Recently moved to Hawaii from LA and badly need some recommendations for a new mattress. Currently sleeping on an old hand me down spring mattress from who knows how long ago! My wife and I previously slept on a 14" Zinus cooling gel memory foam mattress that served its purpose for our budget at the time, but now that we’ve permanently moved, we’re looking for a much better option.
After doing some research on the forum, I’ve decided to explore purchasing a latex mattress having never slept on one. My biggest worry is being in Hawaii, we really only have one shot at getting this right. For context, I usually start sleeping on my side, but end up eventually on my back. My wife meanwhile is entirely a back sleeper. We’re both hot sleepers as well, which is one of the big reasons I was drawn towards latex (among other very good benefits!). We’ve tried out different memory foam mattresses, but hated the “softer” ones that gave too much of a sinking feel. I was looking into SOL medium, based on a couple of other posts from folks in Hawaii, but was concerned if that would be too firm for us?
It’s hard to say for sure how soft/firm this mattress would feel to you as we all have different opinions and preferences when it comes to mattress feel. Basically, only you can feel what you feel on a mattress so while one person may claim it’s too soft, someone else may be saying it’s too firm, etc. I will say this - Back sleeping is the second most common position and has a slightly less curvy profile than side sleeping. The “gap” that needs to be filled in with the comfort layer for pressure relief is generally the small of the back (the lumbar area) and because the “gaps” in your profile are not quite as deep as in side sleeping, a slightly thinner top layer will generally work a little better. In back sleeping in other words a slightly shallower cradle is needed. A good starting point for a back sleeper is 2" of softer material on top of your mattress and then increasing or decreasing from there depending on other factors like weight, preferences, or other sleeping positions.
Is it possible to do any local testing to see how you feel laying on medium vs soft latex?
If not, SOL has wonderful customer service and they would gladly talk through all of your concerns with you and help you choose the most appropriate mattress for your needs from their inventory.
