We have bought at least two (I think three) memory foam toppers from Justad (PrimeCut on Ebay) and been very happy with them. 5.3 pounds/cubic foot density, I think we used to buy 4" but the most recent (Nov 2011) was 3" thick. After 5 years it wasn’t as comfortable and poking at the foam we could see little breaks all through. We’ve been very satisfied with the comfort and the life was satisfactory. No complaints.
Nov 2016, time to replace the old one. I wanted 4", Justad did not have it. I bought a 5 pound/cubic foot, 4" thick topper from Smokeymountain (Ebay). I have had minor comfort issues since it arrived mid Nov, but the past week was pretty bad. I sent them an email about it, and to their great credit they are buying the topper back.
My question is, how do I find a topper that will work? Am I seeing the difference between 5.3 and 5.0 lb/cu ft foam, or was there some difference in the foam itself? Justad’s foam was undyed, sort of a light beige color. Smokeymountain’s foam is pink.
My one idea so far is to take a sample of the old mattress with me to a local shop that sells foam of all sorts and tell them the story. I don’t know if testing just the old foam will tell them enough. Since I’m returning the new foam, I clearly can’t take a sample out of it.
We have a quite firm mattress under the topper. The mattress is fully supported (old waterbed setup).
Any advice will be great. Thanks!
There really is no one who can tell you what they have will be an exact match of what you purchased five years ago. Foam technologies advance and formulations change. The density isn’t a softness indicator (that is IFD/ILD), and although all memory foam tends to be plush (in the range of 10-18 IFD/ILD), there are certainly large variations in recovery time, rebound, resilience, breathability, cell structure, gel and polymer additives, etc. The recent trend has been toward memory foams that recover faster and are more breathable than their previous versions.
My best suggestion would be to contact the memory foam vendors in the component post here and speak with them and let them know that you have an “old school” (no gels or phase change materials) piece of 5.3 lb. memory foam that you are attempting to replicate. Many of them will even be able to send you out samples which you may compare to your current foam piece. Realize that your topper is five years old so it certainly has changed in comfort over that time, but at least this will give you a better starting point.
I’ll be interested to know if you find what you’re looking for from these vendors.
I am pursuing your recommendations, thanks very much.
I also found a phone number for Justad. They are no longer in the foam business (as I had guessed). She did say that the topper I bought 5 years ago had an ILD of 15. The topper we are returning seems very likely to have a lower ILD, but the people I bought from don’t know the value.
I’m glad my suggestions were helpful. While the list I provided isn’t of course exhaustive, it certainly will give you a good start.
I know it’s difficult to determine the ILD of any foam without the proper equipment, and it’s especially difficult with memory foam, as the testing numbers are dependent upon the foam’s rate sensitivity (recovery rate after compression), temperature sensitivity, and humidity sensitivity. I think if you focus on “old school” memory foam of the proper 5.3 lb. density (slower recovery, no gel additives or phase change materials) you’ll probably have the best luck.
So far this is pretty frustrating.
RockyMountainMattress
They aren’t swift at answering questions by email and do not answer the phone the two times I’ve tried them.
“we believe the ILD is 14” Not reassuring to an engineer.
Plushbeds
still waiting to get an answer of “what is the ILD of your toppers?”
foamforyou (Foam N’ More) looks good on their web page, but has an uncertain rep here
I’m sorry you’re having difficulty getting replies to your questions. Phone calls are always the best way to get the fastest response, but I see you’re having some difficulty getting responses form a few of those. All I can think of is that some of these companies may be on extended leave or short-staffed still for the holiday period. I’ll see if I can find out anything for you and will post back if I do find something out for you.
Because of the difficulty in standardizing testing for memory foam, not every vendor may have ILDs for their memory foam or have them provided to them. The density would of course be more relevant. And most important would be what we discussed previously, finding a more “traditional” version in the density matching yours without the faster recovery and gel/phase change additives.
Here are a few others I found who sell memory foam in pieces after a brief search if you’d want to contact them and see if they have anything that might work for you.
I gave up on getting my last questions answered by Rocky Mountain Mattress and ordered from them anyway. Here are some of the other places I checked, not previously mentioned:
New England Foam
Their memory foam is for couches and chairs–max 42" wide, ILD 38
Foam Portland Oregon isn’t specifically in the mattress biz, but will cut to your size. A King topper, 3" thick, 5lb/cu ft would be $525+shipping and have an ILD of 25.
House of Foam (I spoke with them) seems to doubt the existence of 5 lb density foam–they have 4 lb
MFC does not ship cross border (I’m in the US, they are in Canada)
Bergad Specialty Foams no longer sells retail
Adding what I found to the info on this site, thanks Phoenix.
