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Well, i can't seem to get some of my questions answered, and i'm probably posting too much as a result! Anyway, here are some of my questions: 1) will two twin foam mattresses (HR foam) pushed together, in the same mattress cover, reduce--considerably--motion transfer as opposed to a king-size foam mattress? What is the ideal setup for two people who want to sleep together but can't tolerate motion? 2) What should i get as my base--HR36-hq or LUX-hq? 6 inches or more? We're mostly side sleepers, boyfriend likes more firmness than i do, but doesn't really care. 3) Should i get super-soft foam or egg-crate as a topper? 2 inches or less? 4) Why can't i have different toppers for our (hypothetically separate twin) mattresses, if i can get different bases? 5) is 2.8 density HR foam the same in two different stores, or can they be very different? 5) Lastly, a salesman at Verlo told me that Latex can be bouncy, but doesn't have motion transfer. Are the two qualities (bounciness, no motion) compatible? I would think one would eliminate the other! Thank you SO much for any advice/recommendations!! |
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IMHO -- 1) I really doubt it. The sheets will be more of a factor than the mattress. If you are coming from a traditional spring mattress, this will be a world of difference. Just wait until you get used to a foam mattress and then have to sleep with a partner on an innerspring -- OMG it sucks! I can tell you that both my wife and I are very light sleepers and motion transfer on our old innerspring was always a source of irritation (and me sleeping on the couch). Now on the foam, my wife has gotten up on multiple occasions to tend to a crying baby while I was lying awake, and I didn't even realize she had left. In one circumstance where I knew she had left (we had spoken), but I did not know she had come back and I kicked her (she was mad about that) ! How's that for no motion transfer?! 2) LUX-HQ no doubt about it. It is my opinion that the HD36 loses too much ILD in the butt area with nightly use. PU foams like LUX and HD, will break-in a bit in the first 6 months. It's not terrible, but its there. This is based on my experience sleeping on a stack incorporating both for about 9 months. Remember, as many say here, you can easily soften things up after the fact. Firming it up isn't quite as achievable. 6" would be great. My parents have a 6" LUX-HQ base and love it. Mine is 5" and I wish it were 6. WARNING: Trying to move around a piece of king-size 6" LUX-HQ is like wrestling a bull. 3) Entirely up to you. This would be a 'wear-and-tear' item if you went that route. Expect to replace it every year or so. Why not go with a few inches of latex? Or possibly a Cuddle-Bed (fluff it in the dryer every few months)? I have nothing against egg-crate though. In fact, I would eventually like to own a latex eggcrate topper. 2" or less sounds sensible for eggcrate. Too much of that and your back will start to hurt, especially if you are a thin person. 4) You can! You can even use a common base with different toppers! I've never done this, but people report its very easy to slice foam using an electric carving knife. But I don't suggest going with 2 different bases if your only motivation is to cut down on motion transfer. 5) Boy can it be! Different that is. Heck, as has been reported time and time again here, ordering the same foam from the same place can sometimes result in 2 different foams! 6) I'd agree with that. I like to describe latex as "boingy". People here "bouncy" and they instantly think "trampoline" -- its not like that at all. I totally believe the two qualities are compatible. We have 3" worth of latex on the top layers and it doesn't transfer motion at all. The boinginess (?) is confined just to the area of contact. Good luck. Let us know what you end up doing and how you like it! |
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wow--thank you SO much for the thoughtful and detailed reply! If i can ask a few more questions: 1) I'm a little worried about the LUX being too hard; should i get 5" of it and 2" of HD36-HQ, or should i not even worry about the HD36-HQ, and instead just put toppers on it (super-soft or eggcrate or latex, perhaps)? And--would my back hurt, on the eggcrate, due to the softness or due to the 'eggcrate' design? 2) I'd probably order this stuff from FBM--i don't really know another distributer! Is that the best place (or the only place?) in your opinion? I could order m-grade foam base from overnightmattress.com, but not sure it's much better than the LUX-HQ... 3) So, you don't think latex toppers foster more motion transfer? And, is latex often preferable due to durability and feel (compared to eggcrate foam or super-soft foam). I guess i'm just apprehensive about buying this (with no real return policy!), but if i do get the firm base i can custom-make the rest of it...! Thank you so much, again, for the info--it's very helpful! |
