Foam Factory - Poor service, any recommendations for a different supplier?

[burnettm]

So for various reasons I wanted to DIY a California king mattress and ordered a coil spring assembly and piece of latex foam from Arizona Premium Mattress. I’m aware Ken doesnt think this is necessary, but since it seems most decent hybrid mattresses have a layer of foam on the bottom, and because I have a steel tubing frame which I didn’t want the coils to transmit sound in to, I decided to order a piece of foam for the bottom of my mattress. I went with a 1" piece of LUX-HQ foam from Foam Factory.

It arrived a few days ago heavily compressed, and even without unwrapping it, I could tell it was discolored and damaged as it had numerous tears in it. I reached out to Foam Factory’s customer service about this, and they claimed it was discolored due to the glue they used, and blamed the tears on the glue not having enough cure time before it was packaged. They offered me a refund or replacement and sent a return shipping label. I opt’ed for a replacement and sent the damaged piece back. As soon as tracking information appeared for my return, Veronica told me that my “new order has been sent to processing. We will send you an email with the tracking information as soon as the order ships.”

Well today comes around and apparently I come to find out that she has been doing nothing but repeatedly lying to me. My order was never shipped and it wasnt torn due to not having enough cure time, as her new message said “Management would prefer to issue a refund for this order. He feels the foam will probably come undone again when it is compressed for shipping”. I asked why they couldnt just not compress the hell out of the last foot of foam where the seam is, and use a slightly larger box, but this comment was ignored. They also claim they don’t offer any single pieces of foam which is over 82" in length. I’m not even sure why this vendor offers California king sized pieces of foam for sale if they cant manage to find a way to ship them without damaging them.

Does anyone know of any vendors where I could buy a high ILD piece of foam for the bottom of my mattress in a cal king size?

[Catia]

Sorry you’re having issues. I’ve ordered PU foam from multiple vendors foamorder, & foambymail/foam factory & had positive experience with both companies products & also customer service. I think the issue here is that it was not explained to you, nor clearly indicated somewhere on foamfactory’s website that your california king mattress size would require a seam.

I believe this is standard practice for california king size for most foam manufacturers. If I recall correctly, it has to do with the size of the molds used for their foam. I know a seam is required for natural latex foam of this size, I remember reading this on Foamorder’s site somewhere, & also on DIYnaturalbedding’s site. Both Foamorder & diynaturalbedding have a LOT of information to educate on their sites, but that little tidbit about the seam for california king is there.

Honestly, giving you the refund is the better thing to do, they know you aren’t satisfied & they know they will need to cut a new piece, seam it, glue it, & compress it-that’s not a small task & controlling the rate of compression for 1 area of the foam is NOT an option, because they need to get it to a specific size for shipping purposes. There are videos that show how they compress the foam on foamorder’s site-if you watch, you will understand.
I believe the only way for you not to have the issue would be if they did not glue the seam at all, & it was shipped as 2 pieces & you glued it yourself once it was unwrapped & acclimated to both it’s full size & temperature. This is an option for you, & is simple enough to do. You would need to purchase the proper glue. 3M Super 77 is available at your local lowes or home depot.

That being said, now that you have your refund, &now that you are aware of the fact that you will need at least 1 seam-you have other options. knowledge is power.

Although most state it is not necessary to place that layer of foam under the coils, I will be doing the same exact thing for the DIY hybrid I am building. It’s good practice-if for nothing else but wear & tear on your mattress case. The rubbing of the coils directly on the fabric causes friction & wear. I’ve built multiple DIY sofas & it IS standard practice to insulate the springs from the cover material.
To be clear though, a 1" piece of foam is overkill & while I am a big fam overkill, 1" thick is too much, it’s a waste of foam & $, either use 1/2 inch foam or other quality materials to easily achieve the insulating factor in a better way.
Here are 2 suggestions: #1 use a thick old quilted blanket-a california king blanket placed 1st in the bottom before you place the coils easily achieves this. You can cut off any extra or wrap it up the sides. If you are dead set on foam, just buy rebond foam locally at home depot/lowes type of store where you can get it cut to size. It is in the carpet section. Rebond comes standard in 6 foot width, so you can get a 72x84 easily. You are either charged by the foot, or by the square yard. Rebond comes in varying thicknesses, but 1/4 to 1/2" is all you need.
As far as the foam itself:there is NO DIFFERENCE between the rebond foam sold for carpet padding & the rebond foam you purchase from any foam factory, or upholstery supply shop–it is shredded bonded foam. Some may have a black topping over the scrim-this is designed to not wear the carpet backing-it will not matter for your purposes which side you place up/down under your coils.
LOTS of other options as well, such as a thick felt, or even a coir mat cut to size.

[NikkiTMU]

Hi burnettm.

Sorry to hear of your Foam Factory experience. Catia provided some great insights and I’d also suggest that if you can’t find a foam base (1" foam can be a pain to find), a coconut coir pad may be a reasonable alternative for your purposes.

NikkiTMU