Glad you liked the “audience of one” remark! I have no doubt other consumers may find our exchange a help in choosing a mattress topper, especially considering the massive membership TMU has.
I was very impressed with SOL and their product - I’ll need to switch to their medium and drop the size down from 3" to 2" and I think I’ll end up with the perfect solution. So a little tweaking is in order but I have no doubt it’s worth every effort - thanks again for all the help.
I wouldn’t be worried whatsoever I felt that with the 3" thickness and the soft (20 ILD) although was good for my pressure points my hip area dipped to low.
You’re experience with the 3" topper will be completely different from mine, I have no doubt and wish you the best of luck with it.
You have more readers and interest than the “audience of one” you believed. Please keep us updated after you’ve had a few weeks on your new topper. Am interested in your opinion as I have a beat up memory foam and am also considering a SOL topper. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Just bought my wife a Dunlop Latex Queen, medium, along with the base frame from Spindle. She’s been sleeping on it for two weeks now and is thrilled. IMO the Spindle is so much better than the “award winning” foam mattress we just returned to the manufacturer under their 100+ night (generous) satisfaction policy.
I too am having issues with my ultimate hybrid being too firm (hip pain). I have the plush topper. Ken recommended getting another 3 inch plush topper but I am afraid to spend an additional $300 for a topper and cover that still may not work. I ordered a 2 inch gel/memory foam topper to see if that will help. I hated to put memory foam on top of an expensive mattress, especially since I get really hot. But it is returnable…unlike the latex topper. I also wonder if I should get the bamboo cover for over it and if that will help with smell and heat. This is so frustrating. I have always liked the memory foam feel but hated the heat. Latex is new to me. I know they have the slow recovery latex but that is super expensive and a higher ILD so even though it would have the memory foam feel, it may be too firm. Now I wonder if I should get a 14 ILD latex topper instead. Will that be too soft? I sleep on side and stomach.
My apologies, I thought this post was under one of our expert threads. First of all, many people do combine memory foam and latex, so this is ok. What is the ILD of the memory foam? or density? This makes a difference in whether it can help and if it should be placed above or below the 3" plush. Most likely it will go below the plush latex. Ken does have many years of experience with these questions, so his opinion is very respected. The bamboo cover may help a little with the smell, it won’t make a big difference with overall heat issues. It will protect the foam, and help it last longer. For more info on these layers, please check out putting the layers together overview.
I really can’t say specifically if the 14ild topper will be too soft. Only you can be the judge of that, but I understand it is difficult - high price and no return. Let us know if you have any other questions, and/or other updates. Thank you again.
In response to mnn4532, I also have the ultimate hybrid in plush (3 inch. of 19ILD talalay). I am 5’7 & 130 lbs. & it is too firm for me. I am pretty positive it is the coils. I sleep on my side & stomach. I just ordered a 2 in. 19 ILD topper to hopefully fix the issue. My husband is about your size (5-9 & 170 lbs) & he has always been able to sleep on anything. Funny thing is he has been complaining of his body hurting & until this morning, I didn’t think about it being the mattress. I just figured it was arthritis, but now I am wondering. I am definitely frustrated with my purchase & the window of return is over. Another thing I notice is that it seems to be not quite as “square” as a box spring or other mattresses I have owned. They have always been the same size as the box springs & met with each other with regards to size as if they are meant to work together regardless of whether they were the same brand or not . My ultimate hybrid seems to curve in at the edges and is not really “square”. The mattress is also supposed to be 12 inches but it only seems to be at the ends. The middle part is more like 11. Do you have those issues? I assumed they would expand more over time.
Long story short: 27 year old male, 180 lbs, Portland OR area. About 1.5 months ago I moved out of my parents house into my own place and needed a new mattress to replace the Sealy Posturepedic Pivotal Plush I’d be sleeping on since 2007. With all of the things that go along with buying a place, I didn’t have time to mess with mattress shopping, so I bought a Helix Midnight based on some research and the reviews assuming I’d either get lucky and like it, or it would get me through to when I had time to mattress shop.
Well I ended up in the second category after about 50 days. Sleeping on my back gives me low back pain and side sleeping makes my leg muscles very sore. I’ve spent the last few days researching mattresses on here and other sites, and laid on some in local stores including Parklane and Bedmart (I plan to go to a few more this weekend just to cover all my bases). I’ve found I don’t like memory foam or hybrid mattresses, but do like innerspring and latex mattresses. At Bedmart I found two latex mattresses I really liked. Both of them felt essentially same in the store. Here are the specs:
Oregon Mattress Company Applegate 500 - $1200 - 15 year warranty
Zoned convoluted foam in quilt
1"+1.5" high density foam
2" Talalay latex (19 ILD)
7.5" Stratified soy based BioFlex core
Oregon Mattress Company Yamhill 500 - $2548 - 20 year warranty
Wool fiber in quilt
1" 3-zone Talalay latex (19/24 ILD)
2" Talalay latex (14 ILD)
6" Talalay latex core
3.25" soy base foam
At Parklane I felt like the Laurelwood was the most comfortable mattress, even though it was the softest of their three innerspring mattresses. I’m used to firm mattresses so that surprised me. From searching on this site, it seems the forum agrees Parklane makes quality mattresses. I feel like this would be my safest bed is it is similar to me previous mattress.
So far I’m most impressed with the mattresses from Bedmart. What do the experts think about them? Is the Yamhill worth the extra money if it doesn’t feel significantly different on the showroom floor?
I can’t comment on your potential choices from Parklane (Bedmart is apparently connected with Parklane) since I’m not an expert! But, since you’re going to continue shopping this weekend and are liking both innerspring and latex, just wanted to see if you knew about Mattress Lot (on NE Sandy) and Plank and Coil (off NW 22nd on Raleigh)? They both carry a good selection of quality latex and innerspring mattresses and the salespeople are very helpful (but not high pressure!) regarding componentry and evaluating choices.
See that you are researching innerspring and latex mattresses in the Portland OR area and had difficulty posting your questions in the General Forum, looks like you finally got here under topic Forum Help. Also, I’ll rename it closer to your original topic name “Thoughts on latex mattresses, shopping in Portland OR Area” that other consumers searching the same topic can discuss your findings, and thank you consumer @ClareMe for your suggestions. Thanks too @SweetDreams for your ongoing consumer support and @LatexMattressFactory for your quick response and guidance to TMU consumer subscribers.
BTW Fisherman166, are there any updates on your mattress shopping?
Thanks Sensei for making this its own topic Also thanks Clareme for the suggestion!
I stopped by Mattress Lot on Saturday. Some things came up so I only had about an hour there to test some mattresses out, but I found an innerspring/latex hybrid mattress that I was pretty impressed with named the Chelsea. To be honest there were a lot of mattresses there that felt good, so I’m thinking that may be the place I end up going through for my purchase. After the holidays I plan to stop in there again when I’m not so strapped for time and possibly pull the trigger on one of the mattresses there.
The one downside about Mattress lot is that they charge a 10% or 20% restocking fee on exchanges which always makes me a little worried. On the positive side their number of beds that felt good to me are larger than anywhere else I’ve been, so there is a much higher possibility that I could exchange for something I’d like more. Some good and some bad I suppose.
I don’t have any personal experience with the Mattress Lot but have something you should keep in mind regarding an exchange fee. Despite the fact that many retailers offer “free” returns or exchanges it’s really just semantics. There are costs involved with accepting returns and if a given seller isn’t charging for it then the cost is just included in their selling price whether you make a return or not. Having a fee on exchanges may actually be a more equitable way of covering those expenses since only those using the option pay for it. Just something to think about… good luck with your search! - Bill
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