Got my mattress today as promised! Very excited to sleep on it. After 2 weeks of sleeping on the sofa, anything sounds like heaven right about now. Just as a side note - the delivery guy was very, very nice. I canāt wait to see if my husband and I can sleep in the same bed comfortably - weāve had years of sleeping on a mattress where I could feel him breathing. Any time heād turn over it felt like an earthquake. Iām a super light sleeper so itās been rough going.
Reading Joshās review, Iām a little concerned that it will be too soft for my husband. We got a 100% natural talalay medium with a 2 inch topper. I begged my husband to go to the showroom with me to try them out but he didnāt want to - he travels and says he can sleep on anything but, he does have back issues so, Iām concerned that it might be too softā¦ weāll seeā¦
Thatās great news ā¦ I know it can be exciting when you finally receive a mattress youāve been waiting for
I would keep in mind too that one personās āsoftā is another personās āfirmā so only your own experience will tell you which it is for you (and again it also depends on the ātypeā of softness that you are most sensitive to).
Iām looking forward to your feedback once youāve slept on it.
So, weāve only slept on it a couple nights and so far so good but, it feels as though the edges are rounded downward. Like if youāre laying close to the edge, youād roll off. And at the top, it feels like our heads are lower than the rest of the bed. Iām going to get a level and check but but my husband and I noticed the same feeling - like the bed is not square, that all the edges sort of turn down. I actually vaguely noticed it when I went to the showroom and tried out the bed. I mentioned it to Greg but he brushed it off but, without my saying anything to my husband, he brought up feeling the same thing.
They probably are to some small degree ā¦ the cover is meant to be tight (although it will stretch a bit as part of the normal break in period) and will compress the edges more than the center of the mattress.
Thatās not an unusual āfeelingā either on a new sleeping surface where your alignment is different from your old mattress and could easily be because your shoulders are sinking in more than you are used to on your old mattress.
All of this is part of the normal adjustment process over the first 30 days or so that goes with any new mattress. You may also need to change your pillow because your old pillow may not āfitā your new mattress because the āgapā between your head and the mattress may have changed.
Oh, we are definitely not giving up on the mattress and are totally prepared for an adjustment period. I guess my concern is that I noticed this exact same sensation when I went to the showroom and laid down on their mattresses there. I mentioned it to Greg and he looked at me like I was nuts. He even unzipped the cover so I could see that the mattress edges arenāt rolled down but, I definitely felt the sensation at the showroom and Iām assuming those mattresses are much older and broken in so, Iām concerned if I felt it there, then itās not something unique to a new mattress. I also never said a word to my husband about it but when I asked him the morning after our first night on the mattress what he thought, his first reaction was to say it felt as if the edges pulled down and that he would roll off if he got to close to the edge and that it felt like his head was hanging back lower than the rest of his body. So, he felt the exact same sensation that I felt on the showroom mattress and on the mattress we just got. We will have to see if we can get used to it.
Also, we did change our pillows - we are both using the new pillows that came with the bed.
Latex mattresses donāt typically have āedge supportā so if you are used to a mattress with firmer edges then this may account for what you are feeling. Again , itās usually a matter of getting used to a different sleeping surface. The edges of a mattress will often feel a little softer because the edges compress a little easier than the parts that have material on each side of them.
The āfeelingā of having your head lower could be because you are sinking in to the latex differently from the mattress you are used to (your upper body and shoulders may be sinking in more deeply). It could also be because of the pillow you are using which may not have the best thickness to keep your head and neck in the best alignment for your sleeping positions.
If is just a āsensationā that you are not used to ā¦ then this would be part of your adjustment period. If it is from the pillow then it would be a matter of making sure you are using the most suitable pillow for your needs and preferences. The pillow thread here has more information and links to some good resources about pillows.