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1) Lux-HQ and HD-36 solid cores are support layers, and you shouldn't plan to sleep directly on either of them. I'm not sure if that's what you were implying. They are simply way too firm for most people as a top layer and will cause pressure point issues. So yes, you'll need toppers over it. You need to add probably at least 3" of some softer material... but don't overdo it. Unfortunately there is no winning formula here. You've obviously been doing your homework and I think you are to the point where you have to just come up with a plan and pull the trigger -- you'll go crazy otherwise (been there). This is truly a trial and error process, based on making educated guesses and then testing them out for several months. Starting off with 5" LUX-HQ at the base and then working your way up with softer material is a solid plan I think. TIP : Make sure the ticking cover you go with is 360 zippered. I can only imagine how impossible it would be to try and shove such large and heavy foam cores into a cover only opened on one end! Eggcrate in general shouldn't make your back hurt. Too much of any soft material on the top layers probably will. I do not have any eggcrate so I don't have any strong opinions here, other than I really want to buy some latex eggcrate one day (but it is expensive and not as many places sell it). 2) FBM is the best bet for good value on quality PU foams (like LUX) and Latex, based on all the searching I did. FoamByMail has another website www.foamdistributing.com that is the same business, but with slightly different products and prices. I used FoamDistributing to order my LUX-HQ (High Quality) and HD36-HQ, and the FBM site for the latex. 3) I don't think so. I'm very happy with how 'dead' my top layers of latex are. Yes, I think the general consensus is that latex is much more durable than PU foam and should last many years. I really enjoy the feel of latex on the top layers. To be perfectly honest, knowing how well this has all worked out for me, and realizing how much I do like latex foam, if I were to do it all over again I'd probably go all out and order a FloBed and get top-notch material. But like you, I wasn't so sure at first and didn't want to blow a lot of money. I'm not suggesting you need to go out and spend $3500 to get a great bed. I do love my FBM/FD bed and I recommend that to anyone. When you do get your bed setup, if after several days you are sure its too hard, order another soft topper (it can go on the outside of the ticking cover) or a CuddleBed. The CuddleBed will essentially add a pillow-top feel, or if you've ever slept in a Heavenly Bed, something like that. If you don't use a CuddleBed, at the very least use some kind of fitted mattress pad with a little bit of padding -- you probably already have one. Good Luck! |
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You are like my fairy god- (or mattress-) father! (I think you're a dude, for some reason, though i guess i really don't know!) Thanks again for the response. 1) Ok, so it seems that buying a 5" base of LUX-HQ should be a good start. I checked out foamdistributing.com, and it seems like the products are a bit cheaper. Why are the products different--or differently priced, here? 2) I know you can't give me a definite answer on top layers, but i noticed you have a couple of layers of HD36-HQ...Did you go with this to keep the mid-layers firm, below the latex layers...?And do you think I'd *need* a layer of the HD36-HQ, or just some eggcrate/supersoft foam/latex/whatever i decide on top? I guess i really don't know what these top layers feel like...and not sure of the purpose of egg crate design! 3) Good to know the latex doesn't feel motion-y; i might stick with the cheaper stuff on top for now, but will consider latex in the future! Thank you, and i promise to end my questions soon! ;) |
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1) That's a good question that I've never seen an answer to. They also sell on eBay with different prices -- higher I think. 