Love My LaNoodle Pillow!

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

I recently bought one of Cozy Pure’s Pure Performance LaNoodle pillows, and it’s the best pillow I’ve ever had. It comes with a zipper, so stuffed with LaNoodles that it was hard to believe, and is the first pillow other than a down pillow that I’ve been able to use and be happy to sleep with. I was shocked to find that I actually needed to remove a few handfulls of the fill in order to get it to my perfect comfort level - usually, I want the heaviest, most thoroughly stuffed pillow I can get.

I was on my way to sleep last night when it occurred to me that I should ask if a LaNoodle topper might be what I need. I remember that Phoenix has one of these toppers, and someone else might also, so I’m hoping for some input on this issue.

For those who might not have seen my previous posts, I bought an all Dunlop very soft mattress in late Sept., and for the first few weeks it felt great. Then, hip pain started and it took me a couple of weeks to realize it was the mattress causing the pain. I put an old featherbed I had here on the mattress, and the pain went away, but this particular piece isn’t destined to be a permanent solution. My only other problem with the mattress is that I was sleeping cold for the first time I can remember. I don’t know if that’s exacerbating the pain problem, but I’m sure it could be.

Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out the best solution. Apparently I need more relief for pressure points - my hips were so painful I could hardly walk, and my shoulders weren’t sinking as far into the mattress as I’d like, despite the ILD of the comfort layer being in the 16-18 range.

I tried a PLB 2" topper and sank right thru it. Apparently that low a Talalay ILD is too low, altho I wasn’t sure anything would be “too soft”. I do have chronic pain problems, fibromyalgia, something like lupus. I really need relief for my hips, so I’ve considered a 3" not-quite-so-soft Talalay topper, been told I should consider wool, thought about a new featherbed . . . the list of possibilities is long, but with limited resources I can’t just buy one of each until I’m happy I’ve found the right solution.

Considering how much I’ve loved my pillow after a few weeks, now I’m wondering if a LaNoodle topper might provide the relief I need. Phoenix, is there any way you can tell me any approximation of how thick their topper is? All I’ve been able to gather from your previous posts is that it isn’t very thick. I did take my extra LaNoodles from my overstuffed pillow and put them in another zip up pillow case and lie on it, and it felt pretty good, but as you can guess that’s a poor approximation of what the topper might feel like overnight.

I looked at the FloBed shredded latex topper, and have reservations about the styling of it. The other shredded latex topper I’ve seen mentioned apparently isn’t on the market any longer.

Any input on this idea would surely be appreciated! I’ve even wondered if a combination of their thinner wool topper and the LaNoodle topper might work, but then I wonder if I’m into the area of over-kill.

Oh - and if anyone is interested, the LaNoodle pillows and the toppers are on sale right now - when I checked their site yesterday, I saw lots of things on sale.

2

I own the Seven Comforts topper (it’s the one that’s no longer available, so happy I got two of them) and still love it. I think the LaNoodle one would be nice too but from my understanding, there are some major differences between fill in terms of amount, fluffiness (not sure of the right word here), and how the toppers are baffled.

I’m not sure if the LaNoodle topper would work for you or not since you’ve attempted other soft toppers and from my understanding of the LaNoodle topper, it’s pretty thin and light weight, more for surface feel. It sounds like it would provide a small amount of pressure point relief but not enough especially if you had issues ‘going through’ a soft 2" topper already.

I’ve mentioned this before to others, but have you thought about making a custom latex topper? I know that Cozy Pure sells their LaNoodles by the pound now and a local tailor with the correct measurements might be able to help you get the styling how you’d want it. I’ve made Frankenpillows from shredded latex and added custom baffling shapes-it’s pretty easy. A tailor should have no problems working on a bigger version.

Of the two options presented, LaNoodles or FloBeds The FloBeds version is the one that is most similar to the topper I currently have and the one I’d choose for a more personalized pressure point relief BUT I agree with you on the styling of it. I’m sure the ‘valleys’ where they’ve sewn down the latex ‘tunnels’ might bother some people. I really wish that FloBeds and CozyPure would list the weights of the toppers, it’d give me something better to compare to.

