DIY Mattress build ~ desperate for advice

Talk To The Experts Arizona Premium Mattress
1

Thank you for your contributions to TMU. I’d really appreciate your advice.

My husband and I started feeling like our previous mattress was getting worn out (depressions in the mattress). It had been quite comfortable for us for about 5 1/2 years. We had the Ultimate Dreams Queen Eurotop Latex Mattress by Dreamfoam bedding purchased from Amazon. It was made of an 8" HD poly foam layer + 3" Talalay (discovered it was part synthetic) latex layer + a 1" quilted top layer of soft reflex foam. It was the type that you could unzip and replace the top 3" layer, so I ordered a 3" all natural Dunlop soft latex topper to replace our existing Talalay latex layer. We still felt like we were sleeping in ruts. Though I should have checked this first, I pulled off the Dunlop layer and put a level on the HD poly layer. Sure enough, that had a depression, too. That’s when I started researching mattresses and decided to try the DIY mattress route. How hard could it be?

I wish I would have taken notes for myself to remember all the combinations we tried, but I didn’t, so I’ll do my best.

Info about us:
Husband - 6’ tall, 195 lbs, back sleeper with some side sleeping
Me - 5’ 7" tall, 175 lbs, side sleeper with some back sleeping

I found some advice (I think on this site) recommending buying one layer at a time to determine what else might be needed.

I bought a 3" Dunlop medium latax topper. For a week or so, we slept on our old mattress base with the new medium layer, then the new soft layer on top. That was quite comfortable, so I figured we’d just need to add a 3" firm layer to replace the old 8" HD poly layer.

I ordered a 3" Dunlop firm latex topper. Our mattress was then firm on the bottom, medium in the middle, and soft on the top. We felt like that was too firm, especially for my pressure points.

I ordered another 3" Dunlop medium latex topper and we pulled out the firm layer, so we had medium, medium, soft. Still seemed too firm for my pressure points.

I could return one layer, so I returned the firm layer within 30 days of ordering it, thinking it was definitely too firm.

I ordered a 3" all natural Talalay soft latex topper, so we had med, med, soft, soft. Wow, that gave both of us major lower back pain.

We tried med, soft, soft. Still got lower back pain.

We went back to med, med, soft. My husband wakes up a bit stiff in his back, but it goes away after a bit. I wake up in the night with sore shoulders and/or hips. I feel like my lower back is sore most of the day.

I went to the basement where our old mattress is currently. It feels so comfortable, yet supportive, especially if I lay in the middle where there aren’t depressions. I feel cradled.

So far, I have not ordered a mattress encasement/cover, because I don’t know what thickness of mattress I will end up with.

I don’t know what to do. Do I give up on the whole idea and just buy a mattress with good reviews? Do I buy the same mattress from Amazon again? Do I buy HD poly foam and hope that one of my med or soft layers on top of that is comfortable?

Thank you again for any help or suggestions you can offer.

2

Based on your info I would just go back to a HD poly foam base knowing that you might have to replace it every 5 years or so.

3

[ I pulled off the Dunlop layer and put a level on the HD poly layer. Sure enough, that had a depression, too.]

This is now the Dreamfoam Elements Latex (Dreamfoam Latex - Dream Foam).

Did your divot meet the “1” or greater impression" requirement in the 10-year warranty and if so, did the company honor it?

4

With all those various layers of latex something should have worked for you. I don’t really have any more advice on this other than to replace the HD foam and try it with the various latex toppers you already have.

5

No, I don’t think it met the requirement. It is a lot softer/squishier and sinks down easier in the divot area, but it bounces up most of the way when one is not laying on it, so I did not try to enforce the warranty. Thanks for the advise, though.

6

We put together a mattress made of 6" HD foam on the bottom, 3" medium Dunlop latex, 3" soft Talalay latex, and 3" super soft foam. This seemed to work pretty good for us. It was taller than I wanted for the look of our bed, though. We needed to get another queen mattress for our son’s room, so we decided to order another Dreamfoam mattress and try it on our bed first. We ordered Elements Latex by Dreamfoam Bedding- Willow 12" Eurotop Latex Mattress, Queen-Soft. It seemed more firm than we expected and again gave us back trouble. We added a 2" super soft foam layer and that seems to have done the trick for our comfort needs. I think we’ll keep that mattress in our room and give the DIY mattress to our son. Hopefully, he’ll like it. Thanks for your advice.

7

My pleasure!