NP
Hello,
Just out of curiosity, is there any way to slow down the springy surface feel of latex from the top layer down. Would one inch of super soft poly on top do anything? I ask because Iāve built a modular mattress and it can be set up in 3 different configurations. I have 3 three 2 inches layers which can be set up in multiple combinations above a 4 inch base layer. Iāve tried:
2 inch 19 ild latex over 2 inches 5 lb memory foam( like it a lot). this is my favorite
2 inch memory foam over 2 inch latex( acceptably comfy but hot some nights)
2 inches latex over 2 inches 25 ild HR poly foam. very bouncy surface feel, hard to feel settled in as a side sleeper, but like it generally as far as pressure-alignmentā¦ this is the config I want to try to figure out how to slow down the surface. The challenge is I want to come at with with a maximum of 1 inch and not memory foam. My goal is to have three different mattress configs, which I can play around with and that all suit me depending on how I want my bed to feel that week.
Any suggestions for slowing the surface would be appreciated. Not sure if I can pull this off with one inch.
Iām assuming the springy nature of 2 inches of poly ( in HR) under the latex is acting much like 2 layers of latex. Maybe not exactly, but enough to confirm my original complaint with an all latex mattress.
gardenguy,
Surface modifications will be most effective if looking to manipulate the feel/springiness of what you have. For a thin layer, Iāve personally found a wool topper to be very effective at this (itās what I use).
Modifications beneath can also have an impact (just less dramatic). Memory foam will be quite dramatic, but you wish to avoid memory foam. Without knowing the ball rebound for comparison of the latex compared to the polyurethane foam being considered itās difficult to make accurate predications, but even HR polyfoam generally doesnāt have as high of a ball rebound as latex in similar softnesses, so it can reduce buoyancy a bit.
Jeff Scheuer, The Beducator
Beducation / Mattress To Go
Thanks Jeff, very much appreciated once again. Still loving my DIY mattress, alignment and pressure relief is exceptional, although I still havenāt gotten the surface feel Iāve been going for in the top inch.
I decided I may try 3 different one inch layers to test surface heat retention and motion deadening characteristics. A one inch thick high quality polyester fiber mattress cover, which unfortunately is probably going back due to heat retention. A one inch thick piece of super soft foam which is coming tomorrow. I hope it sleeps less hot than the fiber cover. If these two are very heat retentive Iāll resort to the wool. I wanted to save some money because the least expensive wool topper around one inches thick I could find was 124 dollars for twin size. I suppose it may come to that though. I could use one inch of memory foam but I have my doubts itāll be cooler than the polyester fiber.
Does anyone have a recommendation for where to buy a thin wool layer if it comes to that? And is the feel drastically different than a polyester fiber cover? I was hoping to approximate the feel.
You have the most important part down, which is the support/alignment.
I donāt have a preferred source for thin wool layers, as there are many out there. Even a thinner wool mattress pad can modify surface comfort. There are some wool sources discussed in the topper post, as well as in the component section of the site that at be helpful.
Jeff Scheuer, The Beducator
Beducation/ Mattress To Go
Thanks Jeff, I may go the wool route in the future. Although I have mostly gotten used to sleeping directly on latex now. It did take some time to mentally overcome my conditioning from years on other surfaces, but I do seem to be adapting to a livelier surface.
Just an update:
So today I tested out my 1.8 pound base foam just by doing a pressure test with a weighted circular disc in various spots, without any other layers on it. The reason I did this is because I thought my alignment was pretty good,(until very recently) but by the end of the night this past week I have been waking up with lower back aches, enough to wake me up. I had not noticed this on the guest room bed, which is made out of 2.8 pound base foam and is used less often. Is it possible for poly base foam to be decent in support for months, and then over the coarse of a week catastrophically fail? I have used this base foam as a bed for 12 months, which seems short. Just doing a pushing test as well, I can push through the foam by the hip section much easier than the head and foot sections, so itās very noticeable even without the weighted disc. Maybe it is time to rethink the quality of the base layer, since I have bought all new comfort layers which I like. I would also like to comment that I purchased this base foam from foambymail.com, and have owned it ONLY exactly one year! On the expected lifespan on their website it states 5-8 years. There is no way I can see myself being able to use this as a support layer for much longer.
