DIY Latex Mattress help - because forget going the easy way! *sigh*

[Silverrowan]

Thank you for your wonderfully detailed (and quick) response! I really appreciate it.

@Phoenix

Hi Silverrowan,
Unfortunately, much of what you’re asking is predictive, and even making predictions upon potential changes to configurations that you haven’t yet tested, so I’m somewhat limited to the good objective advice that I can provide you.

The idea I’m trying to ask here, if it is even possible to guesstimate an answer, what pieces am I most likely to be able to get use out of w/ testing. I was hoping there was enough information for a direction. Or, at least to know if it is not - I think I got the latter answer!

Oh and to answer a question you asked somewhere in the post: I’m looking for a Queen size mattress.

@Phoenix

Trying to predict how a mattress will “feel” … your own careful testing …
I would start by reading and using the mattress shopping tutorial here as a good reference. Two of the most important links in the tutorial are post #2 here, which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP. This can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you had hoped.
…
I really think you’re getting way ahead of yourself with possibilities

I was worried you’d say that last part! :pinch: Definitely did the researching part and used what I could. Its how I knew to get the specs I did, and how I know I’ve been out of alignment on pretty much everything. I’m trying to get my partner to read/adhere to the ideas but he really wants to just go in, find one he likes, grab it and leave (or let my try and make a copy of it). Getting him even to the two places we did go to was difficult, despite them being quite close by. We do not have a car, and so are TTC and foot dependent, and lots of these places are pretty far from the main arteries, or quite small. I found another location that might work well for testing: Soma, but its still a fair treck to get there and I have no idea how many beds there will be to try out / what configurations until I get there. On the other hand “ideal matress canada” seems like it might be a good place to start trying things out, and isn’t actually that far by car, but its near impossible for me to get to without sinking in multiple hours each way.

@Phoenix

When you can’t test a mattress in person (like some of the online options you mentioned), the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them (such as any local testing you have done, mattresses you have slept on and liked), and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else, and they can also speak to any policies that they might offer for returns/exchanges should your purchase not turn out as well as you would have hoped.

I really should do this. I guess I’d just rather look like an unprepared fool on the internet then over the phone, lol.

@Phoenix

And for more specifics…

Must Haves:

• alterable for minimal investment down the line; ideally of the just open up and swap foam variety.
• under $2000 total to start.

A component-style mattress system should easily fit your needs in this situation. You don’t mention the size you are considering. You can also see some comments about the pros and cons of a component mattress with a zip cover where you can choose the type and firmness of each layer vs a “finished mattresses” that has glued layers in post #15 here and post #2 here.

• provide proper support to two people of very different body types and sleeping habits (thinking split here; detailed at the bottom of this post)

Yes, this is easily done with most component style systems.
…
Having the component-style system would be convenient for this, or you could also investigate the use (potentially) of a topper down the road should your weight fluctuate to the extent that this was necessary. But I would focus on finding a comfort that works for you in a mattress without a topper bases upon your current weight.
…

• highly durability (High durability of overall mattress; upgrading some initially low-cost parts is not out of the question)

Latex will certainly suit your needs here, and it is common to find component systems using all latex configurations.

That is good to hear, and thank you for the specific links - It definitely sounds like the upsides of this style outweigh the downsides for me. And yes, I plan to find something that works now, not in some nebulous future. I’d just like the ability in said nebulous future to have something that works then too without buying a completely new mattress.

@Phoenix

• • • currently both of us are experiencing back pain. (in physio for it, but the mattress is decidedly not helping matters any)

Unfortunately, there is no one best mattress for back pain. The key will be finding something using componentry that allows for more neutral alignment and hopefully doesn’t exacerbate your existing conditions too much. There is a bit more about common back “issues” when sleeping upon a mattress, and how to address those issues, and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here .

• pain-free

This goes along with the back pain issue, as there is not mattress that can be guaranteed to provide you a pain-free night’s sleep. But deferring first to alignment, and then to comfort, can hopefully assist you in getting you the best sleep possible.

I know, I don’t want the mattress to fix our back problems, I just want it to not make them worse!
by “pain free” I meant pain caused by said mattress or worsened by it - I should have been clearer. I know its not a magic foam bullet.
Part of my particular is that my posture is pretty freaking bad, period. That negative shoulder pushing effect you describe for back sleeping may actually be beneficial for me sleeping on my stomach, as my shoulders are so far forward its messing things up. I figure going “too” soft may have problems elsewhere though.

