Hi guys, long time lurker here. I have been reading for months about DIY mattresses on this site and others and finally decided to take the plunge and started ordering components recently. A few have arrived already and after sleeping on them for a few nights I am looking for some advice on how to proceed.
I am 6’3, 185lbs, and primarily a back and side sleeper. I have realized recently that which position I sleep in is influenced somewhat by the mattress : if it feels supportive enough for my back without any strain I will sleep on the back more sometimes with a pillow underneath my feet, and if the mattress is too soft and I feel my hips sinking in too much I will turn to the side more or even sleep on my stomach. All in all I probably sleep 50%side 40%back and 10 percent stomach. I move around a LOT in my sleep always trying to find a comfortable position.
My old 10+year spring mattress from who knows where started sagging in the middle and causing me a lot of back pain last year so I purchased a Tempur-Pedic Luxe Adapt Firm after going to the store multiple times to try all the options. It felt perfect sleeping on the back however it was a bit too firm for side sleeping and caused some shoulder pain so I started looking into DIY.
Right now I have purchased a 3’ Tempur-pedic serenity memory foam topper from costco and a 3’ 28 ILD dunlop layer from the Latex Mattress Factory. They are on top of a tempurpedic ease adjustable base which is just a solid base with a soft layer of fabric on it. I have been sleeping on this configuration for a few days and here’s what I have noticed so far :
- It is too soft while sleeping on the back. It feels like my hips are sinking in too far and I feel a constant light pressure in the lower back. I can’t really lie straight on the back comfortable without bending or crossing my legs or having a pillow underneath them. If I lie too long on the back it causes lower back pain.
- For side sleeping it feels pretty comfortable. I am bottoming out however and hitting the adjustable base and woke up with shoulder pain 1/7 nights. Not really sure what happened that night but the others have been fine.
Obviously with the bottom layer as the adjustable base as it is now anything else I add for the base layer will make the bed even softer which won’t be good for the back. I will have to change out either the memory foam layer to something firmer or the 28 ILD dunlop for a 34 or something. Then I need to decide on the base layer which I am deciding between a 3" dunlop 46 ILD from sleep on latex, a 35 ILD HD-36 polyfoam, and the combi-zone coils from leggett and platt.
I am wondering how, if even possible, I will be able to get enough support for back sleeping while keeping enough softness/sink for side sleeping. This is what got me looking into the combi-zone coils which I think might be a great option. The possible combinations I can see working are the following.
-
3’“Tempurpedic Serenity Foam
3” 34 ILD Dunlop from Sleep on Latex
Any of the 3 base layers I mentioned above
(this option would assume the 34 ILD provides enough support for the back while still being soft enough for side sleeping) -
A new comfort layer firmer than the Tempurpedic
My current 3" 28 ILD from Latex Mattress Factory or the 34 ILD
Any of the 3 base layers I mentioned above
On the leggett and platt website here the video shows a 4 zone model. I’m not sure whether the retail option here would be the same layout as I read they make a lot of different combinations.
How would you guys proceed here? I am thinking of just getting the 34 ILD from Sleep on Latex for now as they offer free returns and seeing how it feels. The 28 ILD I have now is still returnable for about 3 weeks or so as well for a small fee.
Also do you guys know anywhere that sells high density visco-elastic polyurethane foam that has a pretty slow response time like the tempur-pedics’? I recently found out that tempurpedic changed the formula of their tempur topper supreme to a much lower quality/feel formula which is a whole other thread that I’m thinking of making.
Thank you all for the long read and for any help you might be able to provide.