Hi,
Just looking for some feedback here… I bought the components for a DIY ultimate hybrid from APM a few months ago. We went with the soft comfort layer in King.
In a vacuum, the comfort is pretty good. The problem I’m having is that my wife is a somewhat restless/twitchy sleeper, and it seems that latex, while great at some aspects of motion isolation, is not good at all at damping quick, “sharp” movements. I’ve been having a hell of a time sharing this bed, and I find myself sleeping on the couch about a third of the time. Our foundation is the Nomad Plus from KD frames and is pretty solid; I’m pretty sure the latex is the culprit. While most people seem happy with latex, it doesn’t seem to be working for me (my wife, incidentally, sleeps like a rock and hasn’t had any complaints). My issues are pretty well reflected in this older thread:
https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/all-latex-bed-motion-partner-disturbance
Since we bought the bed as a DIY kit instead of the full mattress, it didn’t come with a return policy (dumb mistake on my part in retrospect), so just gotta suck that up, which I can live with. On the plus side, the mattress is modular, so what I’m hoping I can do is just cut the 3" latex comfort layer in half, keep my wife’s side of the bed as-is, and replace my 3" of latex with a different material of some sort. I’m wondering if anyone has any input in terms of what the best material would be, with an emphasis on motion isolation. I was initially considering some kind of memory foam, but I’m not sure if 3" would be enough on top of the pocket coils. I’m actually leaning toward buying a japanese cotton futon or wool mattress topper if I can find one in the right size, but I don’t know if that would really work; it seems a bit unconventional, and I haven’t been able to find anything online about sticking a 3" cotton futon inside a mattress cover on top of pocket coils. Am I crazy, or could that work?
Any advice would be appreciated; this forum’s been a great resource, but this is my first time posting.
It’s highly unlikely the latex is causing the issue. Anyone sleeping on an all latex knows this to be true. Try unzipping the cover for a night. Releasing some of the tension from the cover could very well solve the issue although this is not a complaint we ever receive with any of our designs. I’m just trying to trouble shoot. It is a spring based bed and although pocket coils are great for reducing motion transfer it’s still not 100%. You can also try just cutting the topper in half although I don’t believe for a minute the latex is the issue but doing this will eliminate any possibility of the latex causing the problem. I also would try unzipping the cover and peeling it back so you are sleeping directly on the latex. All these suggestions will help identify what is causing the issue you are sensitive to.
I had never thought about unzipping a cover. I have an all latex 10" mattress with layers from bottom to top - firm Dunlop, medium Dunlop, soft talalay. On top of that I have a 3" soft talalay topper. The mattress has a zippered cover, and the topper has a separate zippered cover. I’m a side sleeper with a shoulder issue and need a little more “sink into” feeling. Would you take the cover off the topper or the mattress itself? I’ve even debated a memory foam topper over the latex mattress because I like the sink in hug feel of memory foam, but I get hot with lower end chain store memory foam ones.
Before you purchase something else, keeping in mind that you can get extra soft layers of latex, here are 3 thoughts:
1.The zippered cover certainly can provide some tension and keep you from that cradling feeling you are looking for, especially if it is a thick, quilted fabric which does have as much give as say a knit fabric. Does your zippered ticking have batting stitched to it or is it a very flexible fabric?
2.The zippered cover also provides some constraint to the latex, keeping it in its specific mattress size to the inch, even if it is a flexible fabric. Latex can spread under pressure, particularly the top layer of a mattress, a feature we see on our cutting table all the time. Unzipping it and covering your latex with just a fitted sheet should definitely adjust the feel for you as you have quite a soft combo on top. Even just unzipping the cover on the topper will make a small difference in feel.
3. Perhaps stacking all your layers together, without a separate case for the topper would make a noticeable change. Without that extra layer of fabric, your body weight will be directly in contact with the latex and the latex will bend together even better than when the lower layers are blocked by the fabric.