I purchased a Sleep Science 9" Natural Talalay Latex Mattress. 3" of 20-24 ILD (was advertised as19 ILD) over a 6" 32 ILD core. It felt firm but ok everywhere except my shoulders which would still make my arms go numb (side sleeper). I’m 5’10" and 225lbs athletic build. I can return the mattress without issue (Costco) but where do I go from here? I’m told that’s as soft as I should go but this mattress seems firm to me and others who have tried it. It’s got the Latex International Test tags on the foam itself so I assume the numbers are correct. I need more pressure relief in my shoulders. I was contemplating getting an Arizona Premium Mattress cover and (2) 3" layers of Latex for the bottom and middle layers, and then buying an edizone Intelli-gel buckling gel layer if possible to use as my top comfort layer within the same mattress cover. I don’t know if I would have to buy Intelli-bed’s topper to get it and how thick the gel piece is. Has anybody tried this? I tried to find the Serta mattress you had previously provided a link to which supposedly had these materials in it already, but the link no longer gets you to that product. You didn’t give the name of it. Is it still available? I am planning on putting this on top of an adjustable bed base so I don’t want to go with the expensive Intellibed with coils in it (reduces the warranty to 10 years). Plus, I’m trying to keep the mattress height to 10" or so for overall finished height reasons. Any help or direction here would be appreciated. I know…a lot of issues here!
Hi mellowjammer,
There are many other latex mattress options available to you if you decide to return it. The mattress shopping tutorial includes a link to the members of this site that sell mattresses online and many of them sell latex mattresses that use different types and blends of latex with a wide range of designs, features, firmness options, return and exchange policies, and price ranges that would make good choices.
If you let me know your city or zip code … I’d also be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.
I’m not sure how long you’ve had the Sleep Science latex but there are some suggestions in post #2 here that may be helpful.
If you have already been sleeping on it for a few weeks and it’s still too firm and none of the other suggestions are helpful (and a thicker pillow may be worth trying), then you would also have the option of adding a topper to provide the additional comfort and pressure relief that you need instead of returning it and starting all over again.
If you do decide to add a topper … then post #2 here and the topper guidelines that it links to has more information about choosing the type, thickness, and firmness that would have the best chance of success.
I don’t know of anyone that has tried this combination but if you are considering either a topper or a top layer to use in a component or DIY mattress then the only way to know whether it would work well for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) would be based on your own personal experience so if you aren’t familiar with how the combination will feel for you (which may be different from how it would feel for someone else) or you aren’t confident that it would be a good match for you in terms of PPP then the exchange or return policy would become a much more important part of the “value” of your purchase in case your sleeping experience indicates that it doesn’t work out as well as you hoped for.
As far as I know you can’t buy the intelligel material separately but the Intelligel topper has a 3" layer of intelligel and a cover and if you purchase the mattress protector as well then you would qualify for their 60 day trial period.
No … it’s no longer available but there are other mattresses that use different versions of buckling column gel (Somnigel and Orthogel) that may be available in your area (see post #2 here).
Phoenix
Well I will find out how it works as I have ordered the Sleep EZ 7000 series bed to get the two 3" layers of Talalay for the bottom (firm) & middle (medium) and Shaun is going to provide a 9" mattress cover so that I can tuck the intelli-gel topper in as the top layer. Everything can be returned if necessary so I shouldn’t be out more that a hundred or so bucks if it doesn’t pan out. I will report back with results when I have made an assessment of my sleeping comfort with this configuration.
Hi mellowjammer,
Congratulations on your new mattress 
You certainly made some high quality choices and since your combination of components are quite different from the norm I’ll be particularly interested in your comments and feedback when you’ve received everything and had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.
Phoenix
So…this is a follow-up on my experiment with the Intellibed buckling gel topper. The topper itself works very well if used as designed. The key is to have nothing more than a sheet or a sheet and a very thin mattress protector between yourself and the topper.
My intended use (experiment) was to use the topper as the top 3" layer in a 9" thick mattress cover…the middle and bottom layers each being 3" latex layers (medium & firm). The thing that made the buckling gel less effective in this configuration was the mattress cover, which was a standard organic cotton with a quilted wool layer from Sleep EZ. It was simply too thick & tight to really get the benefit of the gel below it. This might work well for someone who is using a very thin (knit) mattress cover, but In my case it wasn’t worth the high cost of the gel topper ($800) because I could get the same basic feel from a soft layer (19 ILD) of organic latex for less than half the cost. So, my experience was that buckling gel, like latex, seems to be most effective when it can be close to the body in order to allow for greater pressure relief.
Hi mellowjammer,
Thanks for the feedback about the Intelligel topper … I appreciate it :).
Your comments about a quilted cover are interesting to me because they actually use a quilted polyfoam layer above the intelligel layer in their own mattresses although the topper appears to have just the intelligel without a foam layer on top of it (it looks like it only has a polyfoam layer underneath it).
When I tested a different version of buckling column gel (made by Nexgel which has a little higher column buckling threshold than the Intelligel apparently which would make it firmer) I could still feel the “crinkly” feel when you move even with a foam layer on top of it which was somewhat unusual although it wasn’t unpleasant.
I also think your comments will also be helpful for others that are considering the same topper.
Phoenix