2) My original bed was, from bottom to top : 5" LUX-HQ, 2x 1" HD36-HQ, 2" Medium Latex, 1" Soft Latex, CuddleBed. After about 5 months or so, we felt that some of the firmness had been lost, and this was evident by laying in the middle, which felt much firmer like we remembered the bed being when brand new. I traced it down to the HD36 layers. There were no body impressions, but rather a loss of ILD -- meaning it just was simply less supportive than when new, in the torso areas. As others with more knowledge about foams than I have posted, PU foam cells will tear and break (or something to that effect) causing the resilience to degrade over time. So, I relocated the HD36 to the very bottom, thereby rasing up the LUX -- you see, I still needed to maintain 10" total stack. Eventually I may order a 2" piece of LUX to replace the HD36 entirely. I suggest you start with 3" of softer material over top of the LUX. It's your best guess as to what exactly to use. Mix it up with different materials and/or ILDs, keep it all the same, whatever. So long as its 'soft' enough. The idea for the top layers is to provide comfort, to relieve pressure points, but not so much that you start have back/neck pains. Eggcrate is nice, it is very cushy, and very popular as the top final layer. It is more pillowy than a solid piece of the same material. I'm not sure what LUX or HD36 egg crate would feel like... maybe a bit too firm for the very top layer. I really don't know. But I'm pretty sure that PU foam eggcrate is going to flatten out some within a year or so. The softer it is, the more it will flatten I think. But that stuff is fairly cheap and they sell it at every Walmart, Target, BBB, JCP, etc. The three basic things that you are shooting for are: 1) Is the bed supportive enough? 2) Is the bed soft enough? 3) Will the bed last? 1&2 are a balancing act -- too much of one tends to cause the other to suffer. 3 is pretty much determined by the materials you choose. |
| thank you again--very helpful! I'll eventually post what we decide to buy, and how it works out. |
| I just spoke with a woman at FBM, who suggested (if i were to get the HD36-HQ as a base) that i get 8" of it, and add softening layers as necessary. She said the foam is denser when there's a thicker slab of it. This seems a little much, though...I guess with the LUX-HQ i don't need as thick a base; If i wanted a 'softer' base would going with the 8" of HD36-HQ work out--i.e. would it last longer, etc? |
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electracat wrote: I just spoke with a woman at FBM, who suggested (if i were to get the HD36-HQ as a base) that i get 8" of it, and add softening layers as necessary. She said the foam is denser when there's a thicker slab of it. Jeez. This lady is a real trip. I wonder where she came from. She should NOT be trying to help people make informed decisions, IMHO. It must be the same FBM salesperson who told someone in another thread that ILD can change with thickness. |
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Yes, i believe she said that "the density of foam changes with the thickness". Is that what you mean? Thinking now about about a 4" LUX-HQ layer, with 2" HD36-HQ on top, and 2-3" of softening layers on top of that (egg crate, super-soft foam, something like that). How does that sound for a start? Too much base/mid layers? thanks! |
| Don't forget that standard twin mattresses are 5" shorter than king mattresses. If you want to use two twins to make a king you need to use extra long twins. |
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i know--learned that the hard way! I think we'll stick with one king...From what i can tell, the motion won't be considerably resolved with two twin mattresses (DIY foam layers) in a king frame. |
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electracat wrote: Yes, i believe she said that "the density of foam changes with the thickness". Is that what you mean? Thinking now about about a 4" LUX-HQ layer, with 2" HD36-HQ on top, and 2-3" of softening layers on top of that (egg crate, super-soft foam, something like that). How does that sound for a start? Too much base/mid layers? thanks! Yes, that is what I meant. I think your plan sounds like it could work. I have never slept on the LUX-HQ or HD36-HQ before, so I can't comment on the feel of them. However I can say that 6" of base and 2-3" of cush is a workable idea in general. |
| Would that set-up work if i'm a side sleeper? Just concerned about 'sinking' through the layers on top, onto the hard base layer. |
| I think so, but I can't say for sure. |
| Would it be advisable to get two twin sizes of every layer, instead of king size, for 1) ease of moving around layers and 2) reducing motion transfer? |
| I think so. If you wanted you could get the top layer to be king sized and everything under that layer twin long. Large foam layers are hard to move around. High quality foam is amazingly heavy. |
| Thanks, MequonJim, for your help! I'll probably have more questions along the way... ;) |
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Ok, another question about split king: If i were to split the core of my pu foam mattress, does this really reduce motion? Seems that if the foam x-tra long twins are right next to each other, sharing a cover, there wouldn't be much separation... But maybe I'm wrong? Thanks for any response...:) |