@Phoenix

• shipping to Canada (we live in Toronto)

You can start looking online and you may wish to use the expertise of the members listed in post #21 here who are all very experienced and knowledgeable and specialize in providing the type of help and guidance on the phone that can help you make good choices. There are a wide range of latex options included in the choices there and I believe that all of them compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency. Many of them ship to Canada. There is also another list of online mattress sources for Canadians in post #21 here.

I like the fact that this list has more description than the general stores thread! Thank you.
and oh my, the Reverie springs Idea sounds really appealing, but oof, the price. 3K for their cheapest non-memfoam one (Queen) and only the cells reconfigurable…

@Phoenix

some of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around Toronto are listed here .

Great list! Thank you! Sadly, of the members/factory direct and retailers list that are in Toronto (Scarborough and North York included because they may be accessible to me) the only websites that are still active from that list are for: Quality Foam and mattress, Quality Mattress Factory Inc, and TonFurniture.com. The links for Diamond Bedding Inc is a yelp-like page, whereas the one for Globe Foam looks more like someone else has thrown a blurb for them up on a business marketing site & might disappear at any moment. Interesting quirk: for some reason, TorFurniature seems to be hiding its location, beyond “North York” on its website. Considering that is a region that wraps around the north and east sides of Toronto, theres a pretty big difference in location depending on where in there it is!

@Phoenix

Latex will “tick off” quite a few of the boxes on your “wish list”…
…
Even with splitting the entire mattress, the middle section where the foam layers meet is usually not noticeable.

sweet!

@Phoenix

None of the mattresses you mentioned are component style systems, and are using quite a few different types of componentry, so just like the Essentia, the testing you did here can’t be related to any component-style system that is all-latex that you might consider purchasing online. The only thing you can relate would be exactly how you felt on these specific items.

poop. ugh. ok, so I’m gonna have to haul my partner out to a store with component systems. joy :dry:

@Phoenix

• as I seem to consistently have a gap under my neck and my torso not sinking down, I’m wondering If I should try a zoned mattress or just go with softer latex. Or if I’m reading too much into things and a gap under the neck is ok? I know the torso not being aligned with the rest is not.

Having a slight gap under the lower cervical region is normal, as there is usually a slight lordotic curve in that region, and is the main job of the pillow to accommodate.

While everyone’s comfort preference is different, sinking in too greatly in this region can quite often be a sign of too much surface plushness. But this is a general statement. If you’re specifically interested in zoning, there is more information in …

good to know if I end up going there; really, I’m hoping I don’t have to.

@Phoenix

…foam suppliers…

Take a look at the options I listed in the online link earlier in this reply – there are many that offer the component-style latex mattress systems you desire, and you can phone them to check into shipping rates to Canada. The Latex Mattress Factory offering isn’t a component mattress, which is what you specified you desired, but you may wish to check out their other company, SleepEZ. Mattresses.net is in Arizona and they offer latex component-style systems.

The Latex Mattress Factory has a section where its foam cores, 2" & 3" layers, and covers (even pocketed innersprings too!). Other than not having pre-selected layers in the set-up, how does this differ from a component system? (because right now, it looks like the price difference is massive for very similar materials)

@Phoenix

• given that I seem to be best with a more basic slab o latex or latex over HR foam, and its likely going to become a case of zoning hips vs. elsewhere in the end for me,

How have you made the determination that you need zoning already? Have you tried a specific zone system and had a good experience with it? And what I see that you’ve tried was latex over a polyfoam core over another piece of latex, which would be a different feel than a piece of latex upon a polyfoam core alone.

I have not decided anything - I’m thinking its probable as I’m dealing with my hips sinking enough or too much, and my ribcage floating, and the fact that I move a lot in my sleep, so want to accommodate more than one position. I don’t do still well when I’m awake either I have not been able to find a component system to try out yet, and it is definitely not my first step, hence future tense and probability language. I’m hoping to avoid it, honestly. Seems more complicated than I want to deal with if I don’t have to.

[quote=“Phoenix”]

… plan… ideas… component questions…{/quote]
I really think you’re getting way ahead of yourself with possibilities based upon possibilities when you haven’t even tested out a configuration similar to what you’re considering ordering.

I would suggest that you take a big step back and refer back to your "wants’ in the early part of your post and put those on a legal pad and stick to those things. Most of what you seem to desire can be found (objectively) in a latex-style component system.

OK.
To some extent I was trying to bring the trial process home in an educated guess/limited manner because my partner is impossible to drag to these places. To be fair, though, he does have absolutely no free time, between a masters degree, internship and the bloody extended interview process in the field he’s getting into.

(why does preview not work?.. )