My hubs and I are on the hunt (again) for a mattress that will work for us. We have had a Serta icomfort for the past 10-ish years. Althought we did not seem to have problems with it, we felt it was time for a new mattress. We have a adjustable base king size that is split into 2 twin xl. We decided to go ahead this time and get 2 twin xl mattresses so we could each adjust the way that worked for us. We also wanted to have a more “green” mattress without all the chemicals this time, so we have opted to not have memory foam. We purchased 2 twin xl hybrid mattresses from a TMU on this site. We had very high hopes. The company and customer service was wonderful! The mattresses seems to be constructed well, however, they are way too firm for my husband and I. They have a generous sleep trial and we have given it 6 months.
Hubs is 6 ft 190 lbs side and back sleeper. He wakes with lower back pain and shoulder pain. I am 5ft 2 140lbs primarily side sleeper and I wake up throughout the night with hip, knee and low back pain. We are searching for something else. We have been thinking that 2 twin xl all latex would be best for us. The hybrid we got just does not have enough comfort layer at the top. I did not understand all the terms and options until finding this Godsend of a website a few months ago.
We like the option of a customizable mattress ie: Sleep EZ. Thinking the 2 support layers are Dunlop and the top layer Talalay. I see that there are several options on thickness 7" to 13". How thick does the mattress need to be comfortable, essentially is thicker better? I am open to additional companies that do this same type of customizable mattress, not sure who else offers this. What would be the difference in ordering a Sleep EZ Roma with a 3" talalay topper be? I have seen posts about having the topper able to move independently?? Not sure I understood that correctly. Thank you for any input!
Hi itsnow1 and welcome to the forums and thanks for reaching out on this! We have the 7" for customers that prefer a firm mattress. The 13" isn’t a better mattress, it’s just a taller mattress. Folks go with the 13" mattress if they weigh 300 pounds or more or if they just want a taller mattress. Outside of that, it’s more money than you need to spend.
As such, our 9" and 10" mattresses are our most popular. The 9" is a bit more supportive & a bit firmer while the 10" is just as supportive but offers a bit more contour and pressure relief for your hips and shoulders than the 9".
Putting a 3" soft Talalay on top of the Roma could be a great choice, but if you go with the Roma, my advice is to try it without a topper and hopefully it works just fine, but if you need to add a topper later you certainly can.
If you get the organic mattress, my advice is to get the 10" with soft Talalay for the top layer, medium Dunlop for the middle layer, and firm Dunlop for the bottom layer. The top Talalay layer should provide all the contour and pressure relief needed to avoid any pressure point issues and will add secondary support to the mattress. Secondary support is needed to fill in the gaps between your body and the mattress – back sleepers normally need secondary support to fill in the gaps between the small of their back and the mattress; side sleepers normally need secondary support to fill in the gaps between their mid-section and the mattress, and stomach sleepers normally need this under their belly or in their upper shoulder / clavicle area. If these parts of a person’s body aren’t supported by the mattress, their muscles will work throughout the night to hold these parts of the body up, and by the time they wake up they’ve got back pain. So the top 3” of Talalay latex will provide contour, pressure relief, and secondary support. The remaining Dunlop layers should provide all the support needed to maintain proper spinal alignment and avoid back pain. Please keep in mind that our initial recommendations have a 90% success rate (we only have a 10% layer exchange rate and a 3%-4% return rate) so there’s a 90% chance that the above recommendation works perfectly for you.
Our Roma is an enclosed mattress that quilted on both sides and is adjusted by flipping it, and the organic mattress has a zippered cover that is adjusted by unzipping the cover and rearranging the layers. The medium-plush side of the Roma feels just like the organic mattress in soft/medium/firm, and the firm-plush side of the Roma feels just like the Select Sleep mattress in medium/medium/firm (these are our 2 most popular setups for the organic mattress). The Roma is an outstanding value for sure, and it actually has our lowest return rate, so the Roma is definitely an excellent choice.
The organic mattress, on the other hand fully customizable, meaning you can order the mattress to be as soft or as firm as you’d like. They’re also fully adjustable, meaning you can change the softness, firmness, back support, pressure relief, etc. AFTER you get the mattress in your home. If you start with a certain setup and find that it’s too soft, you can unzip the cover and rearrange the layers to get a firmer feel out of the mattress, or you can exchange a layer to make it softer. Additionally, latex mattresses typically last 20 years. If, in 5 or 10 or 15 years you decide you want a softer or firmer mattress you would only have to buy a new layer instead of an entirely new mattress. Lastly, if the mattress starts to break down in 15 – 20 years, it’s normally the top layer that breaks down first, and at that point you can likely just buy a new top layer of latex instead of a whole new mattress and get an additional 8-10 years out of the mattress.
Although it’s not likely that you’ll need to rearrange layers or exchange layers, you certainly have the option to adjust the mattress according to you and your partner’s specific needs and preferences, both in the short-term and long-term. We have a 90 day exchange and return period, so you can exchange a layer within the first 90 days for a flat-rate $30 fee for the first exchange and the full cost of shipping for any subsequent exchanges. We will ship your layers first, and we will ship them with extra plastic that you can use to package your current layers, and we will ship it with a pre-paid Fed Ex return label. Also, if you will please call us when you are ready to ship your layers back we will schedule a free Fed Ex pick up for you. You will have 30 days after its arrival to return a layer of your choosing, so you’ll have plenty of time to try a few different combinations with the layers you have and the layer we will be sending you so that you can get your comfort and support levels just right.
Thank you for responding! I do like the concept of the customizable mattress and only replacing sections as needed if there is eventually wear. We are really most concerned about being able to relieve pressure and be comfortable.
I had seen several posts where people did the Roma and then the talalay topper? I don’t know if they later added the topper because the Roma was not cutting it for them.
Does the Roma offer good pressure relief or would we find more pressure relief in a customizable with Dunlap F/M and talalay soft on top? also what is the feel difference between 3" talalay and 2" of talalaly on the top? Also what is the difference of the top comfort layer being talalay like in the organic line and soft dunlop in the natural line?
The medium-plush side of the Roma feels just like the organic mattress in soft/medium/firm, and the firm-plush side of the Roma feels just like the Select Sleep mattress in medium/medium/firm. So you should get the same pressure relief from the Roma as you would in the 10" organic with soft Talalay over medium Dunlop over firm Dunlop.
A 2" soft Talalay top layer will give you less pressure relief and less secondary back support than a 3" layer, and the same goes for having soft Dunlop instead of soft Talalay.
Thank you for all the great advice. I am not just trying to decide between a quilted encasement or one that does not increase surface tension. I don’t want to make the diy mattress feel firmer because I chose the wrong encasement. Any thoughts?