I would advise anyone to proceed at your own risk from buying foam layers from foambymail.com.
As a follow up question, I was thinking I can either go latex in 3 inch for the base foam( under the 2 inches of latex and 2 inches memory foam) replacement or 4 inches of HR poly foam from foamorder.com. I would hope HR poly foam will last much longer than the stuff I bought. My budget is 200 dollars and that is how much it would cost for either material. So latex is 3 inch and HR poly 4 inch, not sure which would be better in this circumstance. The Hr poly foam would be 34 ild, the latex I am considering would be either 3 inches of around 30 ild dunlop, or 3 inches of 32 ild talalay. I wonder what would feel most supportive and comfortable considering I am only working with 3 or 4 inches and was used to hd poly foam 35 ild ( if it even was 35 ild). I canāt afford 6 inches like many mattress models use, will this affect the feel substantially (not using 6 inches)? I do have a layer of brand new 23 ild hr foam I can put above it however, to increase the thickness. I know the latex will last the longest, but at 30 ild or above, will it make much difference if I go talalay OR dunlop, or HR foam as far as durability and comfort? Thanks much.
Just to make sure, I took the 4 inch poly base foam off and put it on the cement basement floor. I laid on it on the very edge and my middle was supported, moved to the middleā¦ Bam, no support. One year folks, and this was supposedly 1.8 pound foam with a lifespan of 5-8 years. For reference I weigh 140, so in no way on hard on a mattress. I donāt know how it became noticeable so quickly, but it did. My intuition it that it was disrupting my entire latex experiment so Iām going back to latex as a bottom layer. Hope this helps anyone who is considering foam from the afforementioned source.
Without having your foam core in front of me I wouldnāt be able to offer advice if what youāre experiencing is a normal softening in the area of use, or excessive āimpressioningā. Also, I forgot what you are using as a foundation and if this could be contributing to what you are experiencing. And I know youāve already read some of the comments offered on the forum about FBM.
4" for a support core is a little thinner than what is commonly used for polyurethane foam (6" is closer to ānormalā), but that doesnāt mean that it canāt work. Selecting a true HR polyurethane foam (minimum 2.5 lb density and 2.4 compression modulus) in a firmer IFD can help with consistency and durability. If you choose to go to 4" of latex, you may wish to consider Dunlop, as in the smaller thickness it will tend to firm up a bit more as weight is applied than a similar piece of Talalay. Although at a higher ILD/density both would be āfirmā and at 140 pounds youāre not doing considerable damage to either item.
Jeff Scheuer, The Beducator
Beducation /Mattress To Go
It seems we are on similar paths in our diy mattressā. I am also dealing with foamorder, can you tell me how the hr23 feels compared to the 19 ild talalay etc? Have you come up with any more progress? Did you get the hr34 from foamorder? If so what do you think of it? Foambymail seems to get bad reviews so Iād take that in consideration for the durability of 1.8 lb hd polyfoam. I purchased a slab off an eBay seller where they manufacturer it in N. Carolina, the type with soy in it and put it in my couch which gets as much use as any bed and 8 years later itās just starting to go downhill and 8 years was how long it was supposed to last. Curious, what material mattress cover did you settle with? I see foamorder has a 100% Cotton double knit cover. I thought the Pure Talalay Blissā Beautiful was 3" 19 ild on top, but maybe itās 14? The cover is 98% polyester 2% elastane, it is very conforming and can be purchased as a replacement cover thru sellers of PTB though a bit pricey.
