I purchased a King all latex 4 layer bed from Foam Sweet Foam received in June; all natural Dunlop, no Talaylay option. I initially ordered the custom layers as circled below in Blue in a queen, and the next day changed order to king, and was told by the sales rep that instead of my selected stack I should order as shown in Red, which instead of one 3 inch comfort layer has two soft layers, even though I said I need a firm mattress. Iām 5 foot 3-1/2, 155 pounds, mostly side sleeper, sometimes back.
TLDR: Iām currently on a 4-layer stack shown in blue after 1 layer exchange. The one in red was too soft with those 2 comfort layers (got severe back pain). The blue is better but I feel some hip discomfort and keep waking up so it seems a little bit too firm. I have all layers now except XX Firm. - Q: Is there any 4-layer rearrangement w/the 5 layers that could give slightly more comfort without sacrificing firmness? Should I buy a 1" topper? Hope that the wool cover softens w/time? Itās also sleeping surprisingly hot, almost like memory foam. Maybe thatās why Iām waking up, because I have to move.
I donāt have much time to sleep on a new configuration before deciding whether to returnā¦ Iād need to initiate that in the next week. They did give me some extra time to sort it out. Iād rather make it work if possible but donāt know what I can do and donāt want to be stuck with a $2500 bed I canāt sleep through the night on.
āāā
Details: when I called to change my online order from Q to K, I was told most people who say they want a firm mattress need more comfort than they realize and itās easier to move a soft layer down and a firm layer up if you find itās too soft vs. trying to go softer if your DIY stack is too firm, and returns have decreased w/this approach.
I went along with that strongly suggested change from Blue to Red but it didnāt work: It felt OK at first but I got new severe back pain. After giving 2-1/2 weeks to resolve, I called them to exchange one of the 2 soft layers but was told to just move the Soft top layer down 1 step since a Med Firm isnāt much different from a Med Soft. I gave that a try, but it didnāt work. Then I tried removing Med Soft completely and putting Soft directly on top of Firm. With less cushion to sink in, the back pain went away so that was a move in the right direction but I developed hip pain, and felt like the mattress was pushing up on me. After these 2 changes I contacted them to exchange one layer and got a Medium Firm which I inserted between the Soft and the Firm. With 5 days now on this (Blue) stack itās definitely better but still slightly too firm /not enough cushion now since Iāve got a little hip discomfort and keep waking up.
Iāve unzipped their wool cover to reduce tautness as it breaks in; thereās also their quilted mattress protector above that. I found out on another forum that hip pain can either mean too firm from pressure points, or too soft from misalignment, but since the back pain went away I think itās firm enough now for back support but not quite enough cushion on pressure points. I just donāt see a way to resolve it with the layers I have.
Hi KADMAR1, and welcome to The Mattress Underground
Happy to have you here with us.
Sorry to hear of the difficulties you are having with your DIY latex mattress. DIY can be particularly difficult, and as you have found, can take a lot of time and research. Since every person is unique as far as what is comfortable based on their stats(height, BMI, sleeping position(s) and any underlying health issues) and their PPP(posture and alignment, pressure relief, and personal preferences) its very difficult to say what may or may not work for any individual. Thanks for your stats ā with higher BMI, and being a side/back sleeper you need to have good contouring as well as support. It can become an issue when you need individual layers to do more than they are capable of, which can cause alignment issues, stress on pressure points, and even misalignment. Looking at your current configuration, nothing is jumping out as an issue; as you say you have the support figured out, but its āslightly too firm/not enough cushionā and you still have hip discomfort.
Have you considered a latex topper? Remember, Dunlop is more cradling and talalay is ābouncierāā¦a coupe inch thick latex topper may be the finishing touch you are looking for, since it sounds like you exhausted the usual DIY task of moving layers up and down or even removing some. There are a lot of topper options available online, and many of the Trusted Membersof the site carry various comfort levels, thicknesses and price points as well.
Hip issues for side sleepers especially can be caused by a comfort layer that is too firm or too thin where you can feel the firmness of either the sleeping surface itself or the support layers āthroughā the comfort layers. These are pressure point issues. In some cases though another reason for hip pain may be a mattress that is too soft which can cause your hips to be out of their neutral alignment and sink down too far which can hyperextend the hip joint and can lead to a burning feeling or pain from joints, muscles, and ligaments that are stretched beyond their neutral alignment. This would more of an alignment issue except instead of spinal alignment itās about joint alignment.
We do have a lot of DIY enthusiasts among our forum members, and I was hoping someone could chime in with their experiences and opinions of similar builds; You might want to reach out to Jeff at Mattress To Goā¦they have a dedicated Expert Forum hereā¦Jeff is
Extremely knowledgeable on DIY and frequently offers up possible solutions to our members who have run up against the wall on their DIY setups, sounds like you are almost there on your sleep system ā a little more tweaking should do it.
Thank you Basilio for your kind and thoughtful reply. I have tried another tweak, removing the top soft layer from the wool cover so I could get a little more conforming response from it and topping it directly with a previously owned 2" gel foam topper, then the cotton/wool mattress protector. This does seem to have helped a bit, but only had one night so far. Foam sweet foam has suggested that I try a full 5-layer stack by adding back the Medium Soft inside the mattress cover over the 3 firm layers.
Would going back to 2 Soft layers on top, but now with an additional med firm layer beneath, prevent sinking down too far again?
Oh my gosh, this is giving me flashbacks. If you can return this, return it. We have spent three years of this endless circle. Some people never sleep well on latex. Itās both too hard and too soft as you find, and I have hip pain so bad I wake up 3-5 times a night from it and have to take Advil. The diagnosis is either its too soft or too hard but there has been no fix and either way I end up with lower back pain and hip pain. Iām just trying to figure out my next move since we have so much invested in latex and I have mattress PTSD.
Oh my, Iām so sorry youāve been through this. Sounds like itās time to move on and get something else that will give you a decent nightās sleep. I will admit itās pretty discouraging to hear. Thanks for your input.
I definitely think itās worth a tryā¦itāsā almost impossible to firm up a too-soft mattress, but
You are in the final ātweaksā phase, and it seems like you are very close to dialing in
To your preferred comfort. Again, the most frustrating aspect of DIY is when you are āalmostā there - it takes a good bit of moving layers up and down, and then giving yourself time to ābreak inā the new configuration, all while potentially racing the clock if you have a narrow return exchange window.
Keep in mind as you get close that normally any sleep system can take 4-6 weeks for some consumers to fully wear in the mattress and become accustomed to it, which is to say as you get closer to your desired configuration, it should become a bit more comfortable, and you will become more accustomed to it, over time, so you donāt go crazy trying to get that last fraction closer to your ultimate goal!
I look forward to hearing how this all works out for you - youāve certainly put in the time and effort and deserve to be rewarded with a great result!
Thank you. I am thinking, after sleeping on the 5 layers of Dunlop and still not finding it quite right, plus reading many posts here, that to tweak the comfort layer perhaps my top layer /a topper should be Talalay instead. If I keep the configuration of 4 layers (MS, MF, F, XF) what might be a good density & thickness for a Talalay topper?
I would say a 2"-3" Talalay topper would do the trick, I would say you should base the density on what result you are
Looking for - do you still feel the mattress is not firm enough? I would say possibly try a more medium firm to start,
As with the various layers configured you run the risk of ending up with an uncomfortably firm mattress if the density
Too high - however only you can judge how comfortable the final sleep system is for you.