Just have to say that the sale on the LaNoodle topper is really great. I might have to get some of their bedding. :slight_smile:

3

Hi Clawdia,

You can see my comments about the Lanoodles and how it feels and performs in post #38 here. There is also a video about it here which may be helpful. I also sleep on a Lanoodles pillow which is my current favorite (although it’s not the one that has a zipper and can be customized).

It’s fairly loosely filled and is more like a featherbed without baffles where the lanoodles can “flow” throughout the topper. It adds some pressure point relief and has a very nice “feel” (at least to me) but wouldn’t be as pressure relieving as a thicker topper … although it certainly add a softer “feel” and some “cush” and would also have less alignment risk because of the way the lanoodles “flow”.

I like how it feels but it’s a different product from a thicker pressure relieving layer or solid topper.

I still think that your mattress with the right topper could be your ideal combination and once the search for the “best” topper is complete (as frustrating as that may be when you are still in the middle of it) you will end up with a great combination.

Phoenix

4

Thanks, Phoenix, for your experienced opinions on this piece. I’m sure my frustration is showing, altho (believe it or not) I’m trying very hard to keep a lid on it as much as I can!

I confess I was hoping you’d say you thought it’d work great for me, but I’d certainly rather have an honest opinion than one designed to placate my need for the “right” answer. Their sale price was making it tempting, especially since just lying with my hip pressed into my smaller, thinner LaNoddle pillow felt pretty good last night for the little while I tried it.

I totally agree with Coventry about wishing sellers would list the weight of items. I know when I ordered my LaNoodle pillow (and one $5 bar of soap to keep from paying $11 in shipping), the weight of the UPS box was 8 pounds, so that did give me some idea as to how much that many of their noodles weigh. Oh, and Coventry - the notion of “making” a thicker LaNoodle topper is a great one - if only they sold one with a zipper, like the pillows! Finding a tailor willing/able to do such a thing in my part of the world sounds like an impossible dream, I’m afraid.

I am a bit concerned about my alignment when it comes to either adding a 3" topper or even another featherbed - I can tell my alignment isn’t as good with the featherbed I’m now using as it was with just the mattress. I get it when you say that with the right topper my mattress could end up being part of the “right combination”, but it appears that my topper choice is likely to end up being restricted to either a new featherbed - and as I mentioned above, the alignment issue could well come into play - or a natural Talalay topper. I was just hoping I’d hit on a good 3rd alternative.

When I say I feel my choices are restricted, I mean restricted either by my preconceived dislike of something, or restricted for financial reasons, as in I can’t just buy a Talalay topper and a wool topper and a LaNoodle topper and then see which one works best - if we lived in an ideal world, that’d certainly be my approach rather than doing what I’m doing right now, which is starting to feel like the human equivalent to one of our dogs chasing its tail.

The fact that I have chronic back pain makes the alignment issue even more complicated for me than some other people, since when my back already hurts to a varying degree from one day to the next, it’s going to be hard for me to tell without direct, prolonged experience, just what might make it worse (or, hopefully, better).

I hope you realize that before I ask questions about something like I did here about the LaNoodle topper, I have already read every word I can find that you’ve posted about it, as well as having watched all of Cozy Pure’s videos about their products. Nowhere could I find how thick it is, other than it’s not very thick.

I’m trying not to be a nuisance, really I am. :wink:

5

(Completely irrelevant comment). LaNoodles remind me of packing peanuts. I wonder if that’s how they developed their idea. “We need packing peanuts for people… Let’s make them out of latex!” … Which makes me wonder what it’d be like sleeping on bed of loose LaNoodles.

Anyhow … :wink:

6

[quote=“dn” post=28170](Completely irrelevant comment). LaNoodles remind me of packing peanuts. I wonder if that’s how they developed their idea. “We need packing peanuts for people… Let’s make them out of latex!” … Which makes me wonder what it’d be like sleeping on bed of loose LaNoodles.

