Hi Khetre.
For some people, DIY mattress turned to be a very rewarding project, but in general, the best approach is a “spirit of adventure” where what is learned and the satisfaction that comes from the process itself is more important than any cost savings that may be realized (which may or may not happen). For those that decide to take the challenge of building a DIY, I advise having more realistic expectations and getting comfortable with the learning curve, uncertainty, trial, and error, or in some cases the higher costs that may be involved in the DIY process.
If you wish to take this challenge on and a DIY is still of interest to you I would start is by reading option 3 in post #15 here and the posts it links to (and option #1 and #2 as well)
Restless nights are hard to “ignore” and wihile a cheap mattress can be satisfactory for a certain period of time it may quickly reach the end of its useful life and you could end up spending more in the long run. Sometimes “cheap” can have a higher cost than people may realize or hope for. As far as finding faults in everything … it really depends on the perspective… it is like seeing the bottle half full or half empty. I am sure that once you find the right mattress even a little higher price can be overlooked… but of course that all depends entirely on your own personal value equation and what is most important to you. In the end … the “value” of a mattress purchase boils down to three main factors.
[indent]• How well you will sleep on a mattress in terms of Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences (PPP)
• How long a mattress lasts and continues to provide you with PPP and the quality of sleep.
• Then all the other parts of “value” that are part of each person’s personal value equation (including return or exchange policies and the price) are also important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase but are secondary to suitability and durability because a mattress that isn’t a good match in terms of PPP and you can’t sleep well on it or a mattress that is a good match in terms of PPP initially but uses lower quality materials which lose their comfort and support too quickly relative to the price you paid would both have little “value” for most people.[/indent]
As I mentioned previously it’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here ).
Linenspa 10" Latex Hybrid Mattress is advertised as a medium-firm feel and they recommend it for back or stomach sleepers, but there is no way for anyone else but you to assess if any mattress would be comfortable for your particular needs, preferences and sleeping positions. They list it as having 4 layers of foam and latex for a total of 3" on top of the spring unit (1" quilted Fast response foam and 2" fast response foam and latex) but they do not list the specifications (density and thickness of each of the layers. If you manage to find out the specs for this mattress I’d be happy to comment upon it. (On amazon most of the questions related to upper layers specs seem to be deferred to [email protected])
Linenspa is a trademark for Malouf which is a Chinese manufacturer of mattresses, pillows, and bedding products. They sell some fairly cheap memory foam mattresses that use lower density memory foam that I personally wouldn’t consider and because the price of their latex hybrid mattresses is in the same range it would make me cautious about its quality. If I was considering a Chinese manufacturer though I would want to know the specifics of all the foams and eventhough they use CertiPur certified memory foam or polyfoam they are compressed for long periods of time in their transportation from China which ages foam much more quickly and reduces durability and can actually damage latex (Dunlop especially).
Overall … I would be very cautious with these and make sure you get more information … including about their return costs and method of return if it isn’t suitable (because you can’t ship them back compressed the way you received them which means that return shipping would have to be with much more expensive truck freight). They are also a one size fits all choice which means they are much more “risky” in terms of suitability than a mattress that you can choose your own comfort level.
I think that other than personal testing on a mattress … your research into the quality of materials and dealing with a retailer or manufacturer that can provide you with good guidance about which mattress may best “fit” your needs and preferences is among the most important parts of your mattress purchase. The quality of sleep is very important and there are very few purchases that we can make that can have such a big effect on our overall well being for the next decade or so than the mattress we sleep on. Rushing a mattress purchase IMO is a big mistake along with a mattress purchase that doesn’t take into account the suitability and quality of the materials in it.
I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding … and of course any additional comments or questions you may have along the way that I or any of the Expert members of the site can help with.
Phoenix