I own a 6 year old Simmons Beautyrest plush pillow top (King Size) that has gradually become less comfortable. Not sure how I ever thought it was comfortable; I think it was too soft for me to begin with and now my back can no longer take it. I don’t want to replace it for a variety of reasons.
I discovered the metal frame was broken and removed that and placed mattress and box springs on the floor. That helped a tiny bit. I flipped the mattress over so i was sleeping on the bottom surface and that helped a lot; but my husband didn’t like it. My search for what else might be done led me here and I decided to perform surgery after poking around this forum.
The pillow top came off pretty easily with a sharp pair of fabric scissors. There was the top quilted layer which looked like 2 pieces of very soft 1" foam. Under that was a 2" piece of the same very soft easily compressible foam. Under that is a fabric layer which I made an exploratory incision in. I found yet another piece of this very soft 2" foam and then the springs underneath. I left all of that intact, threw my mattress cover and some sheets on it and we tried it as is. My husband likes it. I think it’s much better, but not quite there.
I’d like to replace the soft foam over the springs, or put a topper over it all. I don’t think putting something over this soft foam is going to be an issue. I think it just compresses down like it isn’t even there with any weight. Is this a reasonable assumption?
So Option 1: put a (2 inch, 3 inch?) firm topper over what I have now without changing anything else.
Option 2: remove the foam over the springs and replace with a firm 2" piece of quality foam.
Option 3: replace the foam over the springs with 2" firm foam and throw a medium firm 2" topper on top to please the hubby who likes things a touch softer than I do.
As far as materials go, I am not really a memory foam kind of person. I am considering latex, or upholstery foam; or a combination of the two.
I do have a local source, foamorder.com within reasonable driving distance. They do offer returns on toppers. The prices seem to be reasonable as far as I can tell with the looking I have done. Just need to decide whether it makes more sense to replace the foam over the springs first, or start with a topper, or go all in with both. Any thoughts?
So, it seems you are now a M.D. (Mattress Doctor). Congratulations! B)
The top layer you cut off would be your quilt panel. I’m unsure from your description if that was the product containing the 2-1" pieces of foam, or if those were pieces in addition to the quilt panel. The 2" piece of foam under that would be one of your upholstery foam layers within your pillowtop gusset. The thin layer of non-woven material under that would be the delineation between your pillowtop layers and the deeper upholstery layers, and under that you had your last piece of 2" foam. From your description I can’t tell if these foams are polyfoam or memory foam, but a popular configuration would be to have the “middle” foam layers be made of memory foam. These foam are generally lower density material, and as you mentioned all seem quite soft (lower IFD/ILLD).
[quote]I’d like to replace the soft foam over the springs, or put a topper over it all. I don’t think putting something over this soft foam is going to be an issue. I think it just compresses down like it isn’t even there with any weight. Is this a reasonable assumption?
So Option 1: put a (2 inch, 3 inch?) firm topper over what I have now without changing anything else.
Option 2: remove the foam over the springs and replace with a firm 2" piece of quality foam.
Option 3: replace the foam over the springs with 2" firm foam and throw a medium firm 2" topper on top to please the hubby who likes things a touch softer than I do.[/quote]
I’ll recommend a bottom-up approach in a situation like this, as generally all of the foams are lower density and over six years are probably approaching or exceeding their useful life. While you will notice more the changes made in the uppermost layers of the mattress, if you’re placing these newer and better foams over lower quality foams that are too soft or take too much of a “set”, your newer foams will have no choice but to sink in too deeply and potentially sag. Cutting into the non-woven layer to remove the foam layer directly on top of the springs may impact some of the integrity of the border panels sewn around you mattress, so you’d want to cut as little as possible to remove that foam. Otherwise, replacing the foam with similar thicknesses but with higher density polyfoam or latex could certainly be an improvement, and if you’re considering using a bit of a firmer foam deep down and then a bit more plush as you move upward (a more typical progressive construction) can result in a quite comfortable offering but something that is not quite as plush as what you previously had. As again changes made in the uppermost layers are more readily felt, using a higher density polyfoam for the deeper layer and then latex on top can provide a good comfort and also be a bit easier on your budget than going all-latex.
If you do visit foamorder personally, I would let them know exactly what you’re attempting to accomplish, as they may have some good guidance regarding the particular foams that they offer and combinations that tend to work well in a hybrid-like creation.
