In May we bought a 6" medium firm Talalay mattress from Escondido Mattress Factory . Really like the fact that it is 2-sided, like the feel of it and the support , and especially that we changed back to a California King after 6 years on a Queen pillowtop that ended up with a huge hump in the middle and depressions where we slept. We opted for just a mattress figuring that should we need a topper we could buy one and when it wore out we could easily replace it. After much research and even more desperation I ran to Costco and bought the Novaform 3" memory foam topper knowing I could return it. We are trying it for a week. It seems to be offering my hip different support which adds up to less pain during the day, but now my shoulders are out of kilter and my hands numb which just sleeping on the mattress didnât happen. Itâs also a bit warm and although I aired it out, the smell is slowly dissapating. Mostly, I want to just soften up the mattress as in âclimb in bed and feel like I am floating on a cloudâ while still having the support of the Talalay. Iâm intrigued by the real wool toppers and then there is of course another layer of Talalay â researched the latter a bit and from Escondido Products could get a 1.5" soft topper but couldnât determine the ILD of that topper. Would 1.5" even make a difference? When I inquired if it came covered I was told that would ruin what I was trying to do. This 3" Novaform does seem like a bit much where 2 inches would be fine Iâm sure. Iâm 5â3" and less than 140 with overall fairly equal weight distribution and my husband is 5â7" and maybe 150. Any suggestions would be welcome. Seems I lean more towards a natural feel. Suggestions? :unsure:
I have a 3" wool topper on the way. I can try to comment when it arrives (about 3 weeks still) - feel is so subjective tho. Link below to the one Iâm getting. The things unique about the sleeptek one are: 1) itâs organic, if thatâs meaningful to you; 2) it has a lot of wool, that typically you only see with the higher end shops or those that specialize in wool, many Ive seen on this forum, and 3) the wool they use is not merino, itâs Corriedale which is supposed to be more rough/less straight⌠Merino apparently matts down / loses loft very quickly
Based on my in store testing, itâs soft like a cloud but hopefully preserves support (to be seen). But, it does significantly change the feel of the latex, argusbly to the point you wouldnât know you are on latex anymore. My bed being Dunlop mind you.
http://www.tmasc.ca/top_organic/sleeptek-classic-2000-wool-topper.html
Hi dn,
Absolutely it would make a difference ⌠but the question is how much and whether the difference would be enough.
Post #8 here and the posts it links to has some suggestions for adding a topper which you may find helpful.
Wool will give you some more âpoint specificâ pressure relief under pressure points but it will generally be firmer, spread your body weight over a smaller area, and have a very different âfeelâ than a foam topper. Of course it will also have a beneficial effect in regulating sleeping temperature.
Your shoulder / numbness issues could also be pillow related because when you add such a thick soft topper to your mattress the distance between your head and the mattress will change which means your pillow may need to change as well because normally adding a thicker softer layer on top would increase pressure relief not diminish it.
3" of any material would change the feel and performance of your mattress significantly and if your mattress was already very close to what you needed and preferred based on your testing then you probably only need some fine tuning and 3" is probably more than you need both in terms of its thickness and its softness.
@ dn,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the wool topper you ordered. Your comments reflect the conversations I had with some of the manufacturers of wool toppers that I listed in the wool topper post and Iâm looking forward to hearing your feedback on the topper when you receive it.
Wool is less resilient than foam (depending on how itâs made and tufted and the density of the wool to some degree) so there is less risk of alignment issues caused by âallowingâ one part of your body to sink in too far relative to the rest.
Phoenix
Hi dn â Hope I am not repeating myself as I lost a reply somewhere! Enjoyed the link that you sent, but that is a bit pricey for me considering the cost of the mattress. I would like to hear how you like that wool topper though.
Phoenix â All of your information and links have been very helpful. Iâve come to the conclusion that what I am trying to do is fine tune the mattress - not especially change it as I do like the consistency and really just need a bit of softness and pressure relief. Didnât think about the pillow possibly causing the current problems, but will try something a little different tonight. We will use the Novaform until the end of the week and then Iâm pretty sure it will be returned â I knew I couldnât abide Memory Foam. Iâll most like go with the 1.5" Talalay topper. Thanks so much for all the information and such a quick response!
Iâll do a review of the topper when it arrives in a separate thread. My theory was basically this- like Sandigee, I have no idea, and theory at a distance doesnât work at all. Only by sleeping on it for a while will I be able to tell.
Wool is supposed to compress by about 30%, so says all the reputable wool dealers, so where the topper starts at 3", I imagine once in itâs compressed state, it might be 2" (obviously, where you sleep, not everywhere). Wool may or may not be the right thing for me, but since itâs easy enough to try, I decided to buy.
Based on what several websites seemed to say, a wool topper is more âfluffyâ feeling, whereas latex is more âspringyâ feeling. Since I already have soft (dunlop) latex on top of my bed, and part of what I think Iâm feeling that I like less is the mattress âpushing back at meâ (even if softly), i decided to try the âfluffyâ. Of course, these are just words various sites have used to try to describe the feeling, which is ultimately so subjective.
Maybe it works out, maybe not, but Iâll have the peace of mind to have tried (like many here, Iâm a comparison shopper at heart, so without being able to try & compare, itâs just theory at a distance banter about what it might be).