First off, this site and forum are incredible, it’s the absolute best resource available! Thanks to all involved, especially Phoenix.
Last spring, after a long research period, I finally pulled the trigger on a Novosbed Harmony. After their trial period I decided it was too soft. No problem, I did an exchange for the next firmest model, the Aria. The customer service rep told me that anything firmer was not appropriate for side sleepers and that this mattress would be final sale. I went ahead with it and after a significant time adjusting to it and evaluating it, I’m afraid I’m in the same boat: it’s too soft.
I guess I was way off the mark, but while I was shopping around before I bought it I tried out mattresses available locally with similar construction and was pretty convinced that the combination of two comfort layers, one 4.1lb/ft3, and one 5.2lb/ft3 was the ticket for me.
Anyway, I tried some of Phoenix’s recommendations from post #4 of this thread and found that using the reverse side of the mattress worked out okay, but that when two people were sleeping on it the support layers still deformed a surprising amount, creating a trough in the middle that still didn’t provide good alignment.
Is it possible that the 2lb/ft3 support layers don’t offer enough…support? I’m considering doing mattress surgery on this thing and I figured that people normally remove the comfort layers and replace them with something firmer, but I’m wondering if I can’t just remove some of the support layers and set the mattress on a very firm surface (in this case, the floor) to get some more support.
The surgery itself wouldn’t be too intense as it’s pretty easy to access the layers by unzipping the cover. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!
I’m sorry to hear that your Aria isn’t working out for you.
You seem to be “outside the averages” so it may take some trial and error to figure out the combination of materials or the changes in layering that will work best for you because there are too many unknowns and variables to be able to predict this with any certainty but if you have no other options available and the only viable alternative would be disposing of the mattress then there would be little risk in trying mattress surgery.
It may also be worth considering selling your mattress and starting over again with the knowledge you have gained the first time around.
[quote]Anyway, I tried some of Phoenix’s recommendations from post #4 of this thread and found that using the reverse side of the mattress worked out okay, but that when two people were sleeping on it the support layers still deformed a surprising amount, creating a trough in the middle that still didn’t provide good alignment.
Is it possible that the 2lb/ft3 support layers don’t offer enough…support?[/quote]
Yes it would certainly be possible depending on the firmness of the layers (density and firmness aren’t related to each other), your body type and weight distribution, and on whether you are referring to primary (deep) support or secondary (surface) support. There is more about primary and secondary support and their relationship to pressure relief and firmness in post #4 here and in post #2 here that may be helpful to give you some insights about what may be happening with your mattress.
I don’t know if the layers in your mattress are glued but if they are it can be somewhat challenging to remove them (see post #2 here). If you do decide to try mattress surgery then if the issues you are having are because of the IFD (softness/firmness) of the base layers (primary support) and how deeply they are compressing “through” the memory foam layers and if the upper memory foam layers are suitable for you then it would make sense to either replace one or more of the base polyfoam layers with firmer foam layers in the same thickness (which would allow you to use the same cover) or to remove some of the softer parts of your base layers (perhaps one of the convoluted layers) so you have a firmer and thinner base layer. Thinner polyfoam base layers in the same IFD will “act” firmer but will also be less “adaptive” (there is more about the effect of thickness in post #14 here).
I’m not sure what type of foundation you are using but most foundations have little to no flex so for most people there wouldn’t be much difference in using your mattress on the foundation or on the floor (depending on body weight and on how much your foundation is flexing under the mattress and on how sensitive you are to any limited flex it would have).
You will need some trial and error to find the “best” combination of support layers (either replacing or removing them) but it would certainly be worth a try if there are no other reasonable options available to you.
thanks for your response, I’ll familiarize myself with the difference between firmness and density, primary and secondary support. I’m glad you referenced those posts.
I’ve certainly considered selling and starting fresh, but I can’t in good faith put the mattress on the used market due to the fact that I’ve quite unfortunately had bedbugs since I acquired it (they’re apparently having a resurgence in most major cities).
In any case, I’ll make sure I have everything straight before I attempt surgery. The layers are glued, I believe, so there’s that to contend with. I think I saw a couple of surgery posts with pictures somewhere so I’ll refer back to that!
