I’ve been sleeping on my DIY full latex mattress for the past 2 weeks or so and I have yet to get a full night’s sleep without waking up multiple times. My upper back area gets sore which I’m assuming is from the firmness. My current config:
3" Soft Talalay (Latex Mattress Factory)
3" Medium Dunlop (SleepEZ)
3" Firm Dunlop (SleepEZ)
Stretch knit cotton cover from SleeponLatex
My stats: 5’9", 185 lbs, hybrid back/side sleeper.
I only have 1 more week before the return on my toppers expire since I went the DIY route. I’m thinking a 2" soft talalay on top to soften things up but I’m under the impression that 5" of comfort layer is a little excessive. What should I do here? Thanks!
Sounds like you need a bit more cradling in your design so I would actually try a 3" talalay in 32ILD support layer under your soft talalay comfort layer to allow for more travel and help relieve pressure. Adding more comfort layers will relieve pressure but it also removes support which isn’t a good thing if your alignment is already good.
Thanks for the advice! Is a 32 ILD talalay softer than a 32 ILD dunlop? Also, I noticed a tag on my soft talalay that, I’m assuming, lists the ILD in the 24-25 range.
Could this be why things feel firmer than expected as opposed to the 19-22 range?
From the label it looks like that is a Global Talalay 100% natural N2 firmness (20-24ILD). It looks like the actual QA testing puts it on the far upper end of that range. I would suggest you’d do better with a blended soft talalay in the 19ILD range first and then add a 28 or 32ILD talalay on top of that if you are still unable to get enough pressure relief.
Ok so I should try swapping out the current ~24ish “soft” layer for a 19-22 ild first? And if that doesn’t work then add a 28-32 talalay as a support layer?
Yes, that’s what I would do if I were in the same position. If you don’t mind blended talalay that tends to have a slightly lower ILD range (19 vs 22) than 100% natural talalay so that might be just enough to give you the pressure relief you’re looking for. Then if you continue to have pressure issues beyond that I would consider changing the support layer to talalay because you’re likely going through the comfort layer and bottoming out on the support layer. Talalay has more travel than dunlop at higher pressures which is why it could help. Make sure you test the layers without a cover first to be sure that’s not affecting things either.
Not sure how I can answer that question since feel is relative to the person. In your case you’re having trouble with pressure on your upper back so to solve that you need to go down in firmness in order to get more relief (pressure distribution) starting with the comfort layer first then moving to the support layers until you get the feel and support you’re after.
Quick question though, what sleeping position are you in when having upper back pressure? Back? Side?
