DIY'ing the comfort layers over my innerspring to match the hotel mattresses

[phoenix]

Hi NeckArthritis=NightimeValium,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

Hi Phoenix. I must have read 400-800 of your posts and they’ve been so helpful thank you so much

I’m glad you’ve been doing some reading and learning on the site. Good for you.

However, I am now the monster of your creation

Hopefully you’re a friendly monster, using your power for good and not evil. :ohmy:

I’ve read many post encouraging latex over over polyfoam. However, I seem to sleep great on hotel beds (the last one was a Serta) that seem to have these fragile comfort layers. Since cost is truly no object to me, I’m more than willing to just unzip my encasement and replace the polyfoam every 2-3 months.

Comfort is certainly subjective, and if you’re attempting to duplicate the feel of a hotel mattress, those mattresses tend to be more basic using low-quality, harder feeling (higher ILD) polyfoams with various top-of-bed products primarily for added surface comfort.

You’ve probably already read this, but for the benefit of others considering what you’re attempting, I’ll copy my general comments about hotel mattresses from post #2 here:

It may also be worth mentioning that Hotel mattresses are typically lower quality and value than the consumer mattresses made by the same manufacturer in the same price range (in the case of Hampton Inn made by Serta). They are used much less than a consumer mattress, are typically newer, and just like most major brand mattresses use lower quality materials that they don’t disclose. As Sleeping also mentioned they are often not the same from hotel to hotel or a particular hotel may not have the same mattress as they are currently selling (see the small print at the end of the description here)

One of the “secrets” to many hotel mattress is that they usually use a bedding package that includes a mattress pad or topper that is a big part of how the mattress feels and can also add to the durability of the mattress (replacing a mattress pad or topper can be less costly than replacing a whole mattress because a mattress or sleeping system will usually soften or break down from the top down). In many cases the more subjective short term experience of sleeping at a hotel is an improvement over the mattress that people sleep on regularly and this often “translates” into the perception that hotel mattresses are better than they are. They are a frequent source of buyer’s remorse.

You can also see from the survey here that over half of all people (and that includes all people including those that are sleeping on old mattresses that are no longer suitable for them and people that are sleeping on mattresses that are working well for them) … prefer their own mattress over a higher end hotel mattress. In many cases … the reason that some people like a hotel mattress is because their own mattress is no longer suitable for them and they don’t have a good frame of reference and almost anything would be an improvement over what they are used to.

Like any mattress though … it’s never a good idea to make a choice without knowing the specifics of what you slept on and hotel mattresses in general are usually an even worse choice than the consumer mattresses made by the same major manufacturer which in turn are usually not good quality/value choices either compared to smaller independent manufacturers around the country.

A few of the other posts around the forum that mention or discuss hotel beds are post #2 here and here and the first part of post #4 here (with some examples of wholesale costs) and in post #2 here and post #10 here, but the overall theme is the same … they are generally a poor quality/value choice and there are many better options available.

[quote]I read you mention how opaque the manufacturers are but your provided a link here
SpringAirBeds
This shows 1 inch of firmer foam below 1 1/2 inch of a latex hybid as the padding layers. Followed by 2" of soft conforma foam above that. I also saw alternate configurations of course. What I’m primarily missing, Phoenix, is what the ILDs are on the padding layers and tops layers on these hotel beds.[/quote]

If you’re building your own product, I wouldn’t follow the specifications of a product using lower quality foams like what you’ve mentioned.

There is no one “standard” hotel mattress. Many mattress brands have what they term “contract bedding” divisions, and the beds are often made to the specifications of the particular client. Generally speaking, the overall theme is a bit of a firmer mattress, innerspring (continuous coils are popular for their firmer feel, but marshall springs, Bonnell and LFK springs are all used), with higher ILD foams of lower density being mostly used for comfort layers. Some brands do offer polyfoam core products). Some will use fiber pads deep down in the upholstery layer for a bit of a harder feel as well. There really is no one standard.

These brands don’t share specifications about their componentry for public consumption. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you’ll see some samples of popular hotel mattresses from Jamison. While ILDs are not mentioned, it gives you a bit of an idea of their makeup when part of an innerspring mattress configuration.

When you’re in the process of acquiring your different foam layers, it will be useful to speak with the different foam suppliers you’re considering, as many of them will have an experience in creating firmer mattresses and can be helpful in assisting you with your DIY project.

I also like sleeping with a snugsoft fleece wool topper and I think I might like keep that on there

This can slightly approximate the top-of-bed products used in many hotels.

Of course PPP is going to different for everyone and I fully know I could make things worse for myself. And of course you dont know what foam density and thickness they are using exactly on those 5 star hotel beds or that “Sealy Presige Suite PS” I slept so well in, but I sure would appreciate if you could just give me your wildest guesses.

I don’t have any information on these beds, except that in general they’re using the lower-density foams as described previously. If you’re building your own product, I would recommend going with higher-quality, higher-density foams as discussed in the Mattress Shopping Tutorial. There is no need to be replacing your foam every few months, unless you’re attempting to chase a particular comfort. If you’re attempting to find a “medium-firm” layer of polyfoam, the difference in cost between low-density and higher-density (1.8 lb. and above) would be reasonable, but the durability will be much better. Attempting to approximate the comfort of a hotel mattress doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to also approximate the lower quality as well.

Strictly as an example, I have a few year-old spec of an innerspring hotel bed (they don’t change too much over the years) that used .75" of 17 ILD polyfoam and .75" of 32 ILD polyfoam in the quilt, and 1" of 32 ILD polyfoam and .5" of 32 ILD polyfoam in the upholstery layers, all on top of a 2 oz. pad and an LFK spring unit. I can’t tell you how that bed feels to me, as I only have the specs. But it specs out as a bit of a firm product, of course.

There is more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel” that may be useful as well, in case you haven’t seen it.

As I think you are already well aware, the best approach to a DIY mattress is a “spirit of adventure” where what you learn and the satisfaction that comes from the process itself is more important than any cost savings you may realize (which may or may not happen).

I’ll be interested to learn how you progress, and hopefully your level of success.

Phoenix