Hello all, I need some advice for helping remedy a $2000 S&F mistake. Long story short wife and I moved into a bigger house and upgraded to king bed. Against my advice for not wanting to purchase a mattress from a box store, let a lone a pillow top, wife threw a fit and long behold not even a year later we both hate the mattress, Before we had what I would consider the most comfortable bed, a cheap extra firm mattress with a 4" med density memory foam topper. Never slept better and it cost a heck of a lot less than this S&F garbage. She succumbed to the pillow top feeling great in store even though I told her pillow tops suck. After a few weeks of me complaining about “sinking in” her side started to as well. I called the store we bought it from and as expected pointless. Said I could sell the mattress or have a warranty inspector come out. After some searching and not having the urge to drop more $ for another new mattress I’m thinking about doing some surgery. Overall, I’m super DIY and handy so not worried about tackling the job more so just needing some advice on how to go about it. From what I’ve gathered here is my understanding…
-Cut the top in 3 areas to “open it up”. Can be done with a seam ripper or a sharp knife.
-Remove the bad foam
-Get a topper, the one I bought before was from an upholstery shop on ebay. Nothing fancy but it worked and worked well. Believe it was 4 or 5lb memory foam, but it was a while ago so can’t remember the exact details. (Has a yellowish color, don’t know if that matters)
-Throw everything back together and hopefully catch some ZZZZ’s.
Unfortunately your experience isn’t all that unusual with a major brand mattress … especially with pillowtops that use lower quality and less durable materials.
Your process is basically right but there is more detailed information about mattress surgery in post #2 here and the other posts and sources of information that it links to that may be helpful.
Good luck and I’m looking forward to finding out how your mattress surgery works out for you.
Thank you Phoenix. I did a ton of research before buying our current bed and everything said stay away from pillow tops and box store, but wife didn’t care. I was leaning towards a saatva, but she didn’t like the idea of buying one without laying on it… Live and learn I guess.
I looked through some of those threads and started to gather a better understanding. I guess my big question now is what topper to get? I sleep all over the place, back, side, stomach upside down. Wife sleeps mainly on her side or back. I prefer a more firm feel she likes a little bit more cushy but honestly I think she prefers firm but doesn’t want to admit it.
Unfortunately it’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations because the first “rule” of mattress shopping (or mattress surgery) is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” for you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own actual experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
Assuming that the layers you are using to replace the layers in your mattress that have softened or are breaking down meet the durability guidelines here … the type of material that you use would be a preference and budget choice rather than a “better/worse” choice.
The least costly material would be polyfoam which is the most common type of foam used in mattresses. It’s also the material that is used in most sofas so most people are familiar with how it feels in general terms (although there are a very wide range of different firmness levels as well). Memory foam and latex are more premium foams and would be more costly but they can also be very good options although the cost of making a mistake in terms of the firmness of the layer or layers you are replacing can be higher if the supplier you purchase from doesn’t have a good exchange/return policy. There is more about some of the pros and cons of latex vs memory foam in post #2 here but the best way to decide on which type of material you tend to prefer will be based on your own personal experience since you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress.
The mattress surgery post I linked also includes a link to the better online sources I’m aware of for mattress components and materials.
Every layer and component in a mattress (including the cover and any quilting material in the cover) will affect the feel and performance of every other layer and component both above and below it and the mattress “as a whole” so it may take some trial and error to find the type and firmness of replacement foam that works well in combination with the other materials and components that you decide to keep in your mattress in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP.
I gotcha, I was trying to determine exactly what you posted about materials and such, so answers that. Thinking about the memory foam as it had been what worked good in the past but as you stated with the layers all interacting together to get the ideal “feel” is key. I will start doing some research on retailers and see. Thanks