Latex topper firmness in combination with air mattress for side sleeper

[phoenix]

Hi Ana,

Sleeponlatex makes organic dunlop layers for a great price, so since I haven’t found anything comparable, I am planning to get a 3" 30 ILD Dunlop layer to play around with, in combination with the 24Talalay topper that I have, that hasn’t really felt good though mostly (too soft) and with the airmattresses. I am counting on that this will be the solution, and this week I can try out some more with 3" 32 ILD layer.
I wonder, since i sank in only about an inch, if the 3" will be enough, or if I can add another 2-3" afterwards someday to get the same effect than a 6" core. I wonder if the production makes them as 3" pieces or if they cut 6"pieces… because due to the settling of the material on the bottom in the dunlop process, then a 3" piece would be denser than a 6" I imagine.

Do you have any more ideas and do you think this is a relatively safe choice? Since I am switching from testing Talalay 32 6" to buying Dunlop 30 ILD 3", I wonder what risks are there… I read this post on it: https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/talalay-vs-dunlop-core-layers-can-you-trust-the-ild-ratings
Is the measuring at 25% compression in a 3" topper at 3/4" while in a 6" core it would be at 1.5"?
I would be up for buying a core, too, haven’t found one in 30-32ild though, or which ILD would I need as a dunlop? I tend to dunlop cause talalay felt less good and is not organic.

If I am understanding you correctly you are planning on trying (from the bottom up) your 4" air mattress and then 3" of 30 ILD 100% natural Dunlop in the middle and then your 2" 24 ILd Talalay topper as the top layer.

Most Dunlop molds are 6" thick but there are a few companies that make molded Dunlop in 3" molds. If a 6" core is slit in half then the bottom 3" would likely be a little bit firmer and denser than the top 3" layer that was cut from the same core but there are ways of compensating for this so the difference may be slight.

The ILD of latex is tested and rated on the full core and then any layers that are cut from the original core would be rated the same as the full core regardless of the thickness.

There is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.

All the layers and components in a mattress will affect the feel and performance of every other layer and component above and below it and your configuration is so different from the layers or mattresses that you tested and there are so many unknowns and variables involved that there really isn’t any way to know whether the combination you are considering will be a good “match” for you in terms of PPP outside of your own personal experience.

Phoenix