Hi firtree,
Wow … your experience with Dreamfoam certainly isn’t the norm and it’s confusing to me just trying to follow it and sort it out.
In my experience there is always another side to every story so I’ll refrain from “taking sides” because your experience is certainly at odds with my own and hundreds of other people but it sounds to me like a classic case of too many conflicting opinions (or a “too many cooks spoil the broth” situation). This is quite common when you talk to different manufacturers or different people working at the same manufacturer or retailer who will often have their own thoughts and ideas which are sometimes contradictory. All of them may be well informed and given as their “best judgement” for your circumstances or based on the information exchanged in a particular phone call that may be different from another phone call even though they may be very different. Unfortunately there is no specific formula that can be applied to any issue when it comes to “mattress theory” and there is usually a range of possibilities for every issue. Each person may be at a different place inside the same range and no matter how accurate someone’s ideas may be in the majority of cases … there will always be exceptions for people who are outside of the range of experience that would apply to most people.
Some specific comments though …
Did you try calling back? It sounds to me like the message may not have reached Chuck because he is usually good at calling back. It may be worth calling the Dreamfoam number because I think that’s the number he normally deals with.
This is normal because hips are heavier than the other parts of your body and tend to sink in further. It’s also quite common that a different sleeping system has a “feeling” that you are sinking in differently though and this is part of why there is an adjustment period to any new sleeping surface. Having said that … it’s also a matter of degree and while it may be normal for your hips to sink in more deeply (and this depends to some degree on body type, sleeping position, and the firmness/softness of the latex) if there are “symptoms” connected to the “feeling” that your hips are sinking in too deeply then it may indicate an alignment issue. With your lighter weight it could also be that your shoulders or upper body aren’t sinking in enough with a medium firmness latex which can “feel like” your hips are sinking in too deeply.
As a category … latex is the coolest of all the foam materials so the odds are much lower that anyone will sleep hot with latex compared to other types of foam but of course there are always exceptions. Many “reports” of people sleeping hot with latex may also have other issues that are connected with them (or their mattress may not even be latex in the comfort layers which is very common with major brands that are advertises as being latex). All foam is also an insulating material so there is always some potential that in combination with other factors it can sleep warmer than more breathable materials such as natural fibers. There are also many other reasons that someone can sleep hot that have to do with other layers or components in the sleeping system (such as the type of mattress protector you are using, toppers, and bedding). Post #2 here and post #29 here talk more about sleeping temperature and may help you identify the reasons you are sleeping hot.
Sometimes the reason that someone has a specific issue that is outside the norm for the majority of people just can’t be discovered or identified … as frustrating as that may be.
[quote]My setup hasn’t changed for years. I use 100% cotton sheets over my 7 year old organic wool topper (Snuggle Mate from Shepherd’s Dream), and a down comforter I’ve had for an enormous amount of years. I’ve never, ever slept hot. I actually feel heat under me.
I tried just laying on the latex, not my wool topper, and within an hour felt heat plus it just wasn’t as soft as with my topper.[/quote]
Any foam … including latex … will tend to sleep warmer than a wool topper (wool is much more temperature regulating and breathable than any foam including latex). I would use the wool topper on top of the latex. Most cotton sheets will also be fine in terms of temperature regulation. An innerspring mattress with natural fibers in the comfort layers is the “coolest” of the different types of mattresses and will sleep cooler for most people than any foam including latex.
Jacob deals with comfort choices every day so I’m sure there was some misunderstanding here because he is certainly aware that 24 ILD is softer than 28 ILD. It also could be your comforter but I doubt he was telling you to “get rid of it”. This isn’t their style and sounds to me like you may have misunderstood this as well. It seems that somehow the two of you weren’t communicating very well for some reason but the suggestion to try things without the comforter for a bit is a reasonable suggestion to see if makes a difference. Sometimes certain combinations can trap heat that one or the other of the layers in different combinations won’t.
For most people a wool or silk or other natural fiber topper will provide more than enough temperature regulation for those that sleep too hot directly on the latex.
If they sent you the wrong layer then it would certainly be reasonable for them to correct their mistake and replace it with the 24 ILD that you ordered … not pay for the wrong layer outright IMO. Then you could try what you originally ordered and if this didn’t work you could return it through their return policy. The “goal” of correcting a mistake is to put things back to the way they should have been in the first place.
Phoenix