Anyhow … ;)[/quote]

In the pillows, I don’t feel the individual LaNoodles, just an overall “soft”, with both the big overstuffed pillow and the smaller one with the noodles that I took out of the overstuffed one. They both feel good. I’m sorry it doesn’t sound like the LaNoodle mattress topper would be enough.

Packing peanuts . . . I like the comparison!

7

$40 for 20 cubic feet of organic starch packing peanuts. I might be onto something here :wink: wonder if they’re Oeko-tex 100.

Add a bubble wrap support core…

…ok, I’ll get back on topic :wink:

8

Hi Clawdia,

I really wish I could but the truth is I don’t think anyone can really say what will work best for someone else when the circumstances are complex, have some degree of medical issues involved, and are subject to so many preferences.

The thickness of the lanoodle topper is somewhat variable but it’s around 1.5" thick on average. If memory serves me right I think it was about 15 lbs (queen) but I don’t remember this for sure or how much of the weight was actually the lanoodles pieces. I also don’t think that in the case of shredded latex toppers weight would be the best comparison because the sizes and shape of the latex pieces or particles would have just as much to do with how it felt as the actual amount or weight of shredded latex in the topper. It would be similar to buying a solid topper based on weight when a softer latex topper will always weigh less than a firmer latex topper of the same type and thickness so you would have “more latex per $” in the firmer topper even though it may not be the most suitable choice for the application.

I should also mention that toppers that are either shredded and can “flow” like the lanoodles or that use fibers that are less resilient than a foam topper (such as a featherbed) have less alignment risk when they are used as a topper because you will sink into or “go through” them more evenly while with a solid foam topper you may sink into it a little more unevenly (the heavier parts will sink more than the lighter parts). The way a mattress relieves pressure is by allowing the bony protrusions (like shoulders and hips) to go through the upper layers more so that the recessed parts of the body can come into firmer contact with the mattress or topper and bear more weight which spreads the weight out over more of the body surface and reduces the amount of pressure on the pressure points. Foam will tend to re-distribute weight over a larger surface area because it’s more resilient and supports more weight under the recessed parts of the body that come into firmer contact with it while fiber toppers tend to just spread the weight around the parts of the body that are already in firmer contact with the mattress because they don’t have the resilience to support the parts of the body that are more recessed. Shredded toppers like the Lanoodles will partly “move out of the way” of the protruding body parts more than solid foam which allows them to sink in deeper and more evenly. This again allows other more recessed parts of the body with a larger surface area where the lanoodles don’t have a chance to “move out of the way” to compress and bear more weight which also redistributes the weight away from the pressure points.

I think that surface resilience and shear forces may also be a factor in what you are feeling and I think that the best comparison of the lanoodles would be that it’s “in between” a fiber topper and a solid foam topper.

Featherbeds would not be a good idea as a support system in the deeper layers of a mattress and you would not be well supported but as a topper over an evenly supportive mattress it adds a softer “feel” to the mattress and some pressure relief with less chance of compromising alignment than a solid foam topper.

The goal is to always “go through” any topper but the difference between them is “how much” you go through them and how much they “allow” the layers below them to compress. If you didn’t go through a topper at all then it would be just as effective putting it on the floor as it would on a mattress. If a foam topper is over softer foam then you won’t bottom out on the topper because the layers below it will start compressing long before the topper bottoms out so even the softest foam topper over soft latex layers will only be partly compressed. All the layers compress at the same time to different degrees and one doesn’t fully compress before the ones below it start to compress as well. They compress proportionately rather than sequentially in other words.

Phoenix

9

I do understand that, and on re-reading both this post of yours and the earlier one I guess I may have misunderstood your initial post today. I thought you were trying to say you thought the LaNoodle topper probably wouldn’t work for me, but on reading both posts, I no longer get that same impression. As usual, you’re providing information, not decisions.

