Foam vs. innerspring + topper

[phoenix]

Hi cwillisf,

As a stopgap we added a 3-inch memory foam topper; that made things significantly better, but my wife still says she feels like she’s going to roll off the bed. The topper we have is the NovaForm 3" Pure Comfort Memory Foam Mattress Topper, which claims to be 3 lb foam.

There is little you can do about a mattress that is sagging although as you indicated a thicker topper can make a temporary or partial difference for a while. There is more about mattresses that are either too soft or are sagging in post #4 here.

My wife is allergic to latex, so we’re shying away from latex mattresses. I’ve heard some people say that they’re washed thoroughly and everything, and shouldn’t be a problem for someone who is allergic to latex, but she’d rather just avoid the possibility of it being an issue and I don’t blame her.

I understand her caution (and yours) but if her allergy is a contact allergy (which is much more likely) then having latex in a mattress wouldn’t be an issue. If she has a type 1 allergy (the kind that produces a systemic reaction and often requires someone to carry an epipen or avoid restaurants or any potential exposure to natural latex) then caution would be much more important. There is more about latex allergies in post #2 here.

The leading option we’re considering is the Sundance 10" mattress from Rocky Mountain Mattress. It seems like a middle-of-the-road option in terms of memory foam mattresses, at least from RMM.

As you probably know Rocky Mountain Mattress is a member here which means that I think very highly of them. They compete well with the best in the industry and are certainly well worth considering. Of course I would always make sure you have a more detailed conversation with any online retailer or manufacturer you are considering before making any purchase (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

There’s a part of me that’s nagging: “you already have the 3-inch memory foam topper,” it says, “so why don’t you just get something new to go under it?” I guess what I’m really curious about is: how much of an upgrade is it to have a foam core under a memory foam top layer, as opposed to an innerspring mattress under a topper?

The choice between an innerspring support core and a good quality polyfoam support core is really a matter of personal preference and not a “better worse” choice. The weak link of a mattress is generally in the comfort layers above the innerspring and not in the innerspring itself. If the upper layers of a mattress have softened or are sagging then they will need to be removed no matter what you put on top of them because what is on top of them will just follow the soft spots or areas that are sagging.

Most memory foam mattresses have one of more layers of memory foam above a polyfoam support core so in theory you could just buy a polyfoam support core and put your layer of memory foam on top of it and buy a cover that fits and you would have a “new” memory foam mattress but it may not be the best or most suitable design for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and the suitability of a mattress is the most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase (see post #13 here). In effect you would be designing and building your own mattress and if you choose to go in this direction I would make sure you read point 3 in post #15 here and the posts it links to to make sure you have realistic expectations of success.

You could also buy a complete new mattress to go under your topper (instead of a polyfoam layers) but your memory foam topper is not great quality and if the mattress you buy also has comfort layers that use low quality materials (just like your current one) then you may be back where you are now fairly quickly. If you can’t test a mattress topper in person then you also won’t know how well the mattress/topper combination works in terms of PPP until you sleep on it.

As AnalogJ mentioned … the real issue with your current sleeping system (mattress/topper combination) is that the comfort layers of your mattress have softened and broken down and if you do decide to buy another mattress to go under your topper I would make sure that it doesn’t use the same lower quality materials as your current mattress and even then you may end up with a design that may not work well for you.

Phoenix