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Okay, as you may have noticed, I've been obsessing about a perfect foam mattress design, and I think I finally have it. It is made of multiple 2" layers of very dense foams for longevity and versatility (1" layers are very delicate). One can arrange the layers in a number of different orders to achieve the feel they are looking for. This some what limits the risk out of buying on-line (of course there is the risk that FBM gets your foam wrong the first time.) But you should not have to abandon a layer. This is a 10" mattress, which leaves 2 additional inches you could add if you need to soften it up and maintain a 12" maximum thickness (even deep pocket sheets do not fit if thicker than 12".) I think that by mixing dense PU foam and latex, you could achieve the support and softness that some people have not been able to achieve with latex alone. Also, if you find that you do not like the springy feel of so much latex, you could move some of the PU further up, dampening the "jiggle". One could order all the layers in split sizes except for the memo foam top, which should be single piece. This would allow each partner to arrange his/her side independently. Here goes. 2" Isoform memo foam (5lb dense, 17-19ILD - said to be more firm than most memo and more breathable, got highest ratings on epinions) $150 2" FBM 20ILD talalay latex (placing this next to the memo foam topper may work as a heat sink, helping to further ventilate the memo foam.) $160 2" FBM 36ILD HQ foam (2.5 lb dense base foam) $111 2" FBM 32ILD talalay latex $170 2" FBM LUX HQ foam (2.9 lb dense, approx 50ILD base foam) $115 All prices are for king size, shipped (except Isoform, which may charge $20 shipping or so. I've heard you can call and get free shipping.) Again, one should weigh, individually, the HQ foam form FBM to assure that they sent the correct density. I would also consider calling them and placing the order by phone, letting them know you will weigh the foam when it arrives -- got to keep 'em honest! Feel free to recommend changes to the "perfect" foam mattress. This message was modified Nov 19, 2007 by donw
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donw wrote: Novahelp, FBM can be very misleading. They flat-out lie about their 5.5lb pink memo foam - it is really 4lbs. And they do not have any more dense memo foam. Their other foams are better. While their latex is a step down from LI, it is said to be pretty good by many purchasers on this forum. I believe they intentionally send the lower density PU foam to the unsuspecting consumer, hoping they won't weigh it. From what I understand, they do sell both the lower density stuff and the higher density - one must fight with them to have UPS pick up the wrong stuff and send out the right. Or, like I mentioned above, call them and place your order by phone, warning then that you will weigh the foam and demand they replace it if they send the wrong weight. If they were a smart company, especially in this computer-savy age, they would simply be honest with their customers. I guess. Just not sure why you would want to order from an untrustworthy place and support their business? Isn't this using up a lot of your time? |
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The problem is that, for most of the pieces, the next best seller is nearly twice as much. Here are some competitors. PerfectFit is the most reasonable, but one would have to find out the cost of custom sizes. PerfectFit is an upholstery supplier, and the foam sizes listed are not quite large enough for a king-size bed, but they say that other sizes are available. Looks like reasonable prices. Foam On-line does custom sizing, but seems expensive. Simple-pedic has a price calculator and seems very expensive. |
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donw wrote: The problem is that, for most of the pieces, the next best seller is nearly twice as much. Here are some competitors. PerfectFit is the most reasonable, but one would have to find out the cost of custom sizes. PerfectFit is an upholstery supplier, and the foam sizes listed are not quite large enough for a king-size bed, but they say that other sizes are available. Looks like reasonable prices. Foam On-line does custom sizing, but seems expensive. Simple-pedic has a price calculator and seems very expensive. But if you're not getting the quality foam you're paying for, how is it really a good deal? |
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That's just it. With their PU foam, supposedly, you CAN get the right density. They do sell both HD and HQ foams. A good test of this will be Steve2u's order. Let's hope he gets what he ordered. And their latex is pretty good. Their pink 5.5lb memory foam is really 4lb...and it's a good 4lb foam. In fact, it's a good price for a good 4lb foam. It's just not 5.5 like they claim...and they do not have any heavier. This message was modified Nov 19, 2007 by donw
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donw, the sample of FBM pink foam I have is a 5 lb foam or pretty close. I'm basing that not so much on weight as just the feel. There is no mistaking a 5 lb foam for a 4 lb foam. I think the only conclusion we can really draw from your topper is that the density may just very a lot. I don't know, for example, how the density of a "bun" varies from top to bottom or end to end. Maybe the topper you got was from a lower density section. We need a few more "data points" before we can really say the FBM's memory foam is a 4.0 foam. But it's also true that if the density truly does vary by up to 30%, it becomes a real crap-shoot what you'll get. I don't think I would order memory foam from them knowing I might get a 5.0 foam and I may get something significantly less. |
| haysdb, I have not felt many 4lb memory foams, but I would say that the pink stuff is fluid-like and very slow and VERY soft (like you described your sample). Are 4lb foams generally not like this? It seems like in one of your recent posts, you estimated your sample density at 4.4lbs or so?? |
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As near as I can estimate, my sample is ~4.75 lb foam. Here was my calculation: haysdb wrote: The larger of my two samples is between 1.3 and 1.4 oz according to my analog postal scale. Figuring it would not be accurate at the lowest end of the scale, I first placed a weight on it then added the foam on top. I measured it at three different points on the scale and all were within the above range. The sample is not precisely regular in shape. I measured the minimums and maximums with a stainess steel ruler marked to a 1/16". Min: 3 13/16 x 3 7/8 x 1 7/8 = 27.7 in3 Max: 4 x 3 15/16 x 2 1/8 = 33.5 in3 Avg 30.6 in3 The density of my sample is ~4.75 lbs/ft3Notes:
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| Everyone is different, but entire setup sounds way too soft for me. Also, I'm not a fan of memfoam. As long as messing with that many layers, why not zone? For sidesleeping, I would take roughly 20/36/50/50 hips and 20/20/32/36 shoulders. Leftovers for the legs. Run support layers widthwise from twin material and 20 layer lengthwise sidexside. And I would deal only with a supplier I trusted. |
| I like the idea of zoning, but it seems troublesome. Do you glue the zones together? |