DIY version of the Naturepedic EOS Pillowtop

Mattress Talk 2) Materials, Specifications & Designs
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Looking to build a DIY version of the Naturepedic EOS Pillowtop since I sadly cannot afford a real one. I am a 5’7", 270lb, side sleeper. I like a soft bed.

I don’t know where to get a similar king size structured encasement with the very nice zippers and the pillow top like the EOS Pillowtop has. Does anyone know of a similar one on the market or a shop that makes custom ones?

The mattress stack I had in mind for the build, top to bottom:

3" Soft 100% natural Dunlop or Talalay latex. Not sure what the difference would be. Talalay is softer? In store I was told that all Talalay is a mix and not pure latex and will fail sooner than dunlop (she only sold dunlop) but I think the sales person who told me that might be mistaken.

3" Medium 100% natural Dunlop latex

8" 15.5 gauge quadcoils from Texas Pocket Spring

Latex layers I was going to purchase from either @Arizona_Premium or @Sleep_EZ. I haven’t been able to decide on one yet, both seem like very high quality products and excellent stores.

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That’s a good build. This is what I would do to achieve a similar feel to that EOS pillow top since you like a soft bed.

Thick wool topper (maybe one like this Amazon.com: Luxury 100% Organic Wool Mattress Topper Queen Size(Beige,(60"x80")) | 100% Australian Merino,Extra Soft Wool Mattress Pad for Back Pain Relief,Not prone to pilling and deformation : Home & Kitchen) they have king size as well on discount. I used this once on my DIY build.

Bamboo/wool encasement from mattresses.net
2" super soft blended latex
2"soft blended latex
2" medium blended latex
8" coils
I do think you need something for under the coils, though it might not be completely necessary. Either 1" of firm foam or latex. You do need to make sure the cover you get is holding in those coils securely.
At your weight the 15.5g is more prone to spreading out. I actually have the quadmini on top of the 14.75g and the springs are in their own encasement in order to hold them together. If your build height is going to be 14", just make sure the cover you get will also be that.

That’s just my idea, or you could use your build idea and emulate the pillow top feel with the wool pad. That’s what I did once on my DIY bed. Also, you don’t really HAVE to use a full 6 inches of latex on the top. You could do wool topper, 3" soft, then 2" medium then coils and save some funds.

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Hi JayInSeattle and thanks for reaching out on this! I just want to throw a couple of things out regarding Talalay - our Talalay has the exact same ingredients as our organic Dunlop. All of our latex is made using 100% natural rubber from an actual rubber tree. The end product finishes at 98% pure rubber, and the remaining 2% of ingredients are things like natural fatty acids, natural soaps, and natural reinforcing agents needed for manufacturing.

Also, There is a noticeable difference between Talalay and Dunlop, and it’s not really that Talalay is softer than Dunlop. Most people and companies say Talalay is softer just because that’s an easier way to explain it. You can actually have a soft Dunlop layer that’s softer or firmer than a soft Talalay and a medium Talalay that’s softer or firmer than a medium Dunlop, etc. The real difference comes down to how they react when being compressed. Talalay is bouncier and springier and is generally better at contour and pressure relief on your hips and shoulders. Dunlop is denser and is generally better at support and maintaining proper spinal alignment so our most common configuration is Talalay for the top layer and Dunlop for the bottom 2 layers. We will recommend Talalay for two or more layers for customers that have things like fibromyalgia, chronic hip pain, chronic shoulder pain, or anything where they’re sensitive to pressure, or for customers that just prefer a bouncier / springier feel. Outside of those circumstances, a combination of Talalay and Dunlop offers the best chance to be successful for the average person. Again, the best way I can summarize the differences would be to say that Talalay is better at pressure relief on your hips and shoulders and Dunlop is better at maintaining proper spinal alignment and avoiding back pain. However, Talalay can also be helpful in avoiding back pain because it provides more of what we call secondary support. Secondary support fills in the gaps between your body and the mattress. For side sleepers, this is normally the area between a person’s ribs and waist. For back sleepers, this is normally the area between the small of your back and the mattress. If these parts or your body aren’t being held up by the mattress, your muscles will work all night to hold those parts of your body up, which can lead to back pain. Aside from that, women tend to be curvier, especially around their hips, and having a top layer of Talalay can help avoid hip pain and keep the mattress from pushing their hips up, which can also lead to back pain. As such, most of our customers definitely benefit from having one layer of Talalay on top, and Dunlop for the rest of the mattress, but it’s completely up to you what you would like to order.

