Okay - it finally arrived and put all the layers together. Based upon the recommendations from Sean at Sleep Ez this is what we chose as far as comfort layers
for me I chose the 100% talalay soft, medium and firm (110 lbs)
For partner - medium, firm and x-firm (199 lbs)
1st off - it is a totally different feel than a tradional spring mattress - not as “cushy” and much lower as there are no pillow top comfort layer which gave the bed extra height.
Based on only one night - hard to judge as its way too early but I did find it on the hard side - and that is with a soft talalay top and talaly throughout. As Dunlop is even firmer. I didnt have the sensation of “sinking” which led me to the latex mattress - which I think will be a good thing in the long run.
My question is this - will this mattress - the latex - settle down and not be so hard or this is basically it? I cannot get it any softer unless I choose to switch out the middle layer from medium to soft. My partner expressed that his side, med, firm, x-firm was like sleeping on a “board”.
I also got the two latex pillows - also takes time getting used to these as well.
Latex will not soften significantly so what you have now will tend to stay the same.
In the ILD’s you are using … latex is much firmer than what many people are used to in a mattress. The soft at Sleepez is in the range of 22-24 ILD. To compare this to “normal” mattresses … memory foam usually has an ILD in the range of 9-15 (although this varies with temperature and humidity) and the soft polyfoam usually used on top of mattresses often has an ILD of less than 10.
Because of its point elasticity (the ability to take on a body shape and distribute body weight) even firmer latex can be very pressure relieving but it will often feel much firmer than people are used to.
I would certainly give it a little bit of time to get used to the feel … but if you do decide to do a layer exchange then I would think carefully about which layer to change. Latex comes in ILD’s as low as 14 and is commonly available in an ILD of 19. If you change the middle layer … you will be changing your sleeping alignment and I suspect it is the top layer which is the reason for the firmness that you feel, not the middle one.
I would also suggest that your partner try your side and/or try the soft top layer on top of the firm and extra firm after sleeping on his current configuration for a couple of nights.
In any case … keep us updated as you sleep on it for a few nights and adjust to a different feel.
Similar to what Phoenix mentioned, from my own experience, I would not recommend softening the middle layer.
One of the combinations I tried was 3"firm dunlop bottom, 3" soft dunlop middle, 2" medium talalay top. While that initially felt ok, after one night I wanted to scream. Still felt kind of firm on top, but not enough support from the soft middle layer, so my back hurt.
For what it’s worth and from my own experience with latex layers, I would keep your softest layer on top, not in the middle!
