We have just purchased a new Queen bed - Durabed Steel Foldable Queen-size Platform Bed and am now looking for a new mattress. I am leaning towards a latex but don’t want to spend a ton of money. (we’ve had at least 10 mattresses in 24 years so I prefer to keep my price down). I’m torn between the Dream Foam Ultimate Dream mattress and the Ikea Edsele. Both my husband and I tend to be side sleepers. Both of us have low back issues. Most spring mattresses make my shoulder and hip ache. Too soft and my low back sinks. Too firm and nothing feels quite right in the morning. He weighs about 85 pounds more than I do so there’s a weight difference too.
So my main questions are: Given the kind of frame I’ve purchased - is there going to be a problem with the Ikea mattress? Will I need something (and if so what?) between the mattress and the metal platform?
The Dream Foam seems good since you can order the firmness you desire. Of course I’m not sure what that is yet. But it looks like it might sit on my frame better since it has a high density foam bottom?
The Ikea doesn’t have any talaley foam - will that tend to make it firmer? And since it isn’t as thick - will that be a problem for my husband at 225 lbs? I do like that it can be flipped but I’m not sure if that’s a real selling point or not.
You can see my comments about a wire grid type of foundation in post #10 here. If the mattress you end up choosing has a latex support core like the Edsele then it may be worth adding a bed rug or a layer of firm polyfoam on top of the bedframe to lower the risk of the mattress compressing into the gaps in the wire grid surface over longer periods of time.
Polyfoam is stiffer and less flexible and “squishy” than latex so the risk would be less that along with the cover the polyfoam would sink into the gaps and the same bedframe would probably be fine.
Both Talalay and Dunlop (which is used in the Ikea) come in a range of firmness levels but Dunlop is denser than Talalay and gets firmer faster as you sink into it more deeply so in the same firmness level (ILD) the Dunlop would probably “feel” firmer to most people. Again this would only be true if the firmness level of both were the same. There is a little more about the difference in “feel” between them in post #7 here but the most reliable way to know which one you prefer is with your own testing or experience.
Once of the advantages of a local purchase is that you can do some careful and objective testing (using the testing guidelines) on the Edsele to make sure that it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP because it’s a “one size fits all” choice that may work well for some people but not for others. For many people it may be a little on the firm side because it doesn’t have separate comfort layers but personal testing or experience is the best way to know how suitable it may be for any particular person.
The advantage of the Ultimate Dreams is that you can choose the firmness of the comfort layer so you can have separate comfort layers for pressure relief and a firmer support core for support/alignment but I would also be aware that while it’s a great quality/value and customizable choice … it’s not one of their mattresses where you can exchange the comfort layer for a different firmness level after a purchase if it’s too firm or too soft for you so I would make sure that you have some more detailed conversations with them so they can help you choose the firmness level(s) that have the best odds of success based on “best efforts” and “averages”. If you are “stuck” in between two firmness choices that otherwise seem “equal” I would also lean towards the firmer one because you can always make a mattress that is too firm softer by adding a topper but it’s much more difficult to firm up a mattress that is too soft without removing and replacing the foam in either the comfort or support layers of the mattress.
A two sided mattress can extend the useful life of a mattress compared to a mattress that uses the same materials in a one sided version but this would only be a benefit if the mattress was a suitable choice in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) in the first place and as long as you flipped it on a regular basis.
Both of these would be good quality value choices so which one is “best” for you would depend on the parts of your personal value equation that were most important to you. You would be making a final choice between “good and good”.
I know you don’t recommend solid plywood under the mattress. What about pegboard - where there are holes in it. It’s what i have under my current mattress (foam on springs) on the same kind of metal base frame. I’m downsizing to a Queen from a King - I was thinking I could cut the pegboard down to size as well?
I think pegboard would be an improvement over plywood as long as it sits flat and is evenly supported. The airflow and ventilation wouldn’t be quite as much as slats and would depend on the percentage of the surface that was solid vs the percentage that wasn’t. I think it would certainly reduce the risk of mold, mildew, and dust mites and the humidity inside the mattress vs plywood.
Update! After further consideration I’ve decided on the Dream Foam mattress. Before making our purchase, we gave away our old mattress and for the last several nights we’ve been sleeping on a 3" thick memory foam mattress topper on our carpeted floor. Best night’s sleep we’ve both had in 2 years! And the first time in years I’ve been comfortable sleeping on my back.
I spoke to Chuck today and given how comfortable this “foam on floor” combo has been he thought a #4 firmness might be the way to go. If anyone has any further thoughts on this - having a #4 - I’d love to hear!
I don’t have anything to add about your comfort choice because they know more about their “matching” their own mattresses to different people than anyone else (including me) so the choice that has the highest odds of success would be based your conversation with them … but I do think you’ve made a great quality/value choice … and congratulations on your new mattress
