Mattress Help! Nothing new but I'd still like expertise - :)

Hi Phoenix,

I have been reading posts here for a few weeks and must say I am impressed. Both with your knowledge and the site. It surprises me that there isn’t more information on what mattresses do and what the best advice is. You know so much so I thought I would join the site and ask your opinion. Thank you in advance if you can.

I had a foamorder.com bed that was 2 X 3" medium natural latex cores with a 3" wool topper. I loved that set up but want a little more pressure relief than the wool provided.

I found Arizona Prem Co. on here and their prices seem to beat even the local no frills foam shop here. I spoke with Greg and he suggested that I go for the following:

6" Natural Talalay MEDIUM core
3" Soft Talalay SOFT topper

I am 6’+ and about 200lb. I am getting a split Cal King. Do you think that would work? I am an all over the place sleeper. Back, side, stomach sometimes. You name it. Is this the place where I will find the best bang for the buck?

Again thank you for any insight you are able to provide. I know you must get asked this all the time, but given that I know a bit about mattress and the general direction I want I thought you might steer me in the best direction.

I am truly impressed that you respond to every post on here with thought and care. I don’t know if anyone does that these days.

Have a great day!

Hi carpediem,

I’m not quite clear whether you’re adding a topper to the mattress you already have which appeared to need a little more softness or if you’re starting all over again.

Post #2 here has some links to some generic guidelines that can help provide some insights about design choices but these are only generic and not specific to any individual. There are too many variables and unknowns to make comfort choices based on “theory at a distance” and the best way to choose is always your own personal testing and experience on similar mattresses or alternatively more detailed phone conversations with a manufacturer who know more about their mattress designs and options than anyone else and who can give you some guidance based on the their knowledge and experience, the information you provide them, and the “averages” of their customers that are similar to you in terms of body type, sleeping style, and preferences. Of course by definition not all people fit inside “average” ranges so your recourse if you make the wrong choice is also an important part of your personal value equation.

As you can see from the generic guidelines … when you sleep in multiple positions … the most effective choice is generally “just enough” in terms of the comfort layer softness to provide pressure relief in your most pressure prone position (usually your side) so that the risk of alignment issues is less in your “flatter” sleeping positions such as back and especially stomach which is the riskiest sleeping position of all.

If I’m understanding you correctly … your previous mattress was 6" of medium Dunlop (you didn’t mention the type of latex) and the wool topper (not sure if you still have and plan to use this?).

Your current mattress has 6" of medium Talalay which will be a little softer than the Dunlop and then it also has another 3" of soft Talalay on top of this. This is quite a jump from one side of the softness/firmness scale to another. I would be a little cautious making this kind of a jump although of course I wasn’t part of the conversation where you discussed this in much more detail so I don’t know if there are other factors that may have contributed to such a big difference in your choice.

In general … just enough softness and thickness to relieve pressure on your side is less risky for back and stomach sleeping. I would talk to them a little more to make sure they are aware of the construction of your last mattress and that you were looking for something just a “little” softer. What you have would be closer to a lot softer and may be on the risky side … especially if you spend a lot of time on your back and especially your stomach.

I certainly agree with you that Arizona Premium is among the best value available which of course is why they were invited to become a member of this site :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Thank you for the reply! Sorry I should have clarified. I do not have a latex bed because that was a queen and I had to sell it when I moved apartments. Now that I can get a Cal King I want to really invest in something good. My foam order bed had a 26-30 ILD and was talalay which is what I want to stick with. It was as I said smaller but it was two 3 inch pieces stacked in the case and I had a wool topper over the mattress.

They said the medium would support me, but I wanted to see what your thoughts were based on what I liked before. Or at least what I should be asking given the information that I have and because I cant try the mattress in AZ. All of these companies make it somewhat difficult to compare apples to apples.

Have you heard of or had experience with Norms Foam in Los Angeles. That would be the closest option but ends up costing $500+ more.

Hi carpediem,

I’m not familiar with Norm’s Foam but if you are considering going there I would make sure that you have the chance to test the actual layering you plan to use with a similar cover. Testing individual layers is different from how the layers interact together and inside a cover.

If your previous support core was Talalay (which is a little unusual because foamorder.com normally supplies Dunlop although they do have both) then at least the core you are considering now would be similar but one step firmer … but adding a soft and thick comfort layer is still a very large jump from what you had and would be more than just a “little” softer.

Phoenix