Fellow foamheads,
Ok, Iāll try to keep this brief. The product here is unique at itās cost/quality point, but itās starting to become a dubious value proposition when you consider the order fulfillment issues. I was counting on being able to swap out my medium core for a firm core, and this was part of what led me to mail order from APMC. Ken has very good responsiveness by email, and this tends to give me the āwarm and fuzzyā that this isnāt some fly by night op.
Unfortunately, you have to be able to deliver what you promise. About 5 weeks after ordering my replacement, Iāve now received my second replacement half core. The first was for a Queenāunderstandable since few couples sleep on a full, thatās just a human mistake. Ken was good about getting it picked up and the replacement sent to manufacturing.
I just got a replacement core in the correct size with firm written on it, but itās actually a medium. Itās visually (hole diameters), weight, and firmness (pressure at displacement) identical to the medium itās meant to replace and just as distinguishable from the firm. So thatās the second time Iāve broken the mattress open and packed and unpacked the box after lumping it up the stairs. When youāre already working 6-7 days a week, still having this on the honey-do before you go on another month long work trip full up sucks. My life sucking it right now isnāt APMCās fault, but a poor product fulfillment process is.
Iāll let you know how Kenās response to this one is-heās been a reasonable guy so far. Latex foam recce photos attached.
J
PS Hmm. Seems to not want to let me use the file attach button. Iāll try another browser than Chrome.
PPS Nope, I guess I donāt have permissions to attach. Youāll have to take my word for it.
Hmmm, interesting. I called on Friday to replace our medium with firm and was told Iād have to call back on Monday as the owner is out of town.
I will have to be on the lookout for a similar issue. Iām luck in that we live locally but still, the turn around time is pretty long. I would be quite irritated by fulfillment errors given the amount of time it takes to get the product.
Please keep us posted.
I have to say Iām very surprised by how soft the medium mattress is. Iāve never been a firm mattress person but, the medium is what I would equate to a soft conventional mattress. I wake up with an aching back every morning. Iām praying the firm is better because so far, I donāt love this mattress the way I thought I would. I still have that sinking head feeling - like the head of the mattress flows downward like a waterfall. My husband isnāt even sleeping in the bed because itās so soft and he doesnāt like that the edges roll downward.
Your experience is a little unusual because Ken is usually right on the money with the layers and components he supplies but of course everyone can make mistakes and Iām sure heāll do what is necessary to āfixā them. While his wait times can sometimes be a little on the longer side (although they seem to be getting shorter) ā¦ he is certainly a āgood valueā proposition as you mentioned unless you have some unfortunate glitches along the way. Keep us posted how things turn out.
All the members here have the permissions to post attachments but the template code has an error which can make the attachment button finicky and it renders differently in different browsers. If you click in the window where the attachment is listed (beside the number) or in various places on the edges of the āadd fileā button (make sure it doesnāt change color) then the file upload window will come up and you can choose the file to attach. In the worst case ā¦ you can email me the pictures (at the contact link at the top of the page) and Iāll attach them to your post for you.
It would be very unusual for Ken to make the same mistake twice
Latex is an unusual material and there are many who are surprised at how soft it can seem in higher ILDās because of its point elasticity (ability to take on the shape of the body and compress independently in each area). Others are surprised at how firm it feels to them because of its compression modulus (it gets firmer faster with deeper compression than other types of foam). It really depends on what you are used to or the ātypeā of softness you are most sensitive to (see post #15 here) and the overall layering and design of the mattress.
Since Iām about to exchange my medium for a firm, can you tell me what to look for? I saw the picture and it looks like the one on the right has larger holes than the one on the left. Iām not sure which one is supposed to be the medium and which is supposed to be the firm?
