definitely were conservative in our approach -- you are right that it is costly to experiment with king size! We didn't save any of the foam -- it was so broken down I'm not sure there was anything useful about it. The whole mattress industry is so frustrating!

We put the cuddlebed back on last night -- my shoulder is better -- but my hips hurt a bit. So my thinking is we need more supportive softness. 

Thanks for chiming in Sandman -- where would you recommend I get my next inch or so of latex? Would you go with SLAB or someplace else? Any sources I'm missing? Where did you get your 5 lb MF? Sorry for all the questions!  You know we were initially trying to copy you with our set up  (we used to have the 2" of MF and I was hoping ours would work as well) -- it was good for a little bit. I think (hope) we just need a little more to get it right. 

 

We put the cuddlebed back on last night -- my shoulder is better -- but my hips hurt a bit. So my thinking is we need more supportive softness. 

More supportive softness might come from 19ILD talalay and/or good memory foam.  The unusual thing is that the 2" memory foam felt hard on your hips.   That would be unusual for me, so perhaps your sensitivies are different.  Although, maybe it just the brand of memory foam.

The 5lb memory foam is Sensus, which I bought at Overstock.  Last time I looked they no longer sell it (at least 1").   Sleeplikeabear is one of the few (or only?) places that has 1" 19ILD Latex International talalay.   The 5.3lb memory foam I got at foamorder.  I actually prefer that to the Sensus, but it did have a pretty strong odor when new.

I prefer at least 1" of memory foam.  I have trouble being as comfortable on all latex foam.  Although I generally find 2" of memory foam right on top as too soft, unless the unless it is on top of the old style traditional innerspring.

Anyway, I only arrived at my current destination by plenty of experimentation.  Not always fun and cheap, but I doubt I current have found something off the shelf that I like as much.   Even how you layer the same pieces of foam will make a difference. 

My coils and support needs are probably different than you, so hard to make any definitive recommendations.

So for now, your setup is springs, then 32 ILD latex, then 20 ILD latex (from FBM), and then the Cuddlebed? (You took the memory foam off?)

You might need more medium-soft cushion there -- something as a transition between the Cuddlebed and the FBM latex. (I have one inch of the FBM 20 ILD, and it is quite dense and more like 28-30 ILD. I bought it for that reason, actually, so I could either use it over my springs after the [failed] mattress surgery or cut it up for zoning.)

I took a risk by buying the 22 ILD topper from Arizona Premium Mattress -- in theory, not a smart move because it's not returnable, and I had plenty of anxiety about it; but it turned out to be great -- a nice combo of softness & support for me. That said, I'd recommend that you stick with a vendor that allows topper returns, which would be SLAB or SleepEZ.

Maybe 1.5" of the SleepEZ topper? (Cheaper than a 2" piece from them or from SLAB, and a leeeetle bit more substance than a 1" piece.) If you go with SLAB, I think I'd opt for the 24 ILD; I'm afraid you'd bottom out on the 19 ILD. Just a guess.

I've never slept on memory foam, so I don't have any experience with that to offer.

Sorry to hear that you are still having trouble with finding/building a comfortable mattress. It is ridiculously hard for some of us.

The 2" of MF from Costco I think is just really bad quality -- I think my hips hurt cause I wasn't aligned well -- my guess anyway. With the too firm latex, my shoulders and midback are more sore -- but I feel like I can live with it more -- it's like I'm tight and a bit achy, but not in pain -- if that makes sense. But I can't live with it long term -- and my husband is really not a fan of our current set up.

I like -- or used to like a more firm bed - now I'd say I still want firm -- but I really need some cushiness too -- stupid aging.

And I don't want to experiment -- I just want it to be right without too much money spent!  Is that too much to ask?!  

I'm still waffling between 19 and 24 ILD and 1-2" for this layer. But I'm ready to bite the bullet and make this purchase -- just really really hoping to get closer to what we need.

Sandman, one other question -- I can't remember -- do you have a special cover -- wool or other that you like?

Yep, S&F springs -- pretty decently firm -- at least I think they are. There's a thin dacron like layer over the springs and then something like a pressed felt layer. Then 2" FBM 32 ILD latex, and 1" FBM ILD 20 (supposedly!). And now the cuddlebed topper back on -- though I just can't make up my mind on it. I'm definitely not loving it. 

I'm scared to order the Arizona one and then finding out it's too thick -- of course I worry about the opposite too -- deciding I need more cushion. I did really like the Tradere 1 from Custom Comfort when my husband and I laid on it in the store. That has 1" of LI 19 in the topper. Although if you scroll over "topper core" on the left and hit enter, there's a little pull down menu and the pic is of PU foam rather than latex!  It's also a quilted topper so I know it won't feel quite the same as me just laying it on our raw latex layers. Incidentally I called and asked, and they would sell me just the quilted 1" topper and I could pick it up in their Pasadena store (10 minutes away) for.... drumroll ...

