If way too firm, maybe try 2 layers of Talalay soft (top, 2nd) and 1 Talalay medium (3rd) and 1 Dunlop medium or soft (bottom)?
They mattress does not include more than one layer of talalay. We will only be able to change out the Dunlop layers for soft. I am hoping that will work.
Here is an update. I havenât mentioned up until now that I am married. My wife and I have been on the same page with the mattress selection up until now so I didnât see the point. A few things that I need to communicate require me to talk about my wifeâs roll in the adjustment process now.
The Flexus driver arrived on Thursday the 17th to change out our layers. I was told by Henry that he would change things around until we were happy. It is unfortunate that I did not tell my wife about my conversation with Henry. I work during the day so my wife is the one who has been there while the changes have been made. When the driver arrived he changed all of our layers again. This time we were given from the bottom up medium, medium, soft Dunlop, soft Talalay⌠The driver made the changes and left. He did not offer to make any further changes if my wife was not happy as Henry told me he would. I think it may be a communication problem.
So where are we now? We have slept on the new combination for 11 nights. There is a drastic improvement in softness. It still comes up short compared to the mattress in the show room that James refers to as âthe cloudâ. So how does it feel? I really like it. I find the softness adequate and think maybe going softer could lead to support issues. It is just a guess. I play a lot of tennis and have noticed that since I have been sleeping on latex that my back is not as sore the day after playing as it used to be. My wife on the other hand still longs for a softer feel. I just wonder what medium, soft, soft, soft would feel like? If the driver would have followed Henryâs instructions we would know. What are we going to do from here? I donât know yet but I will keep you all posted.
Hi Schenkelini,
Thank you for the update! Iâm glad things are moving forward and Flexus has brought out a new configuration that is agreeing with you better than the previous versions.
While I obviously wasnât present with your conversation/arrangement with Flexus regarding your exchange, a manufacturer will usually want you to try something out for a few nights as opposed to a few minutes before making another adjustment, as it will give a more complete appreciation for the feel of the product during the entire night. Your situation may be different (as youâve already had previous swapping out of layers), but the delivery staff was more than likely simply following the guidelines they had (or not) been given as opposed to ignoring specific instructions. Iâd think theyâd want to do their best to please you. Either way, you are correct that proper communication between you, your wife and Flexus is of course paramount. 
I am happy to hear that you are sleeping better. :cheer: After 11 days, there will still of course be some more softening and adjustment going on with the mattress, so hopefully it ends up being a comfort that both you and your wife can enjoy for many years.
Phoenix
Well it has been over 6 months now and We are still happy. The mattress is a little softer than it was in my last post. My wife still sometimes misses the feeling of sinking into the mattress more, but we both sleep well and have no pain of any sort. I differ with my wife. I like the latex feel better than the conventional mattress with a pillow top.
Hi Schenkelini,
Thank you for your most recent update! Iâm happy that you are sleeping well on the mattress, and your wife is also adjusting well. I hope youâll be able to follow-up with future updates as well.
Phoenix
I want to start a new thread and cannot find a button to do that. Can you please help me?
You can currently only start a new thread in one of the âTalk to the Expertsâ forums available in the top header. If you can find a suitable expert there you can create a new thread in their section, otherwise you can search for a related thread and just add your post to an existing thread. Either way you should get a response.
As you can see above my wife and I purchased a 13" latex king mattress from Flexus Comfort 2 years ago. We ended up exchanging layers a few times to get the right feel, but we have been very happy since. My wife has been dealing with some medical issues recently that have caused her sleep schedule to be very erratic. She is retired, but I still work and the times that she is up all night have caused me to escape to the twin bed in the den. That bed has a cheap conventional mattress that I do not find very comfortable. On those nights I do not sleep very well. It has been happening often enough that I have decided that I need to replace the bed in the den. I spoke to Henry at Flexus Comfort and to get our same bed in a twin would cost $1,200. I asked about his offerings with fewer latex layers and he indicated that a thinner mattress would not give me the same feel as the 13". I really didnât want to spend that much on a bed that isnât slept on that often. I hadnât read the forum in nearly 2 years, so I spent the last week getting reeducated.