Where you say the Lanoodle topper would act somewhere between a featherbed type topper and a latex topper, that’s starting to sound like the kind of thing I need. I find it interesting that the good featherbeds seem to be in the 5-6" range in height, which seems a bit much to me.

Sometimes I think I should just walk way from this decision for a few weeks or so - but sales don’t last forever, and 'tis the season.

10

Hi Clawdia,

I think it would be fair to say that the Lanoodles will increase pressure relief with a low risk of trading pressure issues for alignment issues. The part that nobody else but you can really know is whether the increase in pressure relief will be “enough” for your specific circumstances.

Phoenix

11

Hey Phoenix - I was obviously having a dense day mentally yesterday - what you said here briefly is what I did finally “get” that you were saying yesterday.

I’m giving buying a LaNoodle topper serious thought, although due to the temperature problem I had with sleeping cold on the latex, nothing other than a featherbed is going to be on my mattress for the next little while (getting down to 20 degrees tomorrow night here, and not much better for the next week).

Considering what I need is a bit of pressure relief, and considering how much I love the feel of the LaNoodle pillow - and add in the factor of Cozy Pure’s current sale prices - I’m getting more and more tempted to buy one on sale and try it out in warmer weather. I like the idea of the low risk of alignment problems, since alignment was so good on the mattress, and the fact that the noodles can move around would mean I could pretty much have more of them where I needed them, and fewer of them where I didn’t.

12

@clawdia,

If the topper doesn’t work out, you have a bunch of LaNoodles to make pillows with. Just stuff them into a good zip pillow protector :slight_smile:

13

How true! I sure wish that LaNoodle topper came with a zipper to adjust the fill - I’d order one right now if it did instead of continuing to dither about it. :unsure:

14

Hi Clawdia,

I also think a zipper would be a good option for the Lanoodles.

FWIW … the top and bottom of the cover are joined together on the outside with a cotton tape edge that folds over each part and is sewn through so for someone that knew how to sew it wouldn’t be that difficult to remove some of the cotton tape and add or remove some Lanoodles and then sew the cotton tape back on to rejoin the top and bottom back together. The biggest difficulty would probably be “massaging” the lanoodles throughout the topper so the extra fill was evenly distributed.

Of course for someone that was thinking about this I would try it as it is first before buying extra Lanoodles and taking on a project. I would also talk to them about it because they may also be able to provide some suggestions or guidance based on other customer’s experience.

Phoenix

15

Hi Phoenix,

No way you could have known you’re talking to someone who has trouble sewing a button on . . . but you are. :blush:

Other than that, it sounds like the best idea since there’s no zipper - but I’m afraid a LaNoodle topper would either work for me, or find its way to ebay if it didn’t.

One thing I realized today is that I think the mattress pad, even though it’s the stretchy cotton one from Cozy Pure, may have changed the feel of the mattress to me more than I originally thought it did. I can definitely feel a firmness to the mattress with it on that I don’t feel without it.

Right now, I’m giving serious thought to trying the mattress with just an extra jersey fitted sheet and a LaNoodle topper - but I’m not going to be willing to give up the featherbed until the weather warms up since the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think I’m dealing with a two edged sword here in that the mattress is a little too firm, and I was sleeping way too cold. Bad combination for these old bones, it seems.

Doesn’t mean I’m not going to buy the LaNoodle topper while it’s on sale, even if I don’t plan on using it for a while.

16

@Clawdia, Phoenix,

Given as CozyPure is likely made to order, you might be able to get a custom built lanoodle topper with a zipper of some sort. It doesn’t look to be a closed baffle box design. A quick email and you might have your ideal wish :slight_smile:

17

Interesting idea, that.

I’ve had a bit of trouble contacting CozyPure via email - they have a “contact us” form on their website to use for email, and the two times I’ve tried it, the next page said “page not found”, and since I never received a reply I’m pretty sure the email was never delivered. I’d been meaning to try again to get in touch with them via email and just haven’t gotten around to it.