We need advice. We purchased an 8" organic latex mattress from a local manufacturer. It is too firm. We’ve had it about a month and it still hasn’t softened up enough. The 6" core is 40 ild and the 2" comfort layer is 28ild.
To attempt to soften it, we purchased a 3" 14 ild talalay latex topper. I find the mattress without the topper more comfortable, but still wake with lower back pain. When I sleep with the 3" topper, my back pain is severe and rides up my back, requiring pain pills to get through the day.
My spouse prefers sleeping on the 3" topper and does not have any back pain using it, but directly on the bed is very painful. (we are having just the opposite results).
I’m trying to find a happy medium for both of us. We are considering getting either a 1" soft topper (ild about 20) or both a 1" medium (24 ild) and a 1" soft. But I am afraid of repeating my results with the other topper. I would like the cushion softness, but also need the support (I weight 200 and my spouse weighs about 165).
Yes, we could return the mattress and exchange the layers, but we are both concerned about longevity of the mattress and would prefer to get a topper to make the bed last longer. We had considered returning the bed and getting a 36ild core with a 24ild comfort layer, but I’m concerned this might soften too much over time.
Please, if you have any experience with this, or have successfully dealt with this issue, we would greatly appreciate your feedback and advice.
Thanks.
Your mattress would be a fair bit firmer than most side sleepers would do best with and it’s unlikely that it will “break in” enough to be a suitable match for you because latex doesn’t soften as much as other types of foam materials.
There are some suggestions in post #2 here that may be helpful but the odds are high that a topper (or a mattress exchange) would be your best solution.
Having said that … lower back pain is usually an indication of a sleeping system that is too soft and by choosing a topper that is that soft (14 ILD is a very low ILD) and 3" thick (which is fairly thick) you may have overcompensated and exchanged one issue (a mattress that is too firm) with a different one (your mattress/topper combination is now too soft). With your higher weight this would tend to affect you more than your wife.
I certainly wouldn’t be concerned with the durability or longevity of a latex mattress or how much it would soften … with or without a topper … because latex is the most durable of all the foam materials and I would choose a mattress that is as close to your ideal as possible when you test it rather than buying a mattress that is too firm with the intent of adding a topper (see post #2 here).
Based on your feedback … “in theory” the 36ILD core with the 24 ILD comfort layer (you didn’t mention it’s thickness) would probably be a better choice that would move both of you closer towards a more suitable firmness range than the mattress you currently have but if I was in your shoes and you have the option available I would return to the store and do some very careful testing on the mattress (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post and with both of you on the mattress) so that you can use the results of your testing and what your body tells you to make the best decision because the most reliable way to know which mattress (or mattress/topper combination) is the best “match” for you is based on your own personal testing and/or experience.
If you find that you still need a little more softness after that then you could use the information in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to to help you decide on the firmness and thickness of a topper that would have the best chance of success.
[quote]Yes, we could return the mattress and exchange the layers, but we are both concerned about longevity of the mattress and would prefer to get a topper to make the bed last longer. We had considered returning the bed and getting a 36ild core with a 24ild comfort layer, but I’m concerned this might soften too much over time.
Based on your feedback … “in theory” the 36ILD core with the 24 ILD comfort layer (you didn’t mention it’s thickness) would probably be a better choice that would move both of you closer towards a more suitable firmness range than the mattress you currently have but if I was in your shoes and you have the option available I would return to the store and do some very careful testing on the mattress (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post and with both of you on the mattress) so that you can use the results of your testing and what your body tells you to make the best decision because the most reliable way to know which mattress (or mattress/topper combination) is the best “match” for you is based on your own personal testing and/or experience.[/quote]
Phoenix[/quote]
Thank you for your fast response! The thickness of the 24 ild comfort layer that I was considering would be the same as the comfort layer we have now - which is 2". I wasn’t sure whether this layer being only 2" is part of the problem, or if it was just the firmness of the layers. Unfortunately, the only latex store is a 2 hour drive from here (roughly) and they only had the one combination on the floor (which was also a 40/28 ild range). The other option we were considering was their heavy duty coil bed with a layer of latex. But we were leaning towards the full latex bed, not so much because it was more comfortable, but for long term durability.
There is a store that sells pure latex bliss that we could go to. Not sure what the different ild’s and thickness’ are in their beds though. The 36 ild core and 24ild comfort layer is just a guess on my part that it would be more comfortable. Have nothing to gauge that by.
I did notice, that when I initially lie in the bed with the 3" 14ild talalay topper on, it does feel comfortable to me as well. But in the middle of the night towards morning is when I am waking up in terrible pain.
Do you happen to know what the different PLB models have for their cores and comfort layers? There is only 1 store close to here that carries those and the salesman wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable about the subject.
Otherwise, If you were in our shoes, which route would you take if you couldn’t sample the different types?
How soft a layer feels is the result of both thickness and firmness which work hand in hand in combination with some other specs that can also affect how soft a layer feels as well (see post #2 here) so both would contribute to the firmness/softness along with the firmness of the latex underneath the top layers (every layer in a mattress will have some effect on the feel and response of every other layer above and below it) and the effect of the cover and quilting as well.
The specs of the PLB mattresses are here so you can use them as an approximate reference point if you decide to test them.
There is more about primary support, secondary support, and their relationship to pressure relief in post #4 here and in post #2 here but comfort/pressure relief is what most people tend to feel when they first lie on a mattress and alignment issues are what most people tend to feel when they wake up in the morning (or after several hours of sleeping on a mattress).
I would first carefully test the softer mattress (24 over 36) to see how much closer it is to your “ideal” and if it’s an improvement compared to the mattress you have now then I would strongly consider an exchange and then if your sleeping experience still indicates that it’s too firm and there are no softer options available to you then I would use the topper guidelines I linked earlier in combination with any local testing you have done that you can use as a reference point to make a “best judgement” choice for a topper. If you do end up purchasing a topper I would also factor in the “value” of the options you have to exchange or return a topper after a purchase if you are at all uncertain to reduce the risk of making a choice that doesn’t work out as well as you hoped for.
I am actually wondering what decisions ya’ll have made and what else you may have tried in the past month. My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a latex mattress, and our weight and health issues seem to be very similar to your own. At this point, do you feel that you’ve found a solution?
We did have them change the core to a 36 ild, the comfort layer is still 28. The bed is still too firm to lay on without a topper. The comfort layer is soft enough, it’s still the core that is too firm.
We do have a 2" 24 ild talalay latex topper on top of the bed and it’s okay now, but we still wake a bit achy. (the 2" topper combined with the 28 ild comfort layer is still too thick for me.) But it does feel soft enough this way.
If I had it do over again, I would go down another ild in the core, or add another inch to the comfort layer. Changing the topper would make it softer, but that also lets you sink more into the core. If the core is firm enough, but not too firm then that would be ok.
Next year sometime we will probably get a three inch 28ild topper and flip the mattress over. Or maybe a 1" 32 ild topper and use our 2" 24 ild on top of that. Hopefully that works out well. If it does, then at least we will have a flippable mattress.
The three inch talalay 14 ild topper was a complete waste of money. It is entirely too soft and you sink right through it (or least we do).