Hi Alpharalpha,
Iām not sure if this is a set of questions directed at me or not but I will answer them regardless. My DIY journey has come to an end and I would say it was a success(after many mistakes). It took me about 2 months of experimenting with different materials in different combinations and thicknesses. I replaced the bottom support layer of my mattress with latex instead of poly. I had 4 inches of 35 ild poly from foambymail which lasted me a year, so I really did not want to chance durability again. My current completed set up is: 3 inches 38 ild dunlop, 3 inches 30 ild dunlop, 3 inches 19 ild talalay, one inch of 3lb soft memory foam. I have this inside of a polyester stretch knit cover which I purchased from Ebay, mattresses247, which I like very much. I like the stretch knit cover more than cotton personally, because it allows me to sink into the latex more and get more of a conforming feel. I have been sleeping on the completed mattress for about 3 weeks now, the bed feels great and is probably the most comfortable I have ever slept on. I have no pain in the morning, or if I do itās not mattress related. Personally I am glad I didnāt go down the poly road again in the support layers, as I can look forward to an above average lifespan with dunlop. Iām also very satisfied with talalay on top of that, with the 1 inch of memory foam for a bit of surface feel. I had hr23 from another vendor (not foamorder) and to me it wasnāt soft and conforming enough for a comfort layer, so I took it out of the final build completely. In my opinion it was more suitable for a support layer. Take in mind, I weigh 150 so your results may be different.
- I meant 140 pounds, slipped on the laptop keyboard. Also I think I forgot to mention, I never actually ordered anything from foamorder.com. While I believe they are probably a good source of foam, I went with dunlop from latexmattressfactory.com. Their customer service has been simply the best, and their dunlop is grade A. For me dunlop was just what I was looking for. This mattress keeps me in perfect alignment and I think dunlop is the reason. It also did not give me the bouncy feeling that an all Talalay mattress did when I tried to build that type of bed, feels more like poly if that makes any sense. This is just my opinion, but more than one way to approach things.
Hi gardenguy.
Thanks for your contributions to our forum and such a great outline of your successful DIY journey. 
I appreciate it.
I am glad that you are continuing to sleep well.
Phoenix
Hi,
I also do not know how to post new messages here, or where to post on this subject.
I would like advice on how to donate or sell my mattress latex layer components. We have had an Obasan all-latex mattress that we hate, and have recently purchased pocket coil springs from Arizona Mattress to hopefully alleviate or discomfort. We have been very happy with this change, and are only repurposing the top comfort layer and possibly the zippered encasement.
So, now I have the other latex layers which we no longer need, and would like advice on what my options are for disposal/donation/selling. It would be a shame to waste the latex layers in land-fill. They come individually wrapped in zippered fabric that can be washed. And they are only 2 years old.
What we no longer need:
4" latex layers divided into 3 zones (head, middle, toes)
- 2x soft ILD 20-22
- 2x med ILD 32-35
- 2x firm ILD 38-42
4" base that we would like to replace with something less tall
1x med ILD 32-35
1x firm ILD 38-42
We also have a Holy Lamb wool mattress topper that we barely used and do not like the feel of 2.5" -3"
Any advice would be appreciated! We live in an apartment in NYC and donāt have storage space for these components.
Hey mattress4life,
I moved this question to a new thread to maybe give it more focus on its own. I totally understand this is actually harder than if feels like it should be. And, you have such high-quality high-value materials!!!
I have had success working with some homeless shelters in my area, and also with some battered womenās shelters, these places were much more flexible than the Salvation Army.
As far as selling, itās tough, I really donāt know of any ad/classified places outside of craigslist.
Hopefully, other consumers may have some ideas.
Thanks,
Sensei
Iāve been trying to sell a Talalay topper for several weeks with no luck. Iāve tried Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. Iām going to try OfferUp and LetGo next. I guess latex pieces are too much of a niche item to sell quickly.
Hi April,
What are the specs? Iām trying to find something to help my girlfriendās back pain. Her mattress is far too soft, but itās only a year old and was really expensive. Iām hoping to add a firm latex topper to try to address the issue, but Iām going back and forth between considering a topper and a new mattress.
Also, whereabouts are you? Iām in Toronto, Canada.
Thanks,
Brad
Whatās the size of the bed it is coming from?
Brad123, Iām in California, so that probably wouldnāt work.