Firmness Adjustment - New Latex Mattress

[shift_47]

I have purchased a custom made dunlop latex mattress, which I have been sleeping on for about a week now. I am having very minor shoulder issues at this point and just want some direction on what the best course of action would be. It seems that every morning I end up with a little bit of pain in my shoulder from sleeping on my side that goes away within an hour or so. The mattress seems quite comfortable on my side in the hip region and seems to align my spine just fine.It is also quite supportive and comfortable on my back. I am 6’ 170 lb and the mattress construction is as follows bottom to top:

3" of 40 ILD dunlop latex core, canvas wrapped
3" of 40 ILD dunlop latex core, canvas wrapped
3" of 30/40/30 ILD dunlop latex comfort layer insert sectioned in thirds lenthwise. Canvas on 40ILD mid section, thin cotton on the 30ILD end sections
Outer Casing is constructed of cotton with probably 1-1.5" of wool on top
All latex is from the brand Arpico by Richard Pieris Natural Foams Ltd.

I do have a 90 day comfort swap policy on the insert (30/40/30 piece) but possibly not any of the 40 ILD cores. My question is in two parts:

How much can I expect the latex to soften up, and approximately how long would that take?

If I need to replace the latex to acheive a plusher feel would it be possible to just replace the insert or should I entertain the replacement of the core? Obviously, I would like to soften up the shoulder region and possibly the leg region, but would somehting like a 20/40/20 be too much contrast between sections? Maybe I should look at a softer middle core section, bring it down to around 30 so I dont hit a 40ILD core if I go through the comfort layer?

I will likely give this another month to test out before trying to change anything, just looking for opinions for now. Thanks!

[phoenix]

Hi shift_47_,

How much can I expect the latex to soften up, and approximately how long would that take?

There really isn’t any way to quantify it specifically but it will generally soften “a little” over the first 30 - 90 days. A bigger issue though may be the canvas materials in the cover which may also need to stretch and lose some of their initial stiffness and may be interfering to some degree with the ability of the latex to conform to your body contours.

In some cases … shoulder pressure could also indicate a pillow issue and with a mattress that firm you may need a little higher profile pillow to keep your head and neck in good alignment and reduce some of the pressure on your shoulders. There is more about some of the more common symptoms that people experience on a mattress and some of the possible causes for them in post #2 here. For most (but not all) people though in your weight range … a 40 ILD Dunlop top comfort layer would probably be too firm for side sleeping.

If I need to replace the latex to acheive a plusher feel would it be possible to just replace the insert or should I entertain the replacement of the core? Obviously, I would like to soften up the shoulder region and possibly the leg region, but would somehting like a 20/40/20 be too much contrast between sections? Maybe I should look at a softer middle core section, bring it down to around 30 so I dont hit a 40ILD core if I go through the comfort layer?

The upper layers would have the biggest effect on “comfort/pressure relief” and outside of changing your pillow I would first consider using a softer comfort layer. There are also some suggestions in post #2 here for a mattress that is too firm initially and if a top layer replacement isn’t possible then it may also be worth considering a softer topper.

Phoenix