Kait wrote:
Yup. I bought one when they first came out. I got a non-pillowtop which was probably the smartest thing I did. Darn thing was still over 1K, which was a lot of money back when. Anyway, only way to sleep on it was with a nice foam pad. This was also when I was younger and had zero issues(which I think have been caused by the beds and furniture and car seat foam wearing out, but I digress). I slept OK but the second the foam wore out(which was typically in the middle of the night...it went to dead foam...had to get up)there was no sleeping on the thing. Face it, we think of air as light, fluffy soft...but compressed air(that in the bed chambers) is used for power tools!! It is HARD and has no give. Doesn't support the heavier places. Feels dead, no rebound. Then I gave it to the kids(they still have it in storage if you want to try it...central CA)and bought a latex mattress. It got a fanny-dip in three years. Heavy. Hot. Then 2 Restonics(one pillowtop one plush/body impressions 3 mos.), then S & F(same thing, warranty not worth scrap), then a Stress-o-pedic my husband picked out(way too soft foam/ too thick..over pocket coils) which I had rebuilt with different foam(pocket coils don't work right for me)....and now my coil spring bed custom made. I am liking this bed better every day. And it wasn't expensive.
Mostly I think the problem with beds is that PU foam wears out...and some of it is really crap from the start. Lest you think that I am some football player who wears these things out just by sheer size...I'm 5'6" and 125#. Most of my weight probably in the fanny.
I don't personally like the feel of latex anymore...I know people swear by it, but it feels too boingy to me and doesn't have much airflow. Memory foams are very diverse...many are hot to sleep on...but they really are designed to give but not support. p/u foam wears out by the nature of it. So we are left with springs and maybe cotton batting, and whatever else we put in the bed. I know my back pain is from the foam not supporting me and letting my fanny drop further than it should. Stresses my low back all night and I wake up sore and muscles siezed up. Only soluntion I could figure was getting a bed with supportive innards, made the best possible way, box springs with actual springs, and dealing with people who would fix the foam if/or really when it died. So I did.
My husband calls me the Princess and the Pea.
Now I am replacing the foam in my couch. What a nighmare....
Kait
Kait, I agree with you about the latex, and having been a member for many years here, I can assure you that there are many others who do not like the feel of latex, especially a 100% latex mattress. I find it way too bouncy. Someone here (it might have even been me!) coined the phrase "it pushes back too much" and that is exactly how I feel about it. I felt as if it was always pushing against me as opposed to gently supporting me.
However, in the past year I have used a very soft latex topper from time to time and found that it can work as one layer. I am even considering trying it again as one of my 1" layers, replacing a layer of HR foam. I will also say, that contrary to popular opinion, I have found that I like both the natural latex (some call it jungle latex) and the Dunlop latex better than Talalay. To me, Talalay is the worst feelling of the 3 types of latex. In fact, if I could find some cheap enough (so far I've found it way overpriced), I would like to try a Dunlop or natural latex core, and then put a layer of HR foam or this "M-grade" foam that overnightmattresses uses, over that, with perhaps a 1" topper of memory foam or soft latex on top.
As to the "fanny dip" problem, I have that problem too and I have found SOME comfort by using a tri-zone bed (mine is home-made with HR foam) and adjusting the midsection to be firmer. However, even with high quality HR foam, what I find is that the first night or two will often be good but after another night or two, it softens up. I do not know how to fix that problem. Maybe if I used latex for the lower layer (I have 2 x 1-inch HR foam layers over 2 x 1/2" super hard HR foam layers). Maybe I need to try just one layer of foam instead of 2...? But also as I mentioned in another post I am working with the theory right now that the main problem is NOT the foam itself but the springs. It may be a bit of both, though. I KNOW the springs are shot and as soon as I get the overnightmattresses.com mattress I just ordered I will be throwing out the Sealy springs and trying their mattress without the Sealy mattress springs, just the foam sitting on the box springs. If the box springs give too much I'll but a hard board of some sort over the box springs.
Anyway, I was just curious if you've tried a tri-zone approach, particularly one that you can change up from time to time, just by replacing the foam with harder or softer foam per your needs?
As to memory foam, the overnightmattress site (see my seperate thread on them) says their memory foam breathes more. I am looking forward to trying both their "M-grade" pu foam and their memory foam to see if it's anywhere near what their advertising fluff says it is. One thing I have tried in the past is putting a wool topper over the memory foam to minimize the hotness. It does of course take away from the foam interacting with your body heat, but that is not necessarly a bad thing I don't think. I do theorize that the 2" of memory foam they put over the "M-grade" foam core is probably too much memory foam (I would prefer 1") but I figured "what the heck?", I'll try it since they have a full 100% refund return policy with 100% free shipping.
By the way, no one should think I am promoting this company. Anyone who's been here long knows I am not affiliated with any company and I will be completely honest re the quality and feel of it once I try it. I am just somewhat excited to try this one because I have never heard of "M-grade" foam and their claim that it is better than HR foam which is what I use, intrigues me. By the way, for those of you who do not like the feel of latex, I do encourage you to try HR foam. OR maybe "M-grade" foam. I'll let you know re the latter in a few days after I get a chance to compare it.
