Mattress Forum

In a conventional mattress there is a layer of fiber mat laid on top of the coils. This keeps the softer materials above, which was typically cotton in the old days, from pushing down between the springs. But it also makes the bed feel more firm than if it was just a sheet of something very thin. One trick the custom mattress makers do is add a second layer of this fiber mat. It makes the mattress feel much more firm, but still allows the individual coils to work. It saves them from having to stock a firmer coil unit and gives them flexibility to fine-tune the firmness. Of course, you would have to get this from a custom mattress shop, but they have this stuff in huge rolls and I'm sure it can't be that expensive. And of course, not every community has a custom mattress shop.<BR><BR>I just question how &quot;flexible&quot; door skin is. I took two closet doors apart one time and reskinned them, so I know what's inside a hollow core door, and how rigid such a thin sheet of wood can be. The doors I opened up had nothing more than a lattice or honeycomb arrangement composed of cardboard keeping the two skins apart. The first wood slat foundation I bought had slats spaced 5&quot; apart with nothing but a layer of cardboard on the top, but this made it supportive enough for my heavy latex mattress. When you lay that door skin, which isn't going to stretch, on top of an innerspring, all you are left with is a &quot;foundation&quot;. A big shock absorber.<BR><BR>It's comfortable for you and that's all that matters, but unless you need a VERY firm mattress, the use of something more &quot;accommodating&quot; would be a preferred solution. IMO!

In a conventional mattress there is a layer of fiber mat laid on top of the coils. This keeps the softer materials above, which was typically cotton in the old days, from pushing down between the springs. But it also makes the bed feel more firm than if it was just a sheet of something very thin. One trick the custom mattress makers do is add a second layer of this fiber mat. It makes the mattress feel much more firm, but still allows the individual coils to work.

What intrigues me about what BeddyBye has done with the thin plywood is that she's not just achieving firmness but <em>rigidity</em>. For some of us that's the key factor. For instance my mattress as it stands is very firm. I just don't think it's quite rigid enough. It may be the convoluted PU foam layers. I was told this particular mattress had more precompressed material in it than a plush, so it may very well have 2 layers of fiber mat in there already. I won't really know until I take the thing apart and look inside and that won't be for some time to come because the mattress is only  five months old and hasn't started sagging yet. When I do disassemble it and replace it with my own foam layers I'll know at once whether it was the PU foam or the spring unit itself which wasn't rigid enough for me. If the PU foam is to blame then my problem will be solved. On the other hand if it's the coil unit, then I have a feeling the 1/8&quot; plywood between the springs and the new foam layers may do the trick. For awhile I was sleeping on about 3&quot; of 35 IL:D HR foam under 1&quot; of eggcrate foam and 2&quot; of 4lb memory foam placed directly on a foundation that must be very much like the one Hays had--just slats covered with cardboard and some padded material. Now that was rigid! It just didn't have enough give to it without a spring unit.