Help me understand progressive

[phoenix]

Hi awoods,

I used to do some cross country bicycle touring and one of my pet peeves was when the bearings on my bicycle weren’t absolutely “perfectly” adjusted. If they were just a touch too tight then the bearings (especially the wheels) didn’t roll or rotate as freely as I wanted and if they were just a touch too loose then I was never comfortable knowing there was a tiny wobble. Part of the “joy” of riding it was how I felt knowing that every moving part was finely tuned and was working as well and as smoothly as it possibly could.

Your experiences and mattress testing remind me of those times where nothing but a mattress that is “perfectly tuned” to you will do

I like the feel of the lanoodles better than the other shredded latex. The surface feels less lumpy. Also they were a lot easier to smooth out into a relatively uniform distribution. Regarding lower back alignment, my results were similar to those with the other shredded latex topper.

The consistency of the size of latex particles affect how they “pack down” and settle and if there is a combination of smaller and larger pieces then the smaller pieces will arrange themselves inside the spaces of the larger pieces and the overall result will be a firmer pillow (see post #20 here). The Lanoodles are more consistent in their size and would have more “spaces” in between the pieces and would also be softer than more solid chunks or pieces of latex.

I took a nap that way. I had no lower back pain, and it was very cushy for my knee and hips. I was essentially just borderline bottoming out on it. So I think that tells me pretty accurately that 2 3/4" of soft material is about my upper limit for maintaining good lower back alignment.

“Floor testing” of layers can provide a very useful guideline but I would also keep in mind that the firmer support layers underneath the comfort layers will also compress to some degree when you lie on the mattress so this would relate more to having a very firm support core that had very little flex underneath your comfort layers (although even an ultra firm support core would still compress more than the floor).

But as it turns out I like Dunlop as my support layers and zoning might be helpful for meeting my husband and I’s mixed needs.

Zoning is certainly one of the approaches that can be helpful for a couple that have different needs and preferences. There is more about this in the first part of post #2 here.

I wonder if it might provide a relaxed enough surface layer for me? I’d guess not, but would be really nice if it did.

Their convoluted top layer would be softer than a solid layer and would also have “some effect” on how relaxed or resilient the sleeping surface was but the effect wouldn’t be as much as a lanoodles topper or wool quilting.

With both I’d likely want the lanoodle topper, and wonder if the topper plus a 2" comfort layer is going to be too much soft for my lower back alignment.

You have a very narrow range that seems to be ideal for you and because it will depend on the specific firmness of the comfort layer and the support core underneath it and because even the specifics of the convoluting can make a difference (see post #2 here) I don’t think that it would be possible to really know with any certainty outside of your actual sleeping experience.

Phoenix