Need some help

[phoenix]

Hi PATP,

First, some particulars:

• I am 5’2" and about 120-130 pounds. I sleep on my back and side every night.
• My husband is 5’8" and about 160-170 pounds. He also sleeps on his back and side every night.
• We know we want a king size, all latex bed. We want to be able to customize at least the top layer to suit our individual preferences. We prefer talalay for its feel at least in the top comfort layers.
• I do a lot of tossing and turning. I am physically very sensitive. I have a lot of problems with pressure points. Since I’m more sensitive, we’re solving for me then we’ll dial in my husband’s side of the bed.
• It’s easy for me to figure out comfort layers because of my pressure point issues, but much harder for me to figure out alignment.

Unfortunately nobody else can feel what you feel and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to know which specific mattress would be best for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). The most reliable way to choose a mattress is based on your own careful and objective testing using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post.

If you aren’t confident that your careful testing would be a reliable indicator of your sleeping experience then the options you have after a purchase to make changes to the mattress (either by rearranging or changing layers or exchanging or returning the mattress itself) would likely become a much more important part of your personal value equation.

I would also keep in mind that it’s easier to soften up a mattress that is too firm by adding a topper than it is to firm up a mattress that is too soft unless you can remove the layers that are too soft and replace them with something firmer.

1. I don’t want to start with a bed configuration that’s uncomfortable out of the box and needs tinkering. I don’t think this makes sense. Do you agree?

While it’s always preferable to buy a mattress or a mattress/topper combination that is a good match for you in the first place … a component mattress with a zip cover and loose layers has several advantages if your sleeping experience indicates that in spite of your “best efforts” you ended up choosing a mattress that isn’t an ideal match for you in terms of PPP. It would allow you to rearrange or exchange individual layers to fine tune either the support or pressure relief of the mattress without having to exchange the entire mattress. It would also allow you to replace individual layers if one of them softens or breaks down faster than the others (the top layers are usually the weakest link of any mattress) or if your needs or preferences change over time instead of having to replace the entire mattress. A topper that is part of a sleeping system would have a similar advantage in that it can be replaced or changed individually without necessarily having to replace the entire mattress.

There are many component latex mattresses available though and while the OMI (Organicpedic) is certainly a high quality choice … I would make some very careful value comparisons because there are other similar component mattresses that use the same or similar materials that are in much lower budget ranges.

2. Once I add the 2" PLB topper, I’m on 14" of latex. For someone my size, this seems a little extreme. Question is, if I take the Terra and PLB topper as a model, what layers am I really using? Can I take this as a model and deduce what I need? What layering would you suggest based on this configuration that I like?

There is more about the different ways that one mattress can “match” another one in post #9 here and there is more about the effect of thickness (which is one of many specs that will affect the feel and performance of a mattress) in post #14 here. All the layers of a mattress will have an effect on all the other layers and the mattress as a whole but in very general terms the layers that are closest to the sleeping surface will generally have a bigger effect on what you feel than the deeper layers. While you certainly wouldn’t “need” 14" of latex to keep you from feeling like the mattress was bottoming out or to find a mattress that was suitable for you … you may still prefer it to a similar mattress that used less latex. This would depend on the specifics of each mattress and on how sensitive you were to the effect of the deeper layers on the mattress as a whole.

Some people would notice a significant difference and some would notice little difference at all if the top 6" - 9" of two sleeping systems used exactly the same layers in the same thickness and firmness level and the cover and quilting was the same as well if the only difference between them was that one of them used additional very firm layers on the bottom. One of the difficulties with trying to “match” OMI layers is that the topper is “sculpted” so it would feel different and softer than a layer that was the same type of latex and had the same thickness and firmness but didn’t have the surface modifications. The base mattress in the Terra is also two sided so there would be a softer layer on the bottom that would have a bigger effect on the sleeping system as a whole than if the bottom layer was much firmer.

1. I’ve seen mattresses with talalay latex layers labeled N1, N2 and N3. Do you know what N1, N2, and N3 translates into in terms of ILD?

There are some comments about the specs of the Terra and a link to the ILD range for each of the “N” ratings in post #2 here.

2. I’ve slept on a mattress on a bunky board and the bunky board hurts me. I think bunky boards completely change the feel of a mattress, making the mattress significantly firmer. It feels like I bottom out and hit a hard, unforgiving flat surface like a concrete floor regardless of what mattress is on top. The mattress doesn’t seem to fill in the area in my lower back when I’m lying on my back, which is where I want some push upwards or support. I understand how a slatted foundation differs from a bunky board. Can you please explain, in terms of energy transfer and mattresses, what is happening on a slatted foundation v. a bunky board? Do slatted foundations have some give in them?

The problem here would have been with the mattress not the bunkie board. An ideal support surface under an all latex mattress (or under any all foam mattress) would have little to no give at all and would be similar to the floor. The reason for slats is not so that you have some flex in the support surface (it shouldn’t have enough to make any difference compared to a floor) but to provide airflow under the mattress. If you can feel a bunkie board under a mattress (or if you could feel the firmness of a floor under a mattress) then the mattress probably wouldn’t be a suitable choice for you unless it was much thinner (say about 6" or so) and was designed to be used with a flexing support system underneath it as an “active” part of a sleeping system and you had tested the combination in person and confirmed that it was a good match for you in terms of PPP.

Phoenix