Mattress Forum

Is there anything worthwhile at Costco? Anyone has first hand experience with gel toppers?

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=10339545&search=topper&Mo=10&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-CA&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BCCA&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ne=4000000&D=topper&Ntt=topper&No=4&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

There's is also this one: http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=10319411&search=topper&Mo=10&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-CA&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BCCA&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ne=4000000&D=topper&Ntt=topper&No=3&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

Phoenix

PS: I don't believe that either of the Costo options would be even close to suitable. This is not the "buckling column" gel that you may have seen discussed on the forum and has none of it's benefits. It's basically just inexpensive (don't want to say cheap) low density memory foam.

If I go with latex, should I order another inch or two more inches? Or perhaps 1.5 like this? http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/E.C.O.-Luxury-Latex-Queen-size-1.5-inch-Mattress-Topper/3478991/product.html

If you really want to experiment with it then at least the overstock is cheap enough and good quality (if it really is Sensus 5 LB as what you get from them may very well be different from what they advertise) that you could buy 3" of it and see how it goes.

If you go with latex, you may get away with one more inch (that would give you 2" over the poly in your mattress) and you could then add another inch later. I suspect that you might need 2 more though.

Phoenix

PS: If you link to another mattress forum or a mattress magazine or discussion or rating site that allows advertising, your link and/or your post will get deleted (which is probably what happened with your post that had the link to the specs of your new mattress) as it is considered to be direct competition to this one ... just so you know. I found this out as well when I did the same thing in some of my posts.

They do this to make a firm mattress by using soft foam that you will sink through more so you will feel the firmness of the springs more. They use the same or similar foam to make a mattress feel plush except they use thicker layers so you don't feel the springs as much and they also often use softer (thinner gauge) springs as well.

So even though there is much less poly here ... I would be wary about sinking in too far and use the least amount of layers on top that works for you.

Phoenix

For that reason perhaps, the first night was more difficult than I had anticipated, even though I used everything I had at my disposition. I layered the inch of latex, one inch of cheap egg crate from Wall-Mart, a small (about my width), thin (perhaps 3/4) and very soft piece of foam that I used for camping a long time ago and then an old and beaten quilt, made of polyester. Even with all of this, I was only able to sleep 4 hours until it became too uncomfortable. The pressure is mostly even, between the hips all the way to the shoulders, so I know that it's flat. I can only stay 5 minutes on my back (but in my present condition, that is true for pretty much any surface I lay on) so I alternated between sides. I stayed up 3 hours and went back in for 3 more hours.

I remember breaking in the 250 and it was even worst for the first 3 or 4 weeks, until it slowly got better, so I have a little bit of hope. In the meantime, I thought I could try something from Costco (since I can always return it and get a full refund) or another cheap topper from Wall-Mart, that I would use instead of the quilt. Perhaps I should invest more and get the 3 inches of latex from Costco to replace all the toppers I am using right now?

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=10340594&search=topper&Mo=10&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-CA&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BCCA&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ne=4000000&D=topper&Ntt=topper&No=2&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

A friend says I should put the mattress on the floor and let my wife walk on it for a few minutes, to accelerate the breaking in. I don't know if this is a good idea or not...

Their "standard" pocket coil is 15.5 gauge coils which is re-inforced on the edge with 2 rows of 13.25 gauge coils.

They have many different names for their "firm" mattresses such as extra firm, luxury firm, plush firm, ultra firm, cushion firm, and more depending on the store selling it and where in the lineup it fits. The only one they actually call just firm is their studio model which has shorter coils (some stores don't differentiate and just say firm for any of their variants).

Some versions of their firm are made with the thinner coils with less foam on top. This makes it feel firm even though it has the thinner coils.

Some versions of their firm are made with the thicker coils (13.75 gauge) with a little more foam on top. This makes it feel firm as well. Their "extra firm" is like this and it is usually a thicker mattress (about 1/2 inch thicker) than their "luxury firm" since it uses more foam with stronger coils of the same height. I know that this is weird since their extra firm uses more foam and you would think it's the other way around.