I have been reading about the bed in a box phenomenon. I like the concept, but most of them are still more than I want to spend and most use memory foam which I am not a fan of. Still the concept seems pretty sound to me and so I decided to go the DIY route and see if I could figure out my own budget design. I noticed that many of the BIB offerings use a high quality poly foam base layer. I saw that mattresses.net had a 7" high quality poly base layer for only $149. I spoke to Ken and he felt that I would be hard pressed to feel the difference from a latex base. He recommended that I follow that with their 2" wavy latex topper followed by the 3" topper of my choice off of his website. This made a lot of sense to me. This would give me 5" of latex and 12" total mattress thickness. I priced this out adding their cotton mattress cover the total came to $603. That is not bad for a latex hybrid mattress! I havenât found a hybrid mattress that has this much latex for such a low price. I was just about ready to pull the trigger and then I started wondering if I couldnât lower the price just a bit without lowering the overall qualify. The one area where I thought I might save a couple of bucks was on the mattress cover. I am sure that the made to order one from mattresses.net is first rate, but the price was $129. I checked on Amazon and I found one that had great reviews for $32. It is made in China and not the US, but I am willing to take a chance especially with such good ratings. Next I looked at saving a couple of bucks on the 3" top layer. The layer I was looking at with mattresses.net was a 3" blended talalay that is priced at $178 plus shipping. Since I was already looking on Amazon I notice that they had the full natural Dunlop topper from Sleep on Latex for $149 shipped. So I am swapping a synthetic\natural latex layer for a natural latex layer and still saving money. This saved me and additional $29 plus $30 in shipping. I placed my orders Monday night and the total came out to $462.26.
I should receive everything by early next week, so we will see how it all works out.
Hi Schenkelini.
Welcome back to our Mattress Forum!
Itâs nice to hear that you and your wife are still very happy with your Flexus mattress⌠and congratulations on your new DIY Den twin mattress :lol:
Thanks for the update and for detailing your DIY bed and also for sharing your savings solutions. $463 is certainly a great price for a good quality 12" latex/poly combo. Iâd be very curious to know how it works out for you and if you notice any difference in feel between the two types of latex. Your current mattress has a soft Talalay vs the NR Dunlop that you ordered from Sleep On Latex (one of our Trusted members here). Some people seem to prefer the feel of one over the other but of course âhabitâ also may have some say in this.
Iâd keep in mind that Dunlop has a different âfeelâ and performance than Talalay and is less lively or springy. You can see a comparison between them in post #7 here but in the end only your own experience will tell which one you prefer. 100% natural Dunlop is a denser material and even in lower ILDâs it would be very durable. Because of the greater elasticity and performance of all natural Dunlop many people consider it to be better âvalueâ than a synthetic or blended Dunlop although blended or synthetic Dunlop can also be a very good material that has many similarities to natural Dunlop and is also a very durable material. In terms of cost as you already noticed typically Talalay is a little pricier than Dunlop as it requires a different fabrication process which is more expensive.
I am looking forward to your updates once you receive all components and have a chance to test it.
Phoenix
Thanks Phoenix.
Well the Sleep on Latex layer arrived, I am still waiting on some of the other items. They are scheduled for delivery tomorrow. The Sleep on Latex 3" dunlop layer is absolutely wonderful quality! It seems to be the perfect softness for the kind of feel that my wife and I perceive as soft. We put in on top of the twin mattress as a topper just to test it, and Wow what a difference! I could probably live with this configuration. My wife said âyou know, I think that this feels softer than our king bed.â We ended up hauling the layer upstairs, unzipping the cover on the king bed and started making comparisons. This SOL dunlop layer is considerably softer than the soft talalay layer of our Flexus bed. My wife said âthis is what I was looking for when we were going through the layer changesâ. This dunlop layer takes our mattress to a whole other level in comfort. So what are we going to do? Well we ordered a 3" soft king layer from Sleep on Latex last night. Their prices are so affordable that we consider it an easy fix. We havenât decided how we are going to use it yet. We could replace the talalay layer, or just add it on top of the mattress as a topper. We tried it both ways and both options felt great! I do not fault Flexus on this. You have stated many times that ILD ratings vary from company to company. That is probably the hardest thing about buying a mattress. We are just very happy that we are going to be able to transform our mattress to exactly how we wanted it.
I am looking forward to receiving the rest of the parts for the twin mattress. I have a feeling that I am really going to like the finished product. I will post a review sometime next week.
Hi Schenkelini.
