Latex topper on traditional spring mattress
| Let me start out by saying that my wife and I spent several weekends trying out king size mattresses at various mattress stores. We found several that we were happy with, but they just didn't quite do it for us, not to mention they were all well over $2000. We finally stopped at a City Mattress and loved the all latex pranasleep, except for the price tag. That was way out of our league, but that pretty much ended our mattress search since we didn't want to settle on something when we knew we loved the latex mattress. Sleep EZ seems like a great alternative, given all the great reviews on here, especially since I would prefer my side a little firmer than my wife's. However, we noticed in one of our recent Costco coupon mailers, a traditional King Sealy Posturpedic for $659, which includes the box spring. Can't beat the price, but I haven't done my research on the bed yet, so it might be a piece of garbage. For now, let's just assume the bed is a decent bed. How would adding some sort of latex topper to it compare to a 100% latex mattress? |
Re: Latex topper on traditional spring mattress
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I've pretty much set my mind on doing this very thing. I live near Charlotte, NC and "The Original Mattress Company" makes their own mattresses in house. They have an "Orthpopedic" mattress that is a rock solid mattress. They don't go in for this single-sided mattress gimmick either (just my opinion). The "Orthpodedic" queen size has 489 offset coils, 12 3/4 gauge with six turns and 12 year warranty. They make one that has barely any padding at all. Maybe 1 1/2" of 5.2 lb foam. I want to put a 3 or 4" latex topper on this bed and have alreadt verified that it will not void the warranty. My question is which type of latex topper? What ILD to shhot for. I have back problems, but my concern is my pressure points from being a side sleeper that bothers me the most. Shoulders, hips and even my knees hurt. I welcome all opinions and the reasoning behind them. I'm 6'0" and weigh 215 lbs. Thanks in advance for your feedback! |
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If you can find a source for reasonably priced latex toppers, try getting them in 1" thicknesses, in 2 different ILD's - say, 11 and 14, something around there. Take these 2 layers and cut them into thirds so you have a top head and shoulder section, a middle hips section and a legs-and-feet section. Then you can play with zoning them, i.e.; you can put 2 soft sections at the top and the firmer sections at the bottom 2/3. Or you can put a softer over a harder for the top and a harder over a harder for the medium, etc. etc... Use a tape measure and an electric meat carving knife to cut them. They will tend to stick together once placed on the mattress. If you have a tight top sheet or something like that, it will help keep them in place and they won't really move around. Just as an addendum to the question about springs wearing out: We bought the Sealy at Costco about 5 years ago. I tried putting foam on top of them and after awhile I realized the springs were killing me. They had worn out. After dumping them I am doing better, though I'm still looking for the perfect combination of foams. I would LOVE to try some really GOOD springs under foam but I don't know where to buy just the springs and I don't want to pay for a mattress only to tear it up and tear out the crappy foam and/or batting they put over the springs. Someone recommended buying a relatively new used mattress and taking that apart and some day I might do that. For now, I'm trying foam without springs. |
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You're right. My mattress guy showed me the inside of our old mattress and the coils were like brand new. He verified that innersprings rarely give out. It's the foam and padding inside that compresses, even more so if it's cheap. <BR><BR><BR><BR> mccldwll wrote: &quot;The downside is that the innerspring mattress will start to sag long before the latex wears out and the latex will just sag into it.&quot;<BR><BR>Not so sure about that. I've never cut open an old fashioned, minimally padded coil mattress which was considered shot, but it's my understanding that there is little, if any, degradation of the coil system. All the collapse is due to compressed foam. Further, a latex topper over coils should distribute the point loads much more evenly (i.e., less concentrated force on the springs). The coil mattress probably would last the lifetime of the latex.<BR> <BR>This message was modified Jun 23, 2009 by BeddyBye
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Re: Latex topper on traditional spring mattress
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August59, I would recommend taking a second look at the extra rather than the ultra firm. The ultra firm to me is like sleeping on a board (and I like very firm mattresses). But, I think that it may not give enough of the benefit from a spring system. Have your salesman talk to you about the differences in the mattress (the layer over the springs are different), also if you want something slightly differen, they do cusomizaitons. I would start with the actually mattress, and then add layers of foam on 1"-1.5" at a time. You may also want to try a cuddlebed for cushion. Many people on the board likes it. There will be some trade off between back pain and shoulder discomfort, untill you can get the right mix. This is also why I recommend the extra model. I use foambymail's latex, and have 1" of each ild right now and it is working pretty good for both me and my wife. It is not perfect for me yet, but it is the best that I've found in over two years. Good luck and let us know how it works for you. |
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mpb2000 wrote: How would adding some sort of latex topper to it compare to a 100% latex mattress? Wow, lots of great discussion. But I wanted to add that if you want to feel a latex topper on a coil mattress you can go to a Dux store. Their beds are exactly this, although with some fancy bits and a high price tag. I found them to be quite comfortable although they don't have any sort of return policy so I didn't bite...Steve |
Re: Latex topper on traditional spring mattress
| Has anyone looked into this? I'm researching finding a well built but inexpensive AIR mattress so there is no concern with coil sag or foam sag, etc. and putting a 4" latex topper on it. To me, that might give you the best of three worlds: a bed that won't wear out for a very long time, a latex topper to give you excellent support and comfort, and both of them at a comparatively reasonable price. Certainly more affordable than the typical coil mattess with latex at 2k +. |
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fixer wrote: Has anyone looked into this? I'm researching finding a well built but inexpensive AIR mattress so there is no concern with coil sag or foam sag, etc. and putting a 4" latex topper on it. To me, that might give you the best of three worlds: a bed that won't wear out for a very long time, a latex topper to give you excellent support and comfort, and both of them at a comparatively reasonable price. Certainly more affordable than the typical coil mattess with latex at 2k +. Typical mattress construction is comfort layers over support layer(s). Typical Latex mattress construction is a 2" comfort layer over a 6" support layer, give or take a few inches. So, I would choose your Latex and air layers accordingly. Air pressure tends to vary with ambient conditions... I would guess you'd have better luck using all Latex... eventually. GK |
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Re the air mattress, I had this same BRILLIANT IDEA. The problem though was that when I researched it, I saw that the regular air mattresses have just terrible reviews and don't seem all that durable - air leaks for example. Lots of reports of beds that collapse in the night. Or slow leaks that you may not notice if you have a guest sleep on it just a few nights every now and then but you would notice if you tried to sleep on it every night. You're talking about inflatable beds, right? those ones that are about $100 and some dollars? The Comfort-Aire type air bed seemed a little bit more durable and I like dthe idea of the air bladder you could replace when it wears out..... but then you're talking $1000 plus.
So, I think if you are looking for something that won't wear out, your thinking that an air mattress is durable is actually a false premise. This message was modified May 4, 2012 by Kashkakat
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