Break-in time: Support vs. Comfort

Hey there,
So I’ve read the difference in the pinned tutorials between support and comfort is that comfort is the initial feel upon lying down, and support is the overall support given to your body alignment over the course of a night.

My question is this: It seems everyone suggests a period of adjustment for comfort, but what about support? My new Endy (3 weeks with it actually) felt (and still feels) great when lying down at night, but I wake up every morning with a bit of a sore lower back. Does break-in and adjustment only apply to comfort, or can support improve over several weeks as well?

Hi seanpatrick.

Welcome to our Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

While there will be a certain amount of “false firmness” with any new mattress which will gradually soften (particularly in the areas where you sleep the most) and as everything "breaks in and you adjust to a new sleeping surface (see post #2 here ), the comfort layer(s) on a mattress will be doing most of the breaking in as they absorb much of compression forces that come from sleeping on it and tend to act as a “shield” for the layers below to some degree. The support layers also tend to be higher density and more durable foams and “resist” more to any “break in” processes that may occur. The most adjustment you’d notice will come from the component that is closest to your body as it undergoes the most mechanical stress. As the cover stretches and foams go through the initial softening, once this is done further softening is occurring much slower. Most of the initial break in period of a mattress as well as most of your initial adjustment (see post #3 here) period to a new sleeping surface tends to happen in the first 30 days or so in most cases, but in some cases can take a little longer.

While it’s not possible to pinpoint mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because they can be very complex and there are too many unique unknowns, variables, and complexities involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP or any “symptoms” they experience … there is more about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here that may be helpful.

You may wish to consider other factors such as the foundation you are using, your pillow, and in the case of memory foam the temperature of the room as well. You could check the foundation to make sure it was even and rigid or test this by trying the mattress on the floor for a few nights to see if it made a difference This being said if after the adjustment period and after ruling out some of the other possiblilities that may contribute to your discomfort, things do not improve and the soreness does not subside you may wish to consider returning the product and starting your research with the guidelines in the mattress shopping tutorial Endy also has 2" 3 lb gel memory foam in its uppermost layer which is a lower density material than I would suggest (see the durability guidelines here)

Phoenix

Is the above still true? I just reached out to Endy via email and got this as a response:

Hi Dean

Thanks for reaching out! The memory foam and the support layers of foam are polyurethane, however they are amongst the highest and safest grades available in North America.

Our mattress is CertiPUR-US Certified, meaning that they are:

✓ Made without ozone depleters

✓ Made without PBDEs, TDCPP or TCEP (“Tris”) flame retardants

✓ Made without mercury, lead, and other heavy metals

✓ Made without formaldehyde

✓ Made without phthalates regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission

✓ Low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions for indoor air quality (less than 0.5 parts per million)

Our top layer is 2 inches of a proprietary Endy Foam which is comparable to a 4lb high density foam, the middle layer is 3 inches of a 1.8lb high-density transitional foam, and the bottom layer is 5 inches of a 1.8lb high-density support foam.

"The support layers also tend to be higher density and more durable foams and “resist” more to any “break in” processes that may occur. "

What if the mattress has firmer layers above (“dominating”) softer layers below?
In our current configuration, with a flippable Zenhaven firm side up, we have a 1.5" zoned N1 comfort layer (14-20 ILD) on the bottom, followed by a 3" support layer (25-29 ILD), followed by a firmer 3" support layer (30-34 ILD). The whole package, in this configuration, feels pretty good to me. Can I count on it staying that way (assuming I don’t gain weight, the bed frame doesn’t sag, etc.)? There must be some compression or softening of those bottom layers over time.