$895!!!!!! Um... NO -- I don't think so!! 

So how the heck do I decide between 19 and 24? And 1 or 2"?? I wish that I knew where the SleepEZ one came from -- they say they use a few different suppliers. Is there that much of a difference in softness between 24 ILD and the supposed 20 FBM? I thought about ordering samples -- but I just wasn't sure what feeling them would tell me vs laying on them -- my 20 feels soft enough when I just press it with my fingers. And as far as returns -- I'm not sure we'd return it unless the latex was terrible -- we would just lose so much with shipping and restocking fees (one of the vendors makes you pay for shipping both ways if you return) -- plus 20-25% restocking fees. 

And yeah I know you of all people really know how hard it is -- I think you and ... is it jimsocal? have had a million possible variations of latex and other things. It freaks me out a bit sometimes -- cause we just don't have the money to keep trying lots of different things -- we need to make this work if we buy more latex - but I've got two little kids (I can't really call my oldest little anymore -- he turns 10 next month!) and I am GRUMPY if I don't get some good sleep! 

I was happy for you when I read that at least your new bed is good enough that you aren't reading about mattress stuff all the time -- that sounds like a big improvement! :) I really need to get to thinking about organizing and decluttering too!

Thanks for adding your opinion too :)

ETA: I was looking and Arizona Premium Mattress has their 2" topper in a 22 ILD -- but LI doesn't have a 22 ILD -- again makes me worry that I'll get something I'm not expecting with the firmness. I know you are really happy with yours though. Sigh -- I might be overthinking this...

Well, if you go with SLAB, and you can swing the money, you could try 1 inch of each. Or, if you're most worried about the latex being too firm (and about money), start with 1 inch of 19 ILD. Then you can see what that feels like, and fold it over and see what 2" feels like. Two 1" pieces won't feel quite the same as one 2" piece, but it'll be close.
 

SleepEZ has a great reputation on this board, so I don't think you'll need to worry about the quality of their latex, whichever supplier they use.
 

Yeah, I think there is -- at least with the stuff I have. The 20 ILD I have from FBM makes a good support layer; not as useful as a comfort layer.

I've experimented a fair amount, but nowhere near as much as Jimsocal or Paul ("shovel99" here) have. (Lucky for me.) And I definitely understand the worry about money.

It is easy to overthink all this stuff when we can't just go into a nearby store and lie on all these different types of foam to see what they feel like. Samples that are a few square inches don't help much.

As far as the 22 ILD topper from Arizona: Natural latex will generally have a range of ILDs; it's a little harder to pin down than the Talatech blended stuff.  My N3 from LI is listed as 25-29 ILD (so I think of it as 27).  The topper from SleepEZ is listed as 22-24 ILD.  My anxiety-laden gamble worked out OK for me, but I was worried about the Arizona 22 ILD stuff being too soft -- and you're worried about it being too firm.

If you're most worried about another layer of latex being too firm and/or too thick, you might be better off starting with one inch of 19 ILD. Just don't go any softer than that.

Or, if you have a wholesale foam distributor in your town, go there first and see if they have some soft poly foam. It might work better as a comfort layer. The foam wholesaler in my city has full-length samples of various poly foams, and I spent an hour or two there, a while back, lying on them. I wound up trying the 22 ILD latex instead, but this wholesaler had some pretty comfy poly foams. Or try some soft poly foam from FBM -- it'll be much, much cheaper than latex.

1) Remove the 32 ILD to evaluate how much support you need.

2)Add your memory foam Topper to asses the amount of comfort layers needed.

keep us updated.

I have a washable wool filled Natura mattress pad right on top of the the foam.   Nothing else except a sheet over that.

You might get lucky and get it right the first time.  Depends on how picky you are.

I have a slight preference for the 100% natural talalay.  Seems a bit more substantial then the blended.  The softest one at SLAB says 20-24.9, so it might be more like 22.5 on average.   Probably the same thing Catherine got. 

I decided to go with 1" increments on top so I could fine tune.   I have 1" of the 5.3 (I measured at 5.9!) MF on top over 1" of 24 (might be somewhere in 20-25 range?) 100% natural talalay over 1" 19 blended talalay.  It is possibly that would be just fine with 2" of the 20-25, but never tried it that way.

SLAB does offer returns, but you will be out shipping.  You might want to try 1" and you can then also fold in half to get a sense of what 1 more inch would be like.

It's hard!   Unfortunetly it is not a product that can just be tried and returned easily.