With all that said, I think you’d probably do best with Talalay for your pressure relief and secondary back support, and use Dunlop and coils for your primary support. Actually, in your setup, the medium Dunlop layer will be more like a transition layer, where giving you some pressure relief and secondary back support but also some primart back support.

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It sounds like you’re on the right track with a DIY latex build, especially since you’re looking for something similar to the Naturepedic EOS Pillowtop. One challenge is finding the right balance between a soft, plush comfort layer and sufficient support underneath. But, if you’re trying to mimic the comfort/feel of the Naturepedic EOS Pillowtop, the cover/encasement will likely be your biggest challenge. Much of the pillow-top feel in the EOS Pillowtop comes from the encasement itself which is made with wool & PLA (fiber derived from sugarcane). A good, flexible mattress encasement with wool or other batting will add plushness, allow the latex inside the mattress to contour properly, and keep the mattress feeling more luxurious.

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Your build is pretty close to the direction I’d look for a softer pillowtop feel. At 270 lbs as a side sleeper, I’d focus less on just the latex type and more on how the layers work together so you get pressure relief without losing support. Talalay is often preferred for comfort layers because of its lighter, more buoyant feel, while Dunlop usually feels denser and more grounded. Neither is automatically better, it depends on the role it plays in the build.

I’d also make sure the encasement is designed to properly hold the coils and latex layers together. Are you mainly trying to match the EOS pillowtop feel, or just aiming for a soft supportive mattress?

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An update:
I found a Naturepedic EOS pillowtop king mattress on FB marketplace and was able to get it for $300. It came with some extra layers. I figured even if I ended up only using the encasement it was still worth it since that is the same price as the bamboo/wool encasement from Arizona. I have usually been told to never to buy a used mattress, but all the layers look clean and it is a very expensive mattress for the price. Not sure the lifespan on the mattress components. Let me know if this was a good deal or I am boo boo the fool for buying a used mattress.

What I picked up to be the start for a DIY build:
1.5 year old Naturepedic EOS pillowtop split king mattress + extras

Parts:

  • Wool/cotton king mattress encasement (Naturepedic)
  • 2× 8" twin xl “plush coils” (15.5 gauge) (Naturepedic)
  • 4x 3" twin xl soft dunlop latex layers (Naturepedic)
  • 1× 3" twin xl medium microcoil layer (Naturepedic)
  • 1× 3" twin xl soft talalay latex layer (Avocado)

I’m going to sleep on it a few nights as is and see if I need to swap out any parts. Try the medium microcoil as a mid-layer if I want more firmness and try the talalay as a top layer to see if I like that. If it’s still not quite right I can order medium dunlop layers like the one I liked best in the Naturepedic store.

Laying on it right now and it feels awesome.

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Is it 17 inches on each side? That is a super soft build but you got an awesome deal. What feels best for you is what’s best

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I am in class right now but I’ll measure it when I get back. If you’re asking if it is even on both sides then it definitely looked like it was?

The encasement may be a little loose? Or it just looks loose compared to my old traditional factory made foam/coil hybrid mattress.

Here it is set up on my living room floor for testing since I still have my old mattress on my bed:

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If I was to replace the coils what are the best coils on the market?

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Oh hey yes I remembered, just read all the way up to the top of your post.

Honestly, with your height and weight you need some more strength to your setup or else you will be thrown out of alignment

I know you like a soft bed, but that does not mean you can go without reaching a threshold of strong support. The coverall philosophy of mattresses is soft on the top, strong on the bottom. You can still get plenty of pressure relief with a firm base spring.

