I have been reading this forum for awhile and using it as my “goto” for information on the current state of the mattress industry. We have a 12+ year old S&F all latex/pilowtop bed that is now a hammock. It has been through a “surgery” already with comfort layers replaced a few years back. We have noticed depressions in the base foam support layer so now we feel it’s time to replace it.
The challenge, I feel, is that my wife and I have varied sleep positions and weights. I am 230# and she only 135#. I prefer to sleep on my back and she on her side. Is it even possible to find a fixed mattress (not dual zone, no inflatable) that can provide the proper support given our weights and sleeping positions ??
I think I compromised on support on the S&F because it was so comfortable with the plush pillow top initially and have been sorry ever since while she loved it from the start.
We started out looking at sleep number/personal comfort adjustable beds for this reason but have since started looking elsewhere due to what seems to be a poor value. Initially we where going to get the base model of these beds as solely a support layer and buy our own toppers for it.
Currently though we have been refocusing on tempurpedic’s (or an online equivalent…if that truly exists) but fear that either one of us will have to make a compromise in all the beds we have tried. I like the firmer counter - rhapsody and/or elite while she prefers the cloud supreme-breezes. I am afraid if we get one of the lower density memory foam beds I will ultimately be in a hammock again.
It certainly is possible yes. There are also some suggestions in the first part of post #2 here that may be helpful for couples that have very different body types or sleeping positions and have very different needs or preferences but of course your own testing (with both of you on the mattress) will always be the more reliable way to know whether any specific mattress is a good match for both of you in terms of PPP.
There is more about the different ways that one mattress can “match” or approximate another one in post #9 here.
The mattress shopping tutorial includes a link to the better online memory foam options I’m aware of (in the optional online step) and many of these sell mattresses that are specifically designed to approximate many of the Tempurpedic mattresses.
There is more about the different ways to choose a mattress (either locally or online) that can help you identify and minimize the risks involved with each of them in post #2 here. As you probably know from your reading here I would tend to avoid the Tempurpedic line (see the guidelines here for example).
If you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.
I can see your point about avoiding Tempurpedic but there aren’t very many suppliers selling 6#+ memory foam layers other than SelectFoam and Christeli. (And I will not buy from SelectFoam).
I prefer the Contour line (Elite or Rhapsody-Luxe) and she prefers the Cloud series. I tried to like some of the Cloud series and felt I could make some of them work but worry about the lower density foams that support me barely now, will not in the near future. With this in mind the only thing in the Cloud line with HD foam is the Luxe in the support layer. She was not happy at all with the Contour line at all so I think we need a soft first layer and a higher density support/comfort layer similar to the Luxe configuration and Christeli does not build them that way.
Given that, we feel a little like we are at an impasse unless we buy a Tempurpedic Cloud-Luxe and I would prefer to not spend that type of money ($4,200) unless we have to. So we looked back at our old bed to see if there was anything we could do with it. Turns out it is only 7-8 years old. A Stearns and Foster Plaza Ambassador. It’s base support layer is a 10" block of latex. I have no idea the density or ILD of it but we took the comfort layers we added fours ago off and laid down on it and it feels pretty firm.
Given that this 10" block was only about 7-8 years old we removed our comfort layers completely, flipped it, and put back our comfort layers and slept on it last night and my hammock was gone! Given this we are considering fine tuning the comfort layers but wanted to get your opinions on the longevity of our latex base. I understand this is impossible for you to say with any certanty not knowing what S&F used, but in general would a latex 10" block have a lifetime greater than 8 years? If we go down this path we could always replace the support later if we had to.
Other than Christeli and Select foam … some other manufacturers that use higher density memory foam in their mattresses that I can think of off the top of my head include …
There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here and while Tempurpedic isn’t typically what most people would call “good value” … value is also relative to how any mattress compares to the other mattresses they may also be considering or are available to them (or that they know about) based on suitability and PPP, the quality/durability of the materials, and all the other parts of their personal value equation that are most important to them so for a “few” people it may still be their “best value” choice even though for “most people” it probably wouldn’t be.
I would also keep in mind that the density of memory foam doesn’t necessarily relate to its firmness or how “supportive” it may be (see post #9 here and post #8 here) and since 5 lb memory foam is in the same general durability range as 7 or 8 lb memory foam (the durability benefits of higher density caps out at about 6 lbs or so) a mattress that uses a softer version of 4 or 5 lb memory foam over a firmer and more “supportive” version of 5 lb memory foam may also be worth considering.
[quote]So we looked back at our old bed to see if there was anything we could do with it. Turns out it is only 7-8 years old. A Stearns and Foster Plaza Ambassador. It’s base support layer is a 10" block of latex. I have no idea the density or ILD of it but we took the comfort layers we added fours ago off and laid down on it and it feels pretty firm.
Given that this 10" block was only about 7-8 years old we removed our comfort layers completely, flipped it, and put back our comfort layers and slept on it last night and my hammock was gone! Given this we are considering fine tuning the comfort layers but wanted to get your opinions on the longevity of our latex base. I understand this is impossible for you to say with any certanty not knowing what S&F used, but in general would a latex 10" block have a lifetime greater than 8 years? If we go down this path we could always replace the support later if we had to.[/quote]
I would say that the odds are high that it would still have some good life left in it yes. The old synthetic latex cores that Sealy used used several layers of latex that were just under 9" thick in total so I would keep it upside down so any softer sections (or sections that have softened) are on the bottom and build it up from there and I think it would probably be a good candidate for another round of mattress surgery. Post #2 here also has more information and guidelines about mattress surgery that may also be helpful.