Need help deciding on an Organic Cotton Mattress Encasement & Mattress Protector

[phoenix]

Hi oceablue22,

As far as mattress protectors go, I do see your point about the merits of wool quilted inside a protector vs the wool being the outer fabric itself, so am continuing my search. I did come across the Natura Organic Wool-Filled Fitted Mattress Pad at dreamsoftbedware.com which sounds like it would be perfect with the exception of it not being washable. Any thoughts on this one? I can’t seem to find out what the thickness is and the Natura website is not much help. When I do a google shopping search, I can find the right picture (diamond quilted cotton cover & fitted sheet style) but after clicking the “shop” button for the on-line stores offering it, it shows the same image that you mention in post #89 as being the wrong image that Wayfair is showing for this product.

There is a description of their organic wool mattress pad on the Naturaworld site here. It is certainly a high quality product (organic cotton and organic wool) but according to their description it has 10 oz/yd of wool so I don’t know if the wayfair description is for a different product or if it just lists the amount of wool incorrectly. If it has 10 oz of wool then it would be a little thicker and being more of a mattress pad rather than a mattress protector it would have more of an effect on the “feel” of the mattress. As you mentioned it also isn’t washable so it would be a good idea to put it out in the sun once in a while to “refresh” it. The “wrong” image is their reversible wool on top mattress pad here.

still trying to figure out the difference between a pad and a topper

There is really no specific definition of either one or a dividing line when a mattress pad becomes a topper but in general terms a topper is thicker than a mattress pad which in turn is thicker than a protector. There is more about the differences between them in post #10 here.

One other question I have is, if down the line I do eventually need to soften up the sleeping surface of the futon a bit & decide to get a thin wool pad/topper (still trying to figure out the difference between a pad and a topper) would either the Natura Wool or the Cotton Mattress Pad take away any of the wool topper’s temperature regulating properties or perhaps even enhance them if using a wool protector?

There isn’t any way to quantify this outside of your own sleeping experience because there are too many variables involved but I would doubt that it would take you outside of a comfortable temperature range with either one.

I have my eye on these 2 wool pad/toppers at the moment in case the need for one arises and would love to get your thoughts - the 1.5" Sleep and Beyond Organic Merino Wool Mattress Topper from goodnightnaturals.com and the Organic Eco-Valley Wool 1.5-inch Queen-size Mattress Pad - Overstock™ from overstock.com.

You can see my thoughts about wool mattress toppers in general in post #8 here and the posts it links to and there are also some comments and sources for wool mattress pads and toppers in post #3 here that include some comments about the Sleepysheeporganic wool toppers (that use eco-valley wool) and Sleep & Beyond (including a link to a post about their Merino and their Shropshire topper). I don’t have any personal experience with either of the toppers you listed so I can’t really make any meaningful comments about either of them specifically.

Phoenix