Thank you for your updates âŚmost importantly congratulations on going from better to better with an unsuspected layer improvement. Youâve certainly made a few good value/quality choices with the Sleep On Latex topper(s). I am glad that this took your bed to âwhole other level of comfortâ :lol:
It is well known in the industry that the ILDs alone are not the most reliable indicator of how soft or firm a mattress/layer would feel. Partly because ILDs of different types and blends of latex arenât always directly comparable to each other (see post #6 here ) partly because ILD can be measured in different ways from manufacturer to manufacturer and partly because ILD isnât the only factor that affects the softness or firmness of a material . Dunlop has a different âfeelâ and performance than Talalay and is less lively or springy and some people may prefer it over the other. You can see a comparison between them in post #7 here but generally, as youâve recently discovered your own experience is really the only way to know which one you prefer with any certainty.
Iâm certainly looking forward to any further updates once all the other components have arrived and youâve had a chance to test rest them.
Phoenix
The âLatex Bed in a Box Busterâ is a success! The 7" poly layer and the 2" wavy latex layer arrived on Friday. I put some of the packaging plastic on the floor and stacked up the 3 layers just as they would be in the assembled bed. I put a sheet on top and did a test drive. It felt great! It was very similar to our king bed, just a little softer. It had the same supportive latex feel that we have grown to love. I am very pleased. The next step was to put all of the layers together into the budget mattress cover. This was more difficult than I had anticipated because the mattress coverâs zipper only covered one end and half of each side of the mattress. This ended up being a 2 person job. Once assembled I did another test. It didnât feel the same. It was not as soft as it was on the floor. It was still good, but I wanted that extra plush feeling. I measured the height of the newly assembled mattress and the 12 inches of foam only measured 10.5 inches in this cover. I figured out that what was going on was that his mattress cover that was supposed to cover mattresses from 9 to 12 inches was only expanding to 10.5 inches. It was compressing the foam thus reducing the amount of travel. I left it on for a couple of days to see if it would stretch out. It did a little, it got up to 11 inches. I had my doubts if it would stretch much more. I took the 3" Dunlop topper out and zipped the cover back up. I put the Dunlop layer on top and put a mattress pad on that, and now I have the softness back. Honestly I am amazed at how good this feels for such a small investment. The difference between this mattress and our all latex king mattress is minimal. I know that in the coming weeks that the new mattress will feel even better.
I did a little more research and found a bamboo 13" mattress cover that zips on all sides for$65.00. I ordered this last night and I am going to send the Amazon cover back. I found the new cover at Brentwood Home. I think the reason that the price is so good is that it is actually made of a blend of 90% polyester and 10% bamboo. I priced out what my mattress would cost in larger sizes. A Queen would be $745.00 shipped and a King would be $914.00 shipped using the Brentwood mattress cover. I have not found any mattress that comes anywhere close to this level of latex comfort at these prices.
Hi Schenkelini.
Thanks for the new updates and for doing the math for anyone else that might be interested in building their own bed⌠Iâm glad you were able to get some good savings.
Keep us posted when your new cover arrives
Phoenix
Well the new cover arrived. It seems like it is nice quality. The only problem is that it is too small. I contacted Brentwood and they are sending a new one. The covers are made to order so it will take a few days. They are local so their free shipping will be overnight for me.
Hi Schenkelini.
Thanks for the update. One of the challenges in special size orders is that manufacturers have processes geared towards standard dimensions.
I am glad that they are so responsive and keen to assist you. Being local also helps!
Phoenix
The second mattress cover arrived and it measures just like the first one. I contacted Brentwood and they refunded my money. At this point I am going to leave things as they are. For a den mattress I am happy with how it sleeps.
One more thing. The 3" soft layer from Sleep on Latex arrived a couple of weeks ago. We put it on top of the mattress cover and put a mattress pad and sheet on top of that and it feels perfect. We thought of experimenting with changing out layers in the mattress and maybe eliminating one, but it feels so right that we are just going to leave it as is.
Hi Schenkelini.
Thanks for your follow-up, I am glad that Flexus with the Sleep on Latex addition âfeels so rightâ and that you are sleeping on a âperfectâ bed. :lol: As you know they are both trusted members of our site and as with all our members, I think very highly of and I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency.
I hope youâll visit back again with more follow up after youâve slept upon your mattress(es) for a while longer
Phoenix
Thanks Phoenix. I also dealt with Arizona Premium Mattress with 2 of the layers on the twin mattress. I am extremely happy with all 3 companies. All 3 had great products and great service! I would not hesitate to use any of them for future purchases.