You get to help choose my latex - (please play along!)
Jan 11, 2010 2:41 PM
Location: L.A. area
Joined: Jan 18, 2008
Points: 1161
I am operating under the assumption, for now, that my HR foam layer in my mattress has given up its support qualities to a degree that is causing me back pain.

So, I am going to replace the 1" of HRfoam  with 1" of either Talalay or Dunlop latex.

Since I don't know what ILD the HR is that I have used - and at times I've used Firm and Medium with success - I am not sure which ILD to buy to replace it, so would like opinions from those who are sleeping on latex or familiar with it.

Here's how the build will be (what has worked before):
Springs on bottom (Englander 12.5 gauge)
Next (over a very thin 1/4" or so layer of memory foam just to keep the foam from being damaged by the springs): the Talalay or Dunlop I'll be buying (1")(?)
3/4" of soft Talalay (I already have; 20-28ILD?)
That might be all.

I have found that using 2" of base foam instead of 1" seems to negate the feel and support of the springs; at least that was my feeling from having tried it with 2" of HR foam. This may or may not be true, but that seemed to be the case.

I am open to other suggestions but for now something similar to this configuration is what I want to try. At times I put memory foam in the mix but I think I'm DONE with memory foam now! It seems to just cause back pain for me. So perhaps I could use another inch of latex to replace the inch of memory foam I was using before when it worked for me...

Now, the question is, which ILD or Talalay or Dunlop (or both) should I buy?

Here are my choices:
Sleeplikeabear has : Talatech Talalay 1" layers of ILD 32, 36 and 40 among others, at $113 including shipping. (TWIN)

I am thinking 32 or 36. Which?

Sleepez has Dunlop 1" layer of 30-32 or 38-40, for $70 but they seem to charge $49 for shipping which I think is WAY too high and I am going to call them and ask about that. In any case, the bottom line price of $119 is not too bad. Here, it seems to me, the 30-32 is the only choice because the other would probably be too firm for me. But I'm open to discussion on that.

So let's say I'm going to buy 2 - one for me, and one for my wife, which we can change out after a time so we each get to try each one. (Her configuration is different than mine.)

What ILD's would you buy for that bottom layer(s) above springs? (I'm 5'10, weigh 180 but big around the middle.)