My mattress buying saga: From start to almost the end

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

This is just to give some feedback to dn and Phoenix who helped me out along the way with advice.

I initially started out with a Zoned Dunlop core and 2" 22 ILD topper from Arizona Mattress Company. I purposely had them make me a mattress cover with some extra room in case I wanted to add in more layers.

After about a week of lower back pains, I decided that the 22 ILD topper was too soft, and in any case, I could feel the transition between it and the core. I ordered a 2" 28 ILD layer from KTT, who seemed to have the best price. Apparently they are right next to the Latex International factory, so they have a wide selection and can ship out quickly. The only two negatives are that they can’t seem to ship out anything more than 2" without having to use a second box, which gets gouged by UPS. Also, their latex has a slight smell of freshly baked muffins, and gives me a slight cough after handling it.

First I tried putting in BOTH the 2" 22 ILD and 2" 28 ILD just for poops and giggles. Wow, now I know what a jiggly bed feels like. However, it was not as soft as I expected because it overstuffed the cover, which made it kind of taut and trampoline-like. I actually kind of like it for back sleeping, but pokes the shoulder too hard when side sleeping.

Using just the 28 ILD was a little too firm for the shoulders.

So I guess the generalization is true that back sleepers need a firmer mattress than side sleepers, but is there a way to make it work well for both types?

I drove on over to Bob’s Foam Factory http://www.bobsfoam.com/ where they were super helpful and had a spiffy machine that could take my 2" layer of 22 ILD, and cut it down to 1". I put 1" of this on top of my 28" ILD, and put the other 1" aside.

I’m somewhat happy with the setup right now, and in retrospect it was pretty close to the All latex mattress from Brooklyn bedding #6, which is 6" 32 ILD + 3" 28 ILD + thin polyfoam/wool, whereas I have 6" 31-35-31 ILD, + 2" 28 ILD + 1" 22 ILD + wool. I can no longer feel the transition between comfort and support layers.

(Incidentally, I noticed that latex is pretty good about retaining heat. Even after I have been out of bed for an hour, if I take the layers apart, I can feel a warm spot in the core layer where I was sleeping.)

Maaaaaaybe I could still use a little more firmness near the hip area because after only one night, I still had a very slight lower back pain. I don’t really know what it is except that it seems to come from something that causes my lower back to arch. I can actually make the pain go away by bending my knees and putting my feet flat on the bed, then lifting up my hips. This causes my lower back to droop down and un-arch.

I am not sure how I can create any more firmness around the hip area without also creating more shoulder-poking firmness. Maybe I can flip the core over again and use the “firmer” side. I have a couple more ideas, and will report back if they work.

2

I too have worked on my latex mattress… trying to make it more comfortable for hips and shoulders without losing support. It has not been an easy task. When I arrive at a comfortable shoulder solution, my hips sink too much and my alignment suffers. So… I have a piece of 1" higher density “green” foam, just the size of my hips and upper thighs, ( it’s only on my side of the bed), that I place under my topper. My hips sit up a little higher with it in place. It is the only solution that has worked for me. 125 lbs and side sleeper. Thought that a zoned mattress might help the hip/shoulder dilemma but yours is zoned and have the same issue. I also moved my firm layer on top of my medium layer at the top of my mattress (In the case), This eliminated the hammock effect that hurt my hips but did create firmer feel. I felt that the hammock effect was pretty awful for support and comfort.

Diane

3

Hi beanbag,

[quote]Maaaaaaybe I could still use a little more firmness near the hip area because after only one night, I still had a very slight lower back pain. I don’t really know what it is except that it seems to come from something that causes my lower back to arch. I can actually make the pain go away by bending my knees and putting my feet flat on the bed, then lifting up my hips. This causes my lower back to droop down and un-arch.

Maaaaaaybe I could still use a little more firmness near the hip area because after only one night, I still had a very slight lower back pain. I don’t really know what it is except that it seems to come from something that causes my lower back to arch. I can actually make the pain go away by bending my knees and putting my feet flat on the bed, then lifting up my hips. This causes my lower back to droop down and un-arch.

I am not sure how I can create any more firmness around the hip area without also creating more shoulder-poking firmness. Maybe I can flip the core over again and use the “firmer” side. I have a couple more ideas, and will report back if they work. [/quote]

You are experiencing the classic “dilemma” of all mattress design and theory which is how to make the mattress soft enough for your pressure points (particularly for side sleeping) and at the same time “stopping” the heavier parts of the body from sinking down too far and maintaining good alignment in all your sleeping positions. The main methods of dealing with these conflicting “needs” is with the firmness of the support layers which “stop” the heavier areas of the body from sinking in too far, the thickness and softness of the comfort layers which “allow” the more pointy parts of the body to sink in enough and fill in the gaps in the sleeping profile, and the combination of layers and materials that control the compression modulus of the mattress (how quickly the mattress becomes “firmer” with deeper compression). The challenge of this is that each person can have variations in body type, sleeping positions, and perceptions that means that what works well for one person may not work as well for someone else even if they appear to be fairly similar. In general the goal is “just enough” pressure relief in your most pressure prone positions so that there is less risk of alignment issues in your other sleeping positions.

Zoning can be a solution in more challenging situations because it allows for the use of thicker and softer layers under the shoulders (to “allow” them to sink in more) while maintaining firmness under the pelvis. The trick with zoning though is the differential between the zones and that the zoning configuration is suitable for the person because some types of zoning can be less effective and produce more “symptoms” than single firmness layers.

There is more about zoning in post #11 here that may be helpful in adding firmness/thickness under specific areas of the body (as it seems to have been for Diane37). Post #6 here about the balance between pressure relief and alignment may also be worth reading.

It can be quite surprising for some people how much difference it can make to change how much each part of the body sinks down by even fractions of an inch.

Phoenix