I thought I would write a post to update everyone that I finally got my Dormio Stratus mattress set up on the Leggett & Platt P-132 adjustable base. When the adjustable base was first delivered about a month ago, one jammed and the foot wouldn’t go down, so we decided to get a replacement, which delayed setting up the mattress for a while. Anyway, we finally put it together and have slept on it for three nights so far. The Dormio Stratus has three 3" interchangeable layers of Arpico dunlop (firm, medium, soft layers, split king size) and then a thinner layer of soft dunlop on top (not split).
At first, I had it set up with medium on the top, soft in the middle, and firm on the bottom, but it was too firm and I wasn’t getting enough pressure point relief, so we rearranged it so now it’s the progressive set up with soft on top, medium in the middle, and firm on the bottom. This is definitely better, and I’m not having the lower back pain that I was having before on the old innerspring mattress that had begun to sag in the hip area. The only problem now is that it still feels a little firm, especially at the shoulders. I have mild a shoulder injury, so I’m pretty sensitive to that, and I’m a side sleeper. I’m wondering if I should reconfigure it with two soft layers on top, and then medium or firm at the bottom, but this might be too thick of a comfort layer for my hips, which I don’t want to sink in too much so my lower back starts to hurt again. My husband doesn’t mind giving me his soft (or medium) layer in exchange for either my medium or firm layer.
On the other hand, the mattress is very new and I’ve read that over the first several weeks, latex mattresses tend to soften a little bit anyway.
Overall, I am thrilled with this new mattress. It has wool and alpaca quilted in the cover top and sides, and it’s very comfortable. Dormio also sold us (at a great sale price along with the mattress) a wool/alpaca duvet that I now love. We used to use a down duvet, but we were always kicking the duvet off in the middle of the night because of overheating, and this one is so much better. At first, I was worried because it smelled like a sheep when I first opened the package, but I aired it on a clothesline outside for a day, and the smell has gone away completely and it smells totally fresh and clean now. It is so lightweight and regulates my temperature perfectly so that I never get cold or too warm.
Dormio has a beautiful, very relaxing showroom in Mississauga, and shopping there was pleasant and we were not rushed or pressured in any way. John and Steve were great to work with and very patient and helpful with all my many questions, and they gave us the 5% discount for being members here, which was wonderful. (Thank you, Phoenix!). Tim, at Richmond Bedding, where we bought the L & P adjustable base, was great, too, and helped us get the replacement bases when L & P sent the defective one, so we’ve been very happy with him, too.
We really like the adjustable base overall, but I’m not thrilled with the remote control because it’s a tablet instead of a wireless remote, and it depends on the L & P application, which has crashed a few times and given us a dialogue box that says, “Unfortunately, Legget & Platt has stopped working”. But after re-booting a few times, it seems to be working OK at the moment. However, compared to a regular wireless remote, the tablet is more cumbersome to use, and the battery life is weak. When the battery gets below a certain point, it can’t be recharged from the USB port on the bed, so it often has to be plugged into a wall outlet. The pillow-tilt feature, which is the reason we opted for this model instead of the Prodigy or a different model or brand, is really nice and we find we use it a lot. It’s supposed to be helpful to use a slight pillow-tilt adjustment to ease a partner’s snoring, although we haven’t had to test this out (yet!). So my only real complaint about it is the tablet control. It would be a huge improvement if L & P would make a dedicated regular wireless remote for the Premier series bases.
I wanted to thank everyone here who helped me in making these decisions and avoiding another Big S mattress rip off, which we almost fell for before I found this forum. So far, we are very happy we bought the Dormio Stratus and the P-132. Phoenix, do you think I should try two layers of soft over a layer of medium or firm, or should I just give this set up more time for my body to adjust to it? It’s a huge improvement already from what we had before, so it’s nice that I’m really just fine-tuning it now, but I would love to hear your opinion. We have the stretchy cotton Sleeptek mattress protector and then a sheet on the mattress.