There are many different pincore patterns used to make latex foam and the compounding (air / latex mixture and other factors) will also make a difference in the firmness of the foam so you would need to go by the expertise of the supplier because most consumers wouldnāt be able to tell the difference between different types or ILDās of latex based on how it looks unless there was a clear and obvious difference that you could feel.
wildflower,
Yeah, Iād agree with that. At first I wasnāt sure it was different; and as Phoenix said, maybe itās a different manufacturing process, but since APMC makes their own, a different manufacture process did seem unlikely. The density was noticeable different, and the acid test was sitting on it. The firm resists quite nicely at about 3-4" of depression on a 6" core to both my wife and I, while the medium compresses almost seemingly through the thickess. I also put my fist into it and āmeasuredā the force to achieve about 3" of compression. If only I had a 16 lb mass shot, I could do this pretty scientifically!
Just to clarify ā¦ APMC doesnāt actually donāt make their own but buy latex made by some of the same latex manufacturers as other mattress manufacturers use ā¦ primarily Latex International (Talalay), Radium (Talalay), Latex Green (Dunlop), and Latexco (Dunlop).
It can also be difficult to identify the relative firmness of a layer using āapproximateā methods that use different surface areas of compression or that canāt measure the compression force accurately but if the difference is clear or obvious (which it seems to be in your case) then more approximate methods can certainly give you an idea of which of two layers is firmer if you are comparing the same types of latex.
I am on the verge of buying a latex mattress from Ken. Wait time doesnāt bother me. Comfort of the final product does.
Just concerned about what to expect. Donāt like purchasing a mattress online. But I do like a bargain. I talked to Ken and he strongly recommended the medium even though I normally like a firm mattress.
I have tried out the latex mattresses at a few local places and generally prefer medium to firm. But then again I donāt spend a night sleeping on them.
I currently sleep on a standard 22 yr old mattress and box spring. Probably Beautyrest or something similar. Itās quite comfortable still. Just need to downsize my bed for the new bedroom. And I donāt want a box spring.
I prefer a firmer mattress and Greg strongly suggested the medium and I found it way too soft. I called Ken and he had me take the 2" topper and move it to the bottom so we are sleeping directly on the core and it is better but, I think still too soft. To me, a medium latex mattress is like a softer conventional mattress. With the topper, itās way too soft.
I couldnāt tell a huge difference between the medium and firm when I went in to the showroom but they all had the toppers on them (i think?). Anyway, I do think we will end up switching our medium out for a firm. If its too firm, we will still have the topper which really does make it softer.
I would tend to give things a little bit of time before making changes. Latex (or any new material) can change in terms of how it feels as you adjust to or get used to a new type of mattress or material. In the case of latex it can feel both softer and more supportive at the same time than people are accustomed to even though your alignment and pressure relief may be good (it gets firmer faster than other materials as you sink in more). Once you have slept on it for a couple of weeks (which is usually the minimum amount of time that would be a good indicator of your longer term experience on the mattress) then I hope you have the chance to share your feedback once again and if you do decide to make an exchange then it would be great to hear how it works for you as well.
How much time do you recommend? We slept on the mattress as it was set up by the delivery guy (medium core with 2" topper for 3 weeks before deciding it was definitely too soft. I called Ken about it and he suggested moving the topper to the bottom of the bed and sleeping directly on the core which weāve been doing for the past 2.5 weeks. It still feels too soft to me. I also still get that sensation of rolling off the mattress. In fact, when my daughter comes and gets in bed with me in the morning and I have to scoot to the middle of the bed, itās so much worse - it feels like Iām really having to struggle to stay in the middle and not roll towards the edge. My husband feels the exact same sensation. We arenāt big people - both of average height and weight. So, Iām not sure whatās going on other than maybe itās just too soft?
If you slept on the original configuration for 3 weeks and on the mattress core for 2.5 weeks Iād say that was long enough for you to get a clear sense of how it will feel for you in the longer term.
Itās always amazing to me how different people are in terms of their firmness choices because what you are sleeping on is much firmer than many people (including me) would be comfortable with and for others it is still too soft. Some people even struggle with the firmness of 24 ILD latex or in some cases even softer but thatās what makes all of us unique.
It sounds like it may be time to talk to APMC about an exchange for a firmer core.
