Mattress Forum

Read post above, but about the massive dip in middle of your bed ... if you can take a flashlight, look up into the foundation through the think fabric if you can.  You might find that the foundation is contributing quite a bit to the sag in the middle of the bed.

I bought an iComfort memory foam with 'Stabil base' fixed foundation ... in 4 weeks the surface rods were already bending mostly in the middle of the bed.  Some beds look good on the outside, but underneath, it's cheesy materials.

If you ever get a change, look up the website 'mcroskey mattresses'.  They have a video showing handmaking of their beds and box spring.  Old school.  They are expensive, but another here said one of their beds was the most comfortable he's ever laid on.

Skinny chick here, too. When I bought my new mattress 2 years ago, the one I'd been sleeping on was so old (like, 17 or 18 years old) & worn out that I could feel the springs. I did some research, much of it on this forum, which is very helpful. I wound up buying a reasonably priced old-fashioned, two-sided (flippable), firm innerspring mattress. It's 9 inches thick. It sits on a wooden foundation.

The pillowtop mattresses felt great in the store, but I'd heard about them sagging and leaving body impressions fairly soon. So I bought the minimalist mattress with the idea of then having the freedom to experiment with toppers to adjust the comfort level as needed. It's much easier and cheaper to replace a topper or two than to replace an entire mattress.

I started out with a 1" Talalay latex topper, 24 ILD -- and it wasn't enough. I bottomed out; my hips sank right down. So I fiddled with a couple other things -- the 2nd most recent was a Dunlop latex topper that I bought from Overstock.com. It was great for a few months and then cratered in the hip area (I don't know the ILD; it wasn't labeled).

As of a few nights ago, I'm using a 2" 32 ILD Talalay latex topper, with the 1" 24 ILD topper on top of that. I also had a 1" thick fiberbed, which I used to love, but that has flattened out in the hip area, too, so I just took that off today. We'll see how the 3" of latex feels. If it doesn't conform enough or if I feel too much "pushback" from the latex, I'll monkey around a little more -- maybe put the fiberbed back on as the top layer but bolster up the hip area with something underneath it.

I've read good things about Original Mattress Factory, and their prices look reasonable. Unless you have your heart set on trying Tempurpedic or some other all-foam mattress, I'd recommend buying an OMF mattress (not pillowtop), and then playing around with toppers. You can experiment an inch or two at a time, and tweak as you go. It takes some time, but you get a lot of flexibility that way.

Some people here mix latex and memory foam toppers and have good results. 

Hope that helps. Let us know what you decide.

-Catherine

I stumbled on Wat's Da Best while researching latex mattresses.  I ordered a Foam By Mail product (same as Foam Factory) for our RV that is 3 inches of "soft" Talalay latex estimated ILD was 20 to 24 at the time over 5 inches of their HD36-R poly foam base.  In our RV there is no room for a box spring so we're sleeping on a "board" but I was worried this 8 inch mattress would be too soft. 

Actually, it's slightly too firm, both the wife and I wake up slightly stiff and sore, like we slept on the floor.  I will try to fix this with a 1 or 2 inch layer of something softer; for example, Sleep Like A Bear's 14 ILD Talalay toppers.  I would like to add a nicer cover and make this our main bed. 

For the RV I just ordered this 10 inch Aerus memory foam mattress from Sam's Club for these reasons:

1. 4.0 lbs memory foam is the sweet spot for us, not too firm (5.0 lbs and up) and not too soft (3.0 lbs or less.) It feels supportive but without that wet sand feel.
2. Made in North America using a VPF process that is supposed to result in less off gassing of the final product -- a constant complaint with most memory foams.
3. Open cell formulation for faster heat dissipation and enhanced airflow -- we shall see.
4. An upgraded (for Sam's Club) bamboo fiber cover. 
5. $435 including tax and shipping with a generous return policy.

You can try the Temperpedic beds at Slumberland stores, they really are very nice they're just not worth 10 times more.  One of the things I liked best at OMF was their box springs, high quality, high or low sizes and not outrageously priced, I might have to try one under my FBM mattress.

Agreed re: the pillowtop! They are good long enough to make it past the return date, then they crump on you.