Latex Over (Novosbed) Memory Foam, or...?

[phoenix]

Hi br101,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

Let me start by saying this website has been an incredible resource for me. I’ve been trying to absorb the wealth of information available here over the last 6 months!

I’m glad you found the information here useful.

I bought a brand new Kingsdown mattress from Sears at the beginning of last year (Jan 2016). It didn’t take long for it to cave in the middle, With some effort, I was able to get Sears to replace it. I then had to sell it to recoup some of my money.

I’m sorry your Kingsdown didn’t work out well for you, but I’m glad that you would at least get a replacement from Sears and help cover some of your outlay.

I started reading about online mattresses and decided to start with the Leesa. It was nice - I liked the latex-like comfort layer, but the mattress was a bit too soft overall. I decided to try memory foam on for size and ordered a Novosbed medium. I have to say, the Novosbed seems to me like it’s made out of very high quality materials, however I don’t think memory foam at the top-most layer is for me.

The Leesa uses 2" of 3.75 lb high performance “latex like” polyfoam over 2" of 3 lb memory foam over a 6" 1.8 lb polyfoam support core. The Novosbed ( a site member here) uses 2" of 3.7-5 lb airflow or gel memory foam (varies by firmness), 2" of 4-5 lb memory foam (varies by firmness), and 7" of 1.8 lb Polyfoam. You are correct, those are good quality materials. While neither of those worked out for you, at least you did have the foresight to choose a product with a good return/exchange policy.

I then decided to start looking into latex. I visited dormio.ca and liked what I saw. Unfortunately, most of their products are out of my price range, but it gave me direction.

Dormio does offer mattresses using very high quality and durable latex, but as you stated some of these items can be a bit more costly than polyfoam and memory foam.

A friend of mine has a Casper, so I tried it out for a few minutes. Again, I was very pleased with latex as a top layer, but the layers underneath seemed a bit soft for my liking.

Casper recently changed their layerings and no longer uses latex in their mattresses. They use 1.5" of 3.5 lb of a ventilated high performance polyfoam over 1.5" of 4 lb 10 ILD memory foam over 1.5" of 2.5 lb high performance polyfoam over a 5" 1.5 lb 36 ILD polyfoam support core, so the new model is a bit different form the older model your friend possesses.

Order a Novosbed firm and add a layer of latex on top (not sure of ILD). This seems like it would suit me well as it would be soft and plush on top, followed by a firmer layer underneath. I read that adding a layer on top of memory foam will slow the sinking of the foam below. Because of this, I’m not sure if I should stick with the medium or go for the firm.

Placing latex on top of memory foam is a popular combination, and it assists with the temperature issues that some people are sensitive to with memory foam. If you liked the overall level of support and contouring of the medium Novosbed, using the latex topper on that item might work well. If it felt a bit too soft to you, you may desire the firmer version. While the latex on top would be most of your source of surface comfort (all layers of a mattress do work together), how much it “bends into” the transition memory foam layers will be determined by your firmness choice of the Novosbed. A phone call with Novosbed explaining your idea would be a good idea should you decide to move forward with this option.

Order a Brooklyn Bedding #bestmattressever in firm. I would have done this a long time ago if not for the $250 USD shipping fee to Canada. I really need to know this is what will work for me before I go for it.

The Best Mattress Ever (Brooklyn Bedding is a site member here) does use high quality materials, but the shipping and taxes to Canada can be a bit pricy. You may have already seen this, but there is also a list of online mattress sources for Canadians in post #21 here.

Attempt to recreate either of the above to using a local supplier. There are many posts on this forum related to Toronto retailers/manufactures. I called Springmade for a quick quote and was told 6" of 2lb poly, 2" of 4lb memory foam, and 2" of Talalay latex would run me approximately $700 for a queen ($535 USD).

One of the advantages of dealing with a local retailer when creating your own mini-DIY project is the ability offered to often try out your creations before ordering, or the ability to customize after the sale and deal face-to-face in real-time with the owner/manufacturer. This can help take some of the guesswork out of a DIY project.

I’m looking forward to learning about any decisions you make or other questions that might arise.

Phoenix