I’m sorry you haven’t heard back from them yet. I’ve also put in a call and an email to find out why there is a delay in responding to customer questions, which is not normal for them.
Update: Rocky Mountain Mattress contacted me and they apologized for not getting back to you in a timely manner. If they are not available during normal business hours, you may leave your name and number at their 888-733-3132 toll-free number and they should get back to you. They also gave a direct phone number to Brad Sitton directly at 239-823-2604, or you could email him at brad rockymountainmattress com.
Thank you for listing a few of the other places you contacted and feedback about them. I linked to two of these in my previous reply to you.
I have to admit this made me laugh out loud.:lol:
Congratulations on your new topper, and I’m looking forward to your feedback on it.
Tempurpedic brand has a 5.25lb or something, in 3" that i really like (the Supreme, not the new “Adaptive”, which is 4.1lb). It comes with a great cover that doesn’t change the feel of the memory foam and they sell it at BedBathandBeyond which usually has 20% off coupons (King Size is i think $450 retail). Great quality (imo). So definitely an option if your others don’t work out. They usually have samples at the store you can put your hands on. It’s very temperature sensitive tho so when it gets cold it gets hard until you lie on it for a sec, which i actually don’t mind, i think it’s kinda cool. Can’t recall if it is returnable or not. I almost want to say yes, but not sure.
I’ve had mine for 2 years, it has no indentations or softening past the initial break in. (I’m only 120lbs tho). This topper would not be good for people who sleep hot.
Spen55 just bought a queen Supreme from BB&B and he said it was 29 lb. for the weight on the box for a queen, which equates to a 3.5 lb. density, not 5.25 lb. I don’t have any current Tempurpedic topper foam density specifications for their entire line, as they’re known for not sharing that information, so this is the best I have to go by right now.
Wow, that’s wild. I find it so much different than the 3lb memory foam that i got from brooklyn bedding. It is definitely different than any 3lb or 4lb mem foam i’ve ever put my hands on. Very strange that he’s only getting 3.5lb from it. It feels to me exactly like the contour lines from them, and this is supposed to be made from the “TEMPUR” material (which is what their 5.25lb contour line) (vs. the TEMPER ES of the cloud line). And to me at least, it’s heavy as a mofo even in “full” and dense as heck. But i’m a weakling, lol. I shoulda put it on my own scale before opening the box. Now i’m so curious if i even go back to bed bath and beyond i bet i put a box on a scale. lol. If i do i’ll post back. It’s a pretty serious material. So dense that i’m almost tempted to get their new one made with Tempur ES, which is allegedly 4.1lb)
I’m so darn curious now. I always did think it was a very good price if really 5+, almost too good to be true price. Their new softer less dense is even more expensive.
While memory foams can have similar densities, that doesn’t necessarily translate into the same ILDs, rebound rates, recovery times and overall feels. There certainly can be large variations in how a product feels and responds, even though they may both have the same density, as I think you are describing.
If you are enjoying your topper and it feels good to you, I would see no reason to return it.
We received the new topper from RockyMountainMattress–also answers to my remaining questions. The previous topper (smokeymountain) was distinctly softer than what we had before (returned). RockyMountain’s topper feels much firmer, what I wanted.
Unfortunately, my back is grumbling in the morning two nights running. I cut a piece of 3/4" plywood to fit between the mattress and the topper to see if that helps. The mattress is maybe 10 years old, as firm as they had. “Innerspring covered with 100% PU foam” by Symbol Mattress. Hoping the plywood will do the trick. I’ll report back.
I’m glad your topper arrived and it is the style that you were trying to find.
You’ll end up with a feel in this situation which will approximate placing the topper upon the floor, so I don’t know if you’ll find that too comfortable. I would have more of a concern about your mattress and its suitability for your continued use, being that old. That might be something you’ll want to address and evaluate moving forward.
Putting the plywood in makes it quite firm, this will probably not work out. Looks like we are mattress shopping for us and our daughter. I’m studying the excellent guide. I’m also going to look at just adding a layer under the new topper–PU or something else. I haven’t read those parts yet.
With a ten-year-old mattress, placing a piece of foam between your mattress and topper will only result in a softer “sag”. The foams within your mattress will more than likely have reached a point of fatigue where there is an area of what I term a “phantom” or “virtual” body impression (if it isn’t already visible) where you sleep, and whatever you place upon that will have no chance but to conform.
I’m glad you’re already reading through the mattress shopping tutorial, and I would focus upon that and the steps involved versus adding more foam to your existing mattress.
