Hi ommama,
[quote]From Beth:
With the softer foam and harder springs, I felt like the foam was too soft. It’s talalay latex and the ILD is only 17. I had the feeling of sinking in too far without enough support. You describe that the comfort layer may not have had enough softness/thickness to fill in the gaps and relieve pressure points. I didn’t feel any immediate pressure points while lying on this soft comfort layer, but I did sometimes feel the firm springs from the foundation layer when I was sleeping and those were uncomfortable. I can’t imagine that a softer layer would work better. This was already so soft and I can’t imagine that a thicker layer of the same 17 ILD Talalay would help because it would just be more of the same for me to sink into without being supported.
So I am curious about your suggestion to consider keeping the bed with the firm springs and soft comfort layer and add a topper. To me this would be adding a topper on top of a mushy layer and it doesn’t seem like it would help me. Could you explain your thought process?[/quote]
Most of my rationale was in my last reply and the other posts I linked but I can add a few more thoughts without getting into a book about mattress design and theory.
It is very unlikely that you would be sinking “too much” into a comfort layer that was only 2" and in many cases mattress design and theory can be counterintuitive. What it “feels” like may be happening may be completely different from what is actually happening because what something “feels like” is very subjective and most people don’t have the knowledge or experience to “translate” this into the type of change that can produce the outcome they are looking for. It’s very easy to make changes that “fix” the wrong problem or change the wrong layer or component of the mattress (making changes to comfort layers instead of support layers or vice versa for example) which can have a very unexpected result for someone that isn’t familiar with the effect that different types of changes may produce.
You indicated that you could feel the firmness of the innerspring under the soft comfort layer and this can indicate that you need some extra thickness in the comfort layers to provide the pressure relief that can isolate you from the firmness of the support core to a greater degree. You are probably “going through” the thinner comfort layer too much in other words. A mattress that is too firm and/or where the comfort layers aren’t thick enough won’t keep you in good alignment because you won’t sink in enough to have enough compressed material under the “gaps” or recessed parts of your sleeping profile. Your feedback indicated that you were experiencing pressure issues as well as alignment issues with this combination which leads to the possibility that you just needed a little thicker comfort layers (for extra pressure relief and better secondary support to keep your lower back from sagging) but not necessarily a softer support core (innerspring).
Your other combinations also “pointed to” the possibility that the softer innerspring was too soft because you were experiencing alignment issues or “symptoms” on these as well.
If a support core (the innerspring) is too soft for you then nothing you add above it will work effectively (the top layers will just “bend into” the softer innersprings) while if you have a support core that is too firm then you can still add additional layers on top that can provide the pressure relief that you need.
So the “possibilities” that seemed to be the most likely both involved the firmer innerspring but different comfort layers. The firmer comfort layer combination (the firmer latex with the soft topper) would probably work better for your stomach sleeping while the softer comfort layer combination (the softer latex with the soft topper) would probably work better for your side sleeping. Your back sleeping could go either way.
The firm spring with the firmer latex would be slightly less risky because if you add a softer topper and it’s still to firm then you can add additional softness or thickness. Once any part of a mattress is too thick/soft (either the comfort or support layers) then you can only “fix” it by removing and replacing the layers or components that are too thick or soft.
This is something I can’t answer because I don’t have enough information about your experience on the firmer innerspring with the soft top layer and the topper or with the firmer innerspring with the firmer comfort layer and the topper to have any clarity about whether either of them would work for you or how your experience may be different from the combinations you have tried. As I mentioned … the firmer comfort layer would be a little less “risky” but may need more additional softness above it to provide the pressure relief you need.
The Dunlop will tend to be less “squishy” than the Talalay and in the same ILD will also feel firmer and less pressure relieving than Talalay. I also agree that your best odds would be the firmer springs but the question that can’t be answered yet is what layering would work best above it. She (like me) would have no way to know whether her suggestions would work until you test them or sleep on them in person and I would also keep in mind that they only sell Dunlop (and their Dunlop prices are also more costly than other suppliers) so she would tend to “lean” away from Talalay. There is more about the differences between different types and blends of latex in this article and post #6 here and there is more about the differences between how they “feel” in post #7 here but the most reliable way to know which one you prefer would be your own experience.
Post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to also has more information that can be helpful in choosing the firmness and thickness of a topper based on your actual sleeping experience on a mattress without the topper. The “odds” say that there are probably more people that prefer Talalay for comfort layers than Dunlop although this can vary widely and certainly doesn’t indicate the preference or “best choice” for any particular person.
Phoenix