Can a box spring be the root cause of a mattress that is too hard?

[phoenix]

Hi OsbourneCox,

The Ikea MORGONGÅVA arrives yesterday, they take away our old mattress, we set it up on the existing box springs and are stunned at how hard it feels. It’s nowhere near as soft as it was in the store. In fact, it feels like the old mattress we just got rid of. I was somewhat devastated. I tried the mattress at Ikea on both a boxspring and a slat bed and I definitely preferred the feel of the box spring and figured our box springs would be perfect.

An “active” support system under a mattress can have a considerable effect on how it feels and performs and it will vary depending on the specifics of the support system. When you are testing mattresses with flexible support systems underneath them then it’s usually best to treat the support system as part of the sleeping system and purchase the specific set that was the best match for you in terms of PPP because if your box spring is firmer than the box spring or slat system you tested the mattress on in the store then it could certainly account for the difference in how it feels.

There will also be a break in and adjustment period for any new mattress as well and there are some additional suggestions in post #2 here that may also be helpful.

Which makes me wonder if the mattress we just ditched was fine and just needed a new foundation. But isn’t that backwards? Aren’t box springs supposed to provide a certain amount of shock absorption? Could a bad set of box springs make a mattress feel too firm? Could a mattress feel softer on slats or an actual floor than the actual box springs that were bought with the mattress?

There is more information about the types of support systems that are generally best for different types of mattresses in the foundation post here (and the two posts it links to in the second paragraph) but a box spring or any “active” part of a sleeping system can certainly affect the feel and performance of a sleeping system. In most cases using a non flexing foundation will make the mattress feel firmer but sometimes the effect of different components can be surprising. There are different types of firmness and softness that some people can be more or less sensitive to (see post #15 here) and by firming up the support system under a mattress it can also “force” more of the compression to the top layer of the mattress which for some people may “feel” what they “translate” as being softer so the individual effects of different components can be different for different people and the only “rule” is that personal experience always “trumps” theory.

I’m somewhat devastated about this. I feel like we might have wasted our money and I’m really not sure how to proceed. Do we buy new boxsprings? (Another $500) Do we try slats? (Our existing slats are too wide for a latex mattress.) Am I misdiagnosing the whole situation? Is the firmness via the box springs caused by the fact that they are split king box springs?

If your mattress is too firm then you still have good options to make if softer with a topper and it’s certainly less risky to buy a mattress that is too firm than one that is too soft. The only way to really know the cause of your experience though would be through a process of elimination based on trial and error. For example you could test the effect of your box spring vs a rigid foundation by putting your mattress on the floor to see the specific difference that it makes.

Phoenix