Now, what coil setup id recommend is kind of tough to guess. I know for sure a plush spring is not strong enough. A Texas pocket springs quadcoil base is a good option, I would probably say the 14.75g which is their firm spring. I would prefer to say the 15.5g, but you would need to weigh around 240 or less at your weight for that to not sink too far. I know you’re a side sleeper but really, the heavier parts of your body could hammock if your base spring isn’t sturdy enough.

The 14.75g spring on its own, feels quite firm to me at 210lbs 6’0" and I mean this when I laid on it while it had no comfort layers on it. To you, although it is firm it won’t feel as firm, and your layers will take care of making the whole package provide enough pressure relief. Since you have a king bed you won’t have to buy two txin xl springs to put into it just one king.

If you did want to trial and error since you’ve already saved enough money, you could try a 15.5g and a 14.75g two twin XL setup but make sure only one side of each twin XL has firm springs on each reinforced edge. Then whichever you like least replace it with your preferred firmness.

That bed has 6" of material on top of the coils, so that is plenty of depth to provide you with enough contouring for side sleep support, but also because of that, you cannot afford to have soft springs for your base as that is far too much softness.

For reference, I’m currently sleeping on a 14.75g base, with 3" quadmini coils, and 2" of soft hybrid latex/memory foam. With my height and weight stats this feels great. I think 6" of space on top of the springs is plenty of space for you to get the soft bed you like without ruining your alignment which you really do need to be sure about. If the layers on top of that firm spring are too soft, that as well could also cause misalignment. So get it as soft as you like while making sure it’s still holding your body up correctly.

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I think you are right. I have been laying on it tonight and I do feel out of alignment. My neck hurts after an hour and half of being on the new mattress. My hips (the heaviest part of me) do sink in and I think I am banana-ing like laying in a hammock wrong.

I definitely am thinking I need to order a medium latex as a middle layer instead of using the soft latex middle layer that the used mattress came with. I think I’ll probably buy the latex layers from @Arizona_Premium.

And also probably new coils?

Is the best coil Texas Pocket Springs? Or some othed manufacturer?

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I like the 14.75g pocket spring from pocketspringstore.com I really think you’d be fine to get 1 king size layer.

For the latex yes I agree the middle layer should be medium. Definitely not soft. Probably Dunlop medium since thats more solid and would hold up your weight better. And after that see if you’re held up well enough by the soft on top or if you’d need a layer of medium (either blended or talalay) on top.

Or you said you have the mini coil, that should be medium firmness. Try that as a transition layer

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Yeah I’ll try the 3" medium micro coil as a middle layer before making other purchases.

I also called Naturepedic and the “plush coils” in the used mattress are a 15.5 gauge pocket coil.

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Those coils are straight line coils as well, so functionally they’re a 5/10 firmness I estimate while the 15.5g quadcoil is a 6.5 and the 14.75 is a 7.75. it’s basically a measure of support rather than just hardness.

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Naturpedic uses our QuadCoil in their non cotton encased spring units. The unit you have is most likely a 2 3/8 inch diameter coil . Our units sold for DIY are 2 5/16 inch, so a bit higher coil density (884 in queen vs 1008). Which basically means the 15.5G in your unit is slightly softer than the 15.5 we sell for DIY.

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Thank you so much @PSS for the clarification! Super helpful and I am so grateful for your time.

Thank you @Gc123 for your time and your care, you are amazing.

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Can king size 3" latex toppers be cut in half easily into two twin XLs?

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You are welcome. I think it would be easy to cut a king size. When I was cutting the very top of the latex insert off of my purple harmony pillow the latex cut very easily. You’d have to make sure it’s very evenly measured and probably would need larger than standard size scissors for a 3" layer.

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I saw @Sleep_EZ has a 20% off sale that ends today so I bought the mid layer from them.

Got two twin XLs (I was afraid of not cutting a king in half well) 3" Medium Dunlop.

The medium micro coil feels nice as a midlayer, definitely improvement over soft/soft.

I will try the medium dunlop vs the medium micro coil to see which layer I prefer.

Possibly that will be the end of my build. Possible futher improvements would be

  • a new soft talalay layer for the top, to be more bouncy
  • replacing the coils with Texas Pocket Spring 15.5 or 14.5 ga coils
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very cool. I often read that people have a hard time cutting Latex. Can you share how you did it?