Just plain polyfoam, two-sided - does it exist?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Phoenix, thank you so much for all the wonderful information. You perform a great service here, and I’m so happy I found the site.

It led me to many ideas, and then led me to reject all of them in favor of what we slept on for 20 happy years (followed by several semi-(bordering on un)-satisfactory years of memory foam with a latex topper), IF it still exists, which seems to be a big “if,” as I haven’t yet found it here.

I want a two-sided plain firm polyfoam. Just that and nothing else. No “comfort layer” (or at least a very subdued one), no pillowtop. Just firm polyfoam upon which I can put a latex topper.

Does this exist? Can one have it made?

Thank you so much.

2

Hi vncoffman,

[quote]I want a two-sided plain firm polyfoam. Just that and nothing else. No “comfort layer” (or at least a very subdued one), no pillowtop. Just firm polyfoam upon which I can put a latex topper.

Does this exist? Can one have it made?[/quote]

I don’t know of a mattress like this off the top of my head (most two sided mattresses are either an innerspring or latex) but I would imagine that there are many local manufacturers that could make something like this.

You could also just purchase the polyfoam and a zip cover from the list of foam and component suppliers here and make it yourself as well.

Phoenix

3

Hi vncoffman,

Yes one can easily be made, by simply gluing together 2 different ILD polyfoam with a quality water based adhesive. Simply check with a local foam dealer, and he should be able to do this for you.

good luck :wink:

4

Thanks for the replies and the information.

I was sure hoping not to have to make it myself.

What I really want is what we slept on the 20 years, which looked just like any other mattress, at least the way they were made at the time - heavy damask cover with quilting on the top and bottom, some kind of rolled or ticking edging (I may be conflating the foam mattress and the mattress I slept on as a child/teen, as they looked very similar), handles for picking it up and flipping it, etc. Just a regular mattress, the way they used to make them, but at some point they stopped making them in regular foam.

And they stopped making them decent-looking. Our current memory foam mattress has always looked cheap to us, and we don’t like it as much as regular polyfoam, both for sleeping on and for weight.

I was looking at the Tuft & Needle for a while. I forget why I decided against it - maybe when I realized it was one-sided. Well, you can’t have everything, I guess.

5

Hi vncoffman,

Both the Tuft & Needle mattress and the Dreamfoam 12 in 1 customizable are polyfoam mattresses that both use good quality polyfoam and neither one of them would have any weak links in their design but neither one of them is two sided. There is more about both of them in post #2 here and the posts it links to.

Phoenix

6

I almost had myself talked into the Tuft & Needle or the Dreamfoam (especially the Dreamfoam, which had several models that looked more like mattresses as I remember them), but reviews on Amazon that mentioned the foam density led me back here. We are both over 200lbs, so it seems from the discussion here (unless I am missing something) that we shouldn’t consider any polyfoam under 2 lbs?

Darn it, I found just what I wanted in the DIY section (about 8" of firm high-resiliency foam, which I just found out about - thanks again, Phoenix!), but can’t find it with a cover I like. I have an inquiry in with a store in San Francisco, I think it was, that pictures a cover I like that I can’t find a way to actually buy.

7

Hi vncoffman,

There isn’t a specific cut off weight where you would suddenly need higher quality materials and it will depend on how much over 200 lbs you are, your weight distribution and body type, your sleeping positions, the type and thickness of the comfort layers, and many other variables as well but the lower 200 lb weight range or higher is where I would generally begin to seriously consider higher quality comfort and support materials in the layers of a mattress that are most subject to regular compression and the softening and breakdown that goes with it.

There are some foam quality guidelines in post #4 here and there is also much more detailed information about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to different people in post #4 here and the posts it links to.

Phoenix

8

Thanks, Phoenix. You’re incredibly helpful, and are probably going to be instrumental in getting me what I actually want: just a firm hunk of good-quality polyfoam with a quilted cover - that being what I believe our beloved 20-year mattress to have been - upon which I will put a latex topper.

9

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Mattress arrived yesterday, and we are ecstatic.

I wound up abandoning the thought of mail order or do it yourself and went to a local factory. Thank you so much, Phoenix! I would never have known there was such a thing as a local factory without this website. After my excellent experience, I wouldn’t recommend even considering anything else if there’s a mattress factory within driving distance.

Houston actually has two factories, but one’s website appeared to indicate they didn’t make what I wanted and the other had a website that came through a time warp from 1995, from which I could tell little. Fortunately, I emailed the 1995 website factory and got a quick reply indicating that they could make anything I wanted. And they did.

I don’t know the details of the construction, but I do know it does not involve coils and does not involve latex, so I assume it’s mostly plain polyfoam. I picked it by lying down on everything in the store that met my basic requirements. It has a heavy damask cover and cording around the edges and is two-sided, just like I’ve been used to all my life (before the memory foam interlude). With a 2" latex topper it’s perfect.- one night, and my back, legs, and even shoulders feel so much better. We should have got rid of that memory foam a long time ago. I like to sleep on a bed, not in it.

My only regret is that I did not specify the thickness exactly, which I assume I could have done. I eyeballed the sample and it looked about as thick as our current mattress, but it turned out to be somewhat thicker. One more inch and I wouldn’t have been able to get into bed without a step stool - we have the mattress on a two drawer high platform. That’s my bad, not the factory’s.

One consequence of my choice of materials was that there was quite a bit of smell at first, but I got rid of 99% of it by running the window AC on exhaust all day. I had thought about trying a latex mattress to get fewer chemicals, but abandoned that thought after lying down on one at the factory. I lay down and bounced right back up, almost literally - boingy, boingy, boingy. I should have asked if there’s such a thing as a latex mattress that’s not so boingy. Oh well, I’ve been sleeping on mattresses with chemicals my whole life, I assume.

And the price simply floored me. When I heard it I started picking out new latex pillows, which I got for a good price as well.

If you’re in Houston, just go to Houston Mattress Factory, the one in the pink building at I-45 and Telephone Road.

10

Hi vncoffman,

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you ended up deciding and to share your comments and feedback about Houston Mattress Factory in such detail. It’s great to see you were able to find just what you wanted.

Congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

I’m looking forward to any additional feedback you have the chance to share once you’ve slept on it for a bit.

Phoenix

11

The mattress is working out great.

We did have to have it cut down from 12" to 8", due to my eyeballing the height rather than actually measuring, and due to our tall storage bed. That process was handled most excellently by Houston Mattress Factory, and it felt exactly the same when it was done.

We started with the 2" firm latex topper that had been on the (late, unlamented) memory foam, and have added 1" of medium due to a slight pressure point on my bad hip. (Which, as it turned out, hubby appreciated - it had not been quite perfect for him either, but he had not said so until it was fixed by the additional layer of latex.)

The bed is now perfect for both of us. Plain polyfoam topped by latex rules!

12

Hi vncoffman,

Thanks for taking the time to share another update … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

It’s great to hear that everything worked out so well for both of you!

Phoenix