I bought a latex mattress earlier this year from an independent seller in the UK where I live. They sell 100% natural latex. I bought a firm mattress and a soft 8cm topper in order to get enough underlying support and comfort.
At first it was very good and I was happy. But in recent weeks a lot of the support has vanished, and I think it is the support in the topper which has given out. It’s so bad I cannot sleep on it at all and I am now sleeping only on the underlying mattress even though it isn’t comfortable on it’s own.
The seller says that if the support is gone then it will show visible dipping, but this is not the case. The problem though is only when you lay on it, that it doesn’t supply enough support, not that the latex itself has compressed, it just seems to have got a lot weaker in the upward support it gives even though it largely returns to shape when you get off it.
I was not expecting this to happen. It was not cheap and I bought it after researching on here what to get and exploring my needs. I am going to try and explain to the seller what the problem is and hope they are fair about it but I’m not sure how to demonstrate the problem in an objective way. Any advice?
Hello uksleeper,
I’d be happy to provide some insight into the problem, I would just need to ask a few questions: what are the ILD ratings of the layers you have, about how much do you weigh, and what type of foundation do you have?
Following this post. I can relate because I am experiencing something similar but trouble shooting.
I have a firm and extra firm dunlop core and a medium dunlop and soft 19ILD Talalay topper. It felt great in the initial stage. Every thing was flat as a pancake and super comfortable. But now I feel the middle is giving in more than before, yet no sag or dip. My wood foundation is super study and I have Knickerbocker frame with middle beam support. So I rule out any foundation issues. I even tried putting the mattress on the floor, but still the same feeling. I even put each layer on the floor and measured for dips using a straight stick. It was all flat. I sleep alone on a queen. So, should one rotate positions and sleep such that it “wears” out evenly.
Bottom line, not so comfortable than it used to be. I am trying to layer a thin piece of high density 5Lb Polyurathane foam either on the top or below the top talalay and experimenting with the feel. Surprising it changes the feel and I am liking the new firmness and support it is adding.
But I would be interested to see what solution works for you.
Thanks for your reply. I found the spec.
Density: 60kg per cubic meter.
Hardness: 4.8 kPa (which I work out to be 34.27 ILD).
It is an 8cm talalay topper. All one zone.
Below the topper I have an 18cm dunlop mattress.
Density: 80kg per cubic meter
Hardness: 5.8 kPa (which works out at 41.41 ILD). It has 7 zones (different number and size holes)
It sits on a sturdy divan base. I weight about 178lb and I sleep 90% on my side and 10% on my back.
The seller wants to send someone to inspect it but the company have been in the press for siding with the seller by producing bias reports. I can feel in places I have not laid it is firmer/harder still, but I feel it would need some kind of appropriate objective measurement to be taken.
OK great, thanks for the additional information. It really doesn’t seem like you should be experiencing the softening that you’ve described within just one year. Toppers (or latex layers not encased in the same cover as the support core) do tend to break down sooner than they would if they were within the same cover as the core, and this is because of the extra shear forces that toppers experience. The type of latex, amount of UV rays the topper is exposed to, amount of oxygen the topper is exposed to, and many other factors affect how quickly latex breaks down. The way latex softens is a complicated process, and I wish I could summarize it for you properly myself, but Phoenix has done so much more research into the issue than I have, so I would have to defer to Phoenix’ expertise. Please see Phoenix’ post here for in-depth information regarding how latex breaks down –
https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/latex-durability-vs-longetivity
Thanks for the reply and the other topic you referred to, which I had a good read of.
What I am going to need to do is show that it has softened. I can feel it very obviously when I lay on it, but I need to show it in some kind of objective way, if possible. Any idea how I might do that?
I don’t know of any way to measure the softness within your own home, and it sounds like you would’ve had to measure the softness when you first received the order so that you have something to compare the current measurement to.
Thanks for the reply.
Well I find myself needing a new layer on top of my firm mattress, whether latex or something else.
At the moment I am hardly getting any sleep because the mattress is too firm without the topper. With the topper it is too soft. So spinal alignment is not achieved.
Any suggestions what I could get? I need something that I can select at the right softness/support and that won’t change too much over time. At least not in just 6 months!