Because of this ... I don't know which one your mattress is. If it's the extra firm then you have thicker stronger coils with more poly, if it's the luxury firm you have thinner weaker coils with less poly. To make matters worse, many places will tell you something like "it has 13.25 gauge coils" and this may be true for the outer 2 rows but the rest of the mattress may be 15.5. They may not even know this. Even their strongest pocket coils are not as strong as other manufacturers or types of innersprings and may not be as suitable for heavier weights.

Usually ... the "extra" firm or the "plush" firm have the stonger coils but with different thicknesses and/or types of foam on top but this may not always be true in every store.

Usually ... the "luxury" firm has the thinner coils with slightly less poly than the "extra" but this also may not be true in every store.

Of course this "confusion" is compounded with the many many different names used for the same mattress and by the fact that as you go up in the range the spring/poly parts of this change a bit. (using more and different foams etc). But yours is the "basic" model which means it's either extra firm or luxury firm.

So ... you either have thinner coils with less poly or thicker coils with more poly. Both would feel firm and be called "firm".

In either case the difference in poly terms is about 3/8" of poly which is not so much. The difference in coil terms is more.

In your case I am hoping (and guessing) that you have the stronger coils with a little more foam but the description you linked to earlier would be similar to the construction of the luxury firm (It said you had 13.25 gauge and this was probably wrong in either case since this is the gauge of the edge coils. Assuming they meant 13.75, either the amount of poly or the coil gauge was incorrect in their description).

The bottom line is this ... I would use the thinnest firmest layer of toppers that would give you the pressure relief you need.

Thinner because you don't want to "build a complete mattress" over the coils so that the coils can "help" with the pressure relief and compress a bit which would help them support you and prevent your heavier parts from sinking in too far (compressed coils give more support). If you go too thick, you will get the pressure relief from the thicker layer but the coils would also compress and put you out of alignment.

Slightly firmer (but not so firm it causes pressure issues) because you want any help you can get with alignment issues ... even if it comes from the comfort layers.

You could certainly try the 3" costco latex topper but I would definitely call them first to find out the ILD since I didn't see it on the site. At least Costco's return policy makes it easier to experiment :)

And I wouldn't "break it in" by walking on it. This is usually more appropriate for some types of memory foam or for high end mattresses that need "re-distributing" in their comfort layers (similar to massaging them). With this type and construction of mattress all you are likely to do is make it wear out faster. I wouldn't do anything to "speed up" the breakdown of the poly.

Phoenix

I'm going to experiment tonight by sleeping on the eggcrate (3/4 of an inch + the latex folded in two, for a total of 2.75 inches. I just made the bed this way and I know for a fact that I wouldn't want to have more than 3 inches of foam alltogether. So it's either the 3 inches from Costco by itself or another inch of latex, probably from Foambymail (they only have 20 and 32 ILD, so I'm not sure what would be best to go for).

I'm still hoping the springs will start giving in within a few weeks since they're not as strong and there is less of them as there was in the NXG (13.25 vs 13.75 - 980 vs 800). Of course, if it does, I would have purchased the Costco topper for nothing.

This is so frustrating. Why does it have to be so complicated?!

They complicate it just to prevent the kind of consumer education that would cause their sales to suffer.

I would probably tend to a known ILD as foam by mail may be risky in terms of what you actually get. Some of the stories on the forum have confirmed that sometimes you get what you order and sometimes you don't get even close.

If the topper from Costco is in a reasonable range of ILD (and I'd call them first just to check), then this is the way I'd probably go if for no other reason than their return policy.

If the springs start "giving" in a few weeks (as opposed to the foam) enough to make a difference, then that would be bad news since they should be consistent over many years. You want the springs to remain firm and use the comfort layers to provide pressure relief.

Phoenix

What range of ILD would you consider suitable if I go with the 3 inches from Costco? If only purchasing another inch, who should I go with that doesn't charge an arm and a leg to deliver in Canada? FBM was pretty cheap all the way around. Only bad thing is that it took a full 2 weeks from the time I ordered to get the parcel.