Hello all,
First, I apologize in advance for the lengthy post. If Phoenix recognized my username and remembers my OCD tendencies, I’m sure he groaned loudly and rolled his eyes with a “here we go again” expression, lol.
This forum, and Phoenix in particular, was a great resource last year during my search for a new queen bed, and my eventual attempt at replicating a latex mattress that I found in a local chain. The saga (and it was definitely a saga!) is primarily outlined in the threads I started here and here.
After several months of “research”, I purchased a 3" layer of Radium’s 22 ILD blended talalay from Arizona Mattress Co. I also purchased a 3" layer of 4.75 lb/ft3 and a 3" layer 5.9 lb/ft3 of Latex Green’s natural dunlop from Ultimate Sleep’s Amazon store. FWIW, I originally purchased the dunlop layers from SleepWarehouse.com, but what I received was no where near the densities of what I ordered. Although determining density is fairly straightforward, it took a bit of work to get SleepWarehouse to concede the layers were not within spec. They were eventually returned at their cost and a refund was provided. I then made the purchase from Ultimate Sleep and received the two layers that are within spec, at least in regards to density. To add to the delays, Arizona Mattress Co. originally sent me a 19 ILD layer instead of the 22 ILD I ordered. Arizona Mattress Co. made it right and did the exchange at their cost without much ado, which is why I decided to continue business with them and also purchased their 9" mattress cover and queen foundation. When all was said and done, I didn’t get the mattress put together until about last August.
From top to bottom, this is the layering, which I think would be considered a “differential” layering:
3" blended talalay in 22 ILD
3" dunlop in 4.62 lb/ft3, which is about 23-27 ILD
3" dunlop in 6.0 lb/ft3, which is in the high 40’s ILD
(The ILDs on the dunlop come from information provided by Phoenix in this post here.)
I am about 5’11" and 185 lbs, and I guess I would be considered a side sleeper. The reason I say “I guess” is because, unlike all the pictures used to demonstrate a side sleeper, my legs are not stacked on top of one another. I sleep on my side with my top leg forward and the knee pulled up, usually with my arm around another pillow. This results in somewhat of a side/stomach position.
From the beginning, I felt my DIY mattress was a bit too firm and have found myself tossing and turning due to pressure on my shoulders and hips. I do sometimes sleep on my back, and I don’t feel any undue pressure in that position. I I just don’t prefer being on my back and normally can’t fall asleep in that position.
Because of the pressure that builds up on my shoulders (the worst part) and hips (not as bad as shoulders, but definitely not comfortable), I end up flipping back and forth from my right and left sides all night long. Since I don’t have any issues with back pain throughout the night or in the morning, I’m thinking I need to make the adjustment in the top comfort layer, and that is what I have been researching these past couple days.
A couple of things have me concerned with simply trying to swap the 22 ILD top layer for a 14 ILD (Latex International’s blended talalay) or 15 ILD (Radium’s blended talalay in that same range). Radium and LI both make a 19 ILD, but my initial thoughts were that would not be a big enough difference from the 22 ILD. That was until I went back and reviewed the weight of my 22 ILD layer (28.5 lbs), which puts the density at 3.42 lb/ft3. According to that same post above, this possibly puts the actual ILD of my nominal “22 ILD” at closer to 24 ILD. I don’t think that is an unreasonable conclusion since LI and Radium both give a variance of +/- 2 ILD of the target ILD.
So if my nominal “22 ILD” layer is actually closer to a 24 ILD, and a nominal “19 ILD” could actually be as soft as 17 ILD (because of the +/- 2 variance), then what is the likelihood that going from a 24 to a 17 would be a big enough difference? On the other hand, but by the same reasoning, I’m concerned that swapping for the nominal “14” or “15” ILD might be too soft, especially if what I actually received was a piece on the lower ended of the variance, which means it could actually be 12 or 13 ILD.
I like the feel of a very soft and plush bed, so when I say I am concerned that swapping for a nominal 14 or 15 ILD layer might be “too soft”, what I am really concerned with is whether or not it would not be supportive enough. I know that support is primarily a function of the middle and bottom layers, but with the top layer being 3" thick, is it not responsible for any of the support? Meaning, if the middle and bottom layers are supportive enough, does it matter at all (in regards to proper support) how soft the top layer is?
In the interest of complete information, my wife, who is 5’8" and about 135 lbs, and is a side sleeper, says she has no complaints. She did have a sore neck for the first couple months on the new mattress, but after I was finally able to convince her to try a new pillow, the pain went away and she has had no problems. She also likes soft and plush mattresses, so as long as what I end up with still provides proper support, I think she’ll be fine with it.
For clarity, my questions are:
[ol]
[li]Based on the information I’ve provided, do you think I am correct in my assumption that the top lay is what I need to adjust?[/li]
[li]If the answer to #1 is “yes”, would a nominal 14/15 or 19 ILD have a better chance of fixing my problem, or is it a crap shoot?[/li]
[li]Should I be concerned that a softer 3" top layer will effect the support properties of the mattress, or should I just be concerned with the comfort aspects when making a decision on which top layer to use?[/li]
[/ol]As always, thanks for your time and input.
- Eric