Latex mattress questions

[phoenix]

Hi Martina,

The old mattress is a non-reversible 6" spring mattress. It is not firm, worn out, and the hip area has shortened (sagged) spring due to usage. I could not feel the sag through 6" of latex foam last night. The old mattress was the reason we looked for a new mattress, so I am not keeping it, but I thought I should try something softer before buying a 28 ILD latex foam.

Last night I experimented with an old spring mattress under the latex toppers (2 pieces of 3" thick blended Talalay mattress toppers, 19 and 36 ILDs). It felt much softer than without the mattress. I was able to sleep without the pillow under my knees. However, I noticed that my hip area went down (guessing lower than it should) overnight and I had a different lower back pain from the usual one. I concluded that setup (softer) was going the right direction but we went too far.

The mattress introduces a completely new variable into the picture but in general terms your logic makes sense to me. The mattress would be softer than a firm surface or floor under the toppers so the mattress with the toppers would be softer than the toppers over a firm surface. Even with the thicker layers of latex on top you would still be affected by the sagging springs even if you don’t feel it initially. Alignment issues are generally what you “feel” in the morning. Having a pillow under your knees may have also improved the “different” lower back pain and a pillow under the knees is a good idea for back sleepers anyway because it can help decompress and “flatten” the spine slightly (which is a good thing when you are lying down compared to it’s normal slightly greater curvature when you are standing up).

I will try 19 ILD + the old mattress tonight to see how it goes. (I am assuming that should be firmer than the last night’s setup. If not, please let me know.)

With the two latex layers you would “feel” some of the 36 ILD layer underneath the 19 ILD layer so whether the single topper “felt” softer or firmer would depend on how the top layers of the mattress compared to the 36 ILD latex so it could “feel” either softer or firmer. Either way the sag would still have an effect.

At this point I am guessing that 19 + 28 ILDs will work better than 19 + 36 ILDs, but we don’t know for sure,

If the layer thicknesses were the same … the 19/28 combination would be a little softer and slightly more contouring and pressure relieving than the 19/36 layer but any sag under toppers will likely still affect how you feel in the morning because the toppers will “bend” into the sag underneath it (see post #4 here). I don’t know if a softer combination would work better for you (although with your lighter weights it very well could) and only your own experience can really know this.

Q1. Is option B supposed to be softer than C?

In theory yes.

Q2. Is it possible for a wool mattress pad to be flexible (ability to contour to body)? What would be the backing fabric (material)?

Yes but it wouldn’t provide as much contouring support along the entire body surface as latex. It can certainly provide some pressure point relief under specific pressure points but how much it affects the contouring of the latex underneath it depends on the specifics of the wool topper (thickness, type of wool, type of topper, and how densely compressed it is) and the firmness of the latex underneath it. It may feel softer over firm latex and firmer over softer latex. The construction of different wool toppers varies with each manufacturer but many that use wool batting use cotton as the cover that surrounds the wool. Some of the wool fleece toppers use either cotton or polyester (which are generally washable) as a backing.

I have read that a wool pile version requires constant fluffing. So I thought of a covered version, something like this, which is only 0.5" thick.
Amazon.com

You can read a little more about some of the differences between a wool fleece topper / mattress pad and a mattress pad / topper that uses wool batting wrapped with cotton in post #3 here. The wool fleece will compress and “matt down” more easily because it uses vertical wool strands that are not compressed together like in a wool batting and a topper that uses wool batting will tend to be more resilient and “supportive”.

On the other hand, I have read some reviews that some people found a wool pad to be hotter than without it. Do you need to have a minimum thickness of wool to get enough temperature regulation effect?

Wool is a temperature regulator and works in both directions (there are cultures that use wool in lighter versions in the desert for cooling and others that use thicker layers of wool in cold climates for warmth). Once again it would depend on the specifics of all the factors that can affect temperature and on the person themselves but in most cases even a relatively thinner mattress pad would be an effective temperature regulator (moreso if you didn’t have less breathable or synthetic sheets or a semi breathable mattress protector over it). In some cases thick layers of wool in combination with other “warming” factors may feel warmer.

Q 3. Based on these considerations, do you have any suggestions on wool mattress pad?

This would depend on the specifics and design goal of your complete sleeping system but I would tend towards slightly thinner (around 1.5" or so or less) that would have less effect on the latex unless you preferred or wanted more of the “feel” of a wool sleeping surface vs the “feel” of the latex underneath it.

Q4. Should I try the wool pad, or 28 ILD latex foam?

This would really depend on your “best judgement” and preferences and what type of changes you were looking to make and were most important to you. Each person may make a different choice that they were happy with but I have no way of knowing which would feel or work best for you. Both are high quality materials but there isn’t a “better worse” … only a preference that your own experience can evaluate. If I was in your shoes though I would probably buy a 28 ILD layer so you have a 3 layer sleeping system to experiment with along with the other components you have (such as the mattress pad) which would provide you with completely different and useful reference points to experiment with and then I would consider any other changes that you may wish to make. I tend to take a “1 step at a time” approach and having a 3 layer system … at least for a while … would make sense to me in terms of giving you options to test.

Phoenix