I’m looking for some advice. I’ve had a rough time the last few years with mattresses. I had a tempur pedic for years that I loved at first, but wore out and became intolerable to sleep on. I decided to go with an innerspring next. it started to wear out too, I think the pillow top wore out somehow and I could feel the springs so I ended up buying a 3" tempur pedic topper. this combination is unbearable to sleep on, I basically bottom out the topper and sink down.
I went down the rabbit hole researching how to do a DIY latex build. I’m kind of lost. I know I need some firm base layers. I was thinking of getting about 9" of the firmest I can find, and then 1 or 2 more 3" comfort layers. if anyone has some insight into exactly what I should do I would really appreciate it. I’m mostly a side sleeper. ive tried mattresses in stores lately and I would say my favorite feel is the firmest tempur pedic they had. every other bed seemed too soft.
At that height and weight you’re going to need at least 4 or 5 of the 3" latex foam layers to make it work for you.
I would start with something like this first.
3" talalay 22ILD - Comfort Layer
3" talalay or dunlop 36ILD - Support Layer
3" talalay or dunlop 36-40ILD - Support Layer
3" talalay or dunlop 44ILD - Support Layer
I would suggest using talalay in the support layers too if you have really wide shoulders since you are also a side sleeper. This design can be tweaked if you need additional comfort/support but key is to make sure the lower layers are stiff enough to provide reasonably good alignment and then go from there.
thanks for the response . what 5th layer do you think would be good? does anyone make a mattress cover thick enough or would i have to make one somehow? i would even do 6 layers if it would be better.
another thing that crossed my mind was ordering just the very firm support layers and trying to sleep on it. will it be way too firm?
I’m about the same size as you and have a couple of points I think you could find helpful based on my experience assembling latex layers. First of all I’ve found that 3 layers of 3" latex is sufficient as long as the base layers are suitably firm to provide the needed support. I started with 2 x 3" layers of XF Dunlop 44ILD as a base with a 3" top layer of F Talalay 36ILD. That setup provided firm support along with some conformance on top and didn’t present any problem with bottoming out. I thought it might feel even more supportive or comfortable with another support layer, so I added another XF Dunlop layer in the support base but was surprised to find that the combination provided less overall support. It was then explained to me that even though you might think adding an additional XF layer would add support, the fact is that all latex layers have some give and adding an additional layer even of XF will result in less overall support since there will be more total compression allowed.
So don’t assume that you need 5 or 6 layers due to your size, you definitely don’t want 6" of comfort layers since it would likely result in you hammocking. We’re all different so you can experiment with 3 or 4 layers, but you definitely need XF base layers. I’ve tried 2 or 3 XF base layers alone like you mentioned and found them incredibly hard and uncomfortable. You need some more conformance on top. What works for me may not be a match for your needs and preferences despite our similar size. Good luck with your project, hope you find your ideal bed!
[quote=“jake12 post=91907”]thanks for the response . what 5th layer do you think would be good? does anyone make a mattress cover thick enough or would i have to make one somehow? i would even do 6 layers if it would be better.
another thing that crossed my mind was ordering just the very firm support layers and trying to sleep on it. will it be way too firm?[/quote]
As Bill mentioned it’s important to build your mattress from the bottom up since support is the key to proper alignment. The best mattress design is always the simplest one that works for you so fewer layers is always better as long as the mattress perfroms how you want it to. You could certainly start with 3 layers like he suggests (44D/44D/36T) and see how that feels initially then based on the result that will help guide you on what you need to do next. You need to address both comfort and alignment but alignment comes from the lower support layers so get that nailed down first then work on the comfort part after. A mattress cover should be your very last step after you figure out what you need (plenty of options for mattress covers with any number of layers so no worries there).
that actually makes a lot of sense. did you end up taking the added firm layer out? if i go with that setup; 6" xf and 3" firm what do I do if it’s too firm? will it be best to remove the firm layer and do medium, or add another layer?
I would suggest sticking to using 3" layers in your mattress to maximize your adjustability. As you pointed out you can’t do much with a 6" base layer if you picked wrong so sticking to 3" layers makes this process much easier. I would start with the layers suggested first then see what you need next based on how those support layers feel (ie alignment good / pressure bad then just add a suitable comfort layer or alignment bad / pressure good then you can look at layer changes or zoning as needed). It’s hard to guess all the hypothetical possibilities up front, better to just make informed design decisions based on what you actually experience from each change.
Yes, I removed the third XF Dunlop layer since with it I was having lower back pain. The 3 layer setup XFD/XFD/FT is much firmer and provides more support, but I’m sure it would be too firm for most lighter sleepers. As Mattrebuild stated it’s hard to predict how a similar setup will feel to you, but if it’s too firm I’d probably suggest trying to add an additional 2" or 3" XF support layer based on my experience. I’d fear that adding another comfort layer could result in hammocking.
[quote=“Sweet Dreams post=91929”]Yes, I removed the third XF Dunlop layer since with it I was having lower back pain. The 3 layer setup XFD/XFD/FT is much firmer and provides more support, but I’m sure it would be too firm for most lighter sleepers. As Mattrebuild stated it’s hard to predict how a similar setup will feel to you, but if it’s too firm I’d probably suggest trying to add an additional 2" or 3" XF support layer based on my experience. I’d fear that adding another comfort layer could result in hammocking.
[/quote]
thanks for the info on this. I guess that’s the plan for now, ill try out the XF XF F layout and see how it goes. since its not as crazy as I thought before do you think it would be similar in cost to just order the whole mattress from somewhere? Ive noticed that some of the stores say their beds arent for my size.
that makes sense, guess there’s no real advantage to getting the 6" slab, would be harder to deal with anyway. do you think its worth it to go with all talalay? I will definitely get it for the top layer at least. I hope i like it, ive never slept on a latex mattress before, but im not that picky as long as it has good support.
You should not only compare cost but return policies especially since you’ve never slept on latex before. Just because something works for me and we’re similarly sized doesn’t mean you’ll like it, so it would be a big risk to make the purchase if you can’t return it for a refund. Usually you’ll pay more up front for a better return policy but it can be worthwhile to minimize your risk.
As I mentioned earlier talalay and dunlop have very different response curves. Dunlop firms up faster as you push on it (making it better for support) while talalay allows more travel before getting firmer (making it better for contouring). I have no idea what your body shape is so for instance if you have a more blocky frame you’d probably be better off with dunlop while more curvy folks usually need the talalay to accomodate shoulders/hips while side sleeping. You’d be the best judge of what might work best since you know your own situation (shape, preferences, etc) better than anyone else. I think considering the big problem you had earlier was hammocking I would probably go with dunlop initially (44D/44D/36T) on the lower layers (alternately you could try 44D/44T/36T) and then see how it feels and adjust from there as needed. When you build your own mattress you are likely to make some decisions that don’t work out and that’s ok it’s just part of the process. For instance you may find you prefer either dunlop or talalay more in the support layers which isn’t really something we can always accurately guess beforehand on a forum (although we try to help you get as close as possible). You can also try and minimize this issue with return policies but sometimes that isn’t possible either (I had to deal with that many times myself being in Canada). To me the real key is to focus on the fact you’re building a completely custom mattress designed for you specifically that will likely last 15-20 years (even then it will be fully rebuildable at the end of it’s life). Something to keep in mind anyway as you go down the DIY mattress route.