I need some help with my DIY mattress. I’m a 70-year-old woman, 5’6” and 190 pounds. Over the past few years, I’ve purchased several mattresses and latex toppers in an attempt to have a mattress that I can actually sleep on. Just as I was reviewing current mattress trends, I came across DIY mattresses. Light bulb! Since I already had several latex toppers, I would make my own mattress. After tons of research, reading comments on Reddit, other DIY sites and AI, I purchased a few more latex layers and an encasement and I have a mattress. Feeling pretty proud of myself, I slept on my mattress for a week and discovered it wasn’t exactly what I needed. Following some AI information I purchased yet another latex layer. I no longer have lower back pain, hip pain is minimal, but shoulder pain is almost unbearable. I moved the layers around but still haven’t found the perfect combination. I don’t want to continue buying layers until I have a better idea of what I need. My current layout is as follows:
Bottom: Leggatt and Platt adjustable base. I’ve had this for about 10 years.
First on bottom: Extra Firm 3” Dunlop latex. This is newest layer based on AI recommendations
Second: Firm 3” Dunlop Latex
Third: 2” layer older not sure if it’s soft or medium
Top: 3” Soft older Talalay
Enclosed in a stretch encasement from Sleep on Latex
Reversible wool/cotton mattress pad from Sleeping Organic
So I’m trying to figure out if I have the wrong firmness of layers or do I need to purchase an Encased Coil layer? I have to make this work. I’ve spent too much time bragging about making my own mattress.
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Hi Gigglegirl!
Welcome to our Mattress Forum 
You should be really proud of what you’ve put together so far! Building a DIY mattress takes a lot of patience and trial, and getting rid of your lower back and hip pain means you’ve already solved the hardest part: achieving proper spinal alignment. Hooray!
Since your back and hips feel good, your support core is doing its job. Shoulder pain on a side sleeper usually means you are bottoming out(your shoulder is sinking through that top soft layer and hitting a hard barrier directly beneath it).
Before you buy anything new (including pocket coils), try these zero-cost tweaks with the layers you already own:
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Unzip your mattress encasement: Tight zip covers can create a “drum effect” that pulls the latex taut and stops your shoulder from sinking in naturally. Unzip the Sleep on Latex encasement completely and sleep on the unconstrained stack with just your mattress pad for a couple of nights to see if the pressure eases up.
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Remove the 2-inch mystery layer: An unknown middle layer can act as an unpredictable hard barrier. Try testing a clean 9-inch setup: your 3" Soft Talalay on top, 3" Firm Dunlop in the middle, and 3" Extra Firm Dunlop on the bottom. Simplifying the stack often creates a much smoother comfort transition.
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Check your pillow height: When you switch to latex, your body sits differently than on traditional mattresses. If your pillow is a bit too low, your neck bends and forces your shoulder to bear extra upper-body weight. Try boosting your pillow height slightly to take the pressure off your shoulder joint.
You likely already have all the right components as-is. Give these adjustments a try and let us know how your shoulder feels.
NikkiTMU
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Before you buy another layer, it is worth ruling out the one you already have.
An older soft Talalay can develop a body impression, and once it has, it stops behaving like a soft layer no matter what you put underneath it. Take it out, lay it flat on the floor on its own, and look along it at eye level for a dip where your shoulder sits. If it is compressed there, nothing you change further down the stack will fix the shoulder pain, and an encased coil layer would be an expensive way to find that out.
If it looks flat and even, then it is worth talking about firmness and what is under it. It is also worth pinning down that layer you are unsure about, since soft against medium underneath a soft top changes the answer completely.
Thanks NikkiTMU, I’ll give those ideas a try.
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I was wondering if the Talalay could develop an impression. It looks like it when I get up in the morning. The topper is about 10 years old, although it wasn’t used much until recently. Not sure what you meant by “pinning down” the layer I’m unsure about. Are you saying try to determine if its soft or medium? Thanks for your suggestions.
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Yes, latex can develop a body impression, and a dip that is still visible when you get up is the usual sign. Ten years is a well aged for a soft Talalay, and going from light use to daily use will bring it on faster, so what you are describing fits.
A way to be sure: take it off the bed, lay it flat on the floor with nothing on it, and sight along the surface at eye level. A dip you can see from the side is a real impression. A dip you only notice while lying in the bed can just as easily be the layer underneath, which is a different problem with a different fix. Run a level or flat edge across the dip to see how much it sags.
On the other layer, yes, I meant working out whether it is soft or medium. There is no reliable way to judge ILD by hand, so the practical routes are a printed stamp on the layer itself, the original invoice or order confirmation, or asking whoever sold it. Worth doing before spending anything, because soft over medium and soft over firm behave quite differently under a shoulder.
If the top layer has gone, deal with that first. Nothing you change underneath will make up for a comfort layer that has already collapsed.
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