[quote]You can purchase a zippered mattress cover directly from purple, just tell them which one you want. I have bought the purple hybrid premier (.4) cover from them. It was $181 in the twin xl size and it fits a 13" thick mattress. You could get the original 9", purple hybrid 11", hybrid premier (.3) 12".
Intellibed makes a topper which is made by edizone llc which is owned by purple so purple sort of does make a topper. I have it, it was $762 but this was the older cal king topper without the 1" serene foam on top. I didn’t want the foam on top to maximize breathability. I cut it down w/an electric knife to fit my twin xl bc I didn’t all the polyfoam that surrounds the grid. The polyfoam does serve a purpose though it gives the topper edge support. That’s why I left a little on both sides. I’ve been reading up on serene foam & it’s supposed to be more open cell than regular polyfoam & more breathable so maybe the new style “luxury toppers” from intellibed don’t sleep too hot. I know the new version in twin xl is $699+.
If you want to experiment with the purple grid from purple mattresses you can find many trial returns on eBay for a fraction of the cost of a new one. I decided I wasn’t comfortable buying used bedding so I bought 3 new ones (two hybrid. 2’s) and one original. You can pull the grid out of a brand new one quite easily & experiment with it.[/quote]
Fantastic info Mr Yabo, much appreciated! It will at least allow me to experiment with different materials to make sure my design isn’t bottlenecking because of the mattress cover.
For others in case they are looking for mattress covers.
If the intellibed toppers are over $1000 for a king then I’ll likely just try to get a used Purple bed and salvage materials so I can see what works best. Any chance you have any photos of inside the topper so I can see how much gel and foam there are in there?
This is a picture of the foam to gel ratio. Mine has maybe an inch of foam on each side instead of the 6" you see in the picture I found just doing a search for the intellibed topper. Also mine had a layer of fabric on top of yhe grid referred to as scrim. Its like a layer of thin cloth attached to the top of the grid.
At 4:10 in to the video you can see what the cloth layer looks like on top of the grid but I don’t know if they still use it on the new “luxury” intellibed toppers with the serene foam on top. They no longer sell the old style topper that I have without the serene foam on top.
So I went ahead and ordered a replacement King mattress cover from Purple tonight. Can’t wait to give it a try and see what sort of difference it makes in the feel of the comfort layers. I’ll definitely post some photos once I get it all installed.
I had assumed the mattress cover coming from Purple was being shipped from within Canada since they had a Canadian specific website to order from, you pay in Canadian dollars and they even included HST on the order. I get a tracking number that says the cover should be here by tomorrow so I think wow, this is great! Then I look at the address and it says Utah which has me a bit worried but shipping still says free on the Purple invoice so what could go wrong. That euphoria quickly changes when Fedex calls and claims I owe $107 in taxes and duties. I explained to them that I already paid the taxes on my order from Purple and that there are no duties on items made in the US (I verified the situation with the CBSA). I also called Purple customer service to ensure the mattress cover was made in the US and they confirmed that all actual mattress components are in fact made in the US (if you call them, the invoice number is a Shopify order number, not an actual Purple invoice number so they will need to look that up to get your details). I was told by Fedex the only way to contest the charges was to email their dispute center and they would get back to me in 4-5 days (while still holding your package hostage in the meantime). This is exactly why I avoid international shipping with Fedex, UPS and DHL (only good one is Canada Post but they are SLOW) like the plague. Anyway just be forewarned if others go the same route. I’ll keep folks up to date when/if I finally receive it.
Well, I finally received the mattress cover but I’m still out the $107 for duties and taxes because Fedex washes it’s hands in the process. It looks like the error actually started with someone at Purple when they filled out the shipping invoice wrong (value was done in USD not CAD and they put the HST as a shipping charge when it wasn’t) which created a massive ripple effect through the system. It looks like I will have to maybe file with the CBSA to get a refund on the taxes and duties and if that doesn’t work I may ask Purple to help cover costs but at least I have the cover to fix my bed. I’ll post some pics when I get it all installed and let everyone know how it worked out.
So I had a chance to get the new mattress cover on last night and all I can say is WOW! I can’t believe I was overlooking this component of the mattress design which now seems so obvious. I took a photo of my fist pushing into the bed on both the old and new cover so you all can see how well the new one conforms versus the old pillow top cover. If you are a curvy person then point elasticity is a big problem on most beds (made even worse when they use poor quality foam), you can see what I mean in the video below. The old pillow top style covers seem to rely heavily on the very light foam on the top for pressure relief, but when that breaks down (as it did on mine) you lose that conforming feel very quickly. Also the old cover has very little stretch so that seriously limits what the foam layers below can do (no matter how soft they are) to conform to your specific body shape.
I will say the design of the Purple cover is such that the zipper is at the bottom which makes it a major pain to swap out comfort layers (I would look for a stretchy cover with a zipper around the middle or top if you were just getting starting on designing your own bed and adjusting layers often) but the end result was so worth it. The performance of this new cover is absolutely night and day compared to the old one. You can really feel it allow the latex foam layers below do their job much more than before. I always had trouble with the bed supporting my waist while on my side and my lower back while lying face up but with this new setup you can really feel it fill in those areas nicely. Last night I tried the 3" soft (20ILD) and the 3" medium (30ILD) combo and it was just a bit too stiff on the pressure relief while my wife had a soft/soft combo and said hers was absolutely amazing so I may try that combo tonight. I will continue to make a few more layer changes just to get the best pressure relief possible but very happy overall, feels great now. This is definitely a setup I could sleep on for years without issue.
Everything looks great! I agree about the horrible zipper placement of purple covers, especially for people like us that change layers. Now im only adjusting layers on a twin xl size at a time but sometimes what I find makes the process easier for me unzipping is to flip the bed over. Then you can flip it back if your just adjusting comfort layers(sometimes im trying different gauge springs as well).
So I swapped out the medium latex layer for soft (so I had 2 soft 3" latex layers same as my wife) before I went to bed and all I can say is OMG!!! This is how a mattress should feel. Who knew a new mattress cover would be the final key to making it all work. The mattress was fully supportive and firm where you need it (alignment was great after I adjusted the sleep number) and it performed great at relieving pressure points too (due to the great point elasticity of the soft latex and cover working together). This is the first morning in what must be a few years now that I haven’t had any pain at all in my hips and lower back, just incredible, such an amazing feeling. It actually makes you want to stay in bed where before I had to get up and start stretching in the shower or I’d be in pain all day long. My lower back muscles were definitely stiff this morning but there was zero discomfort at all (meaning my joints actually relaxed) whereas before it would slowly creep back once I was up and about.
I thought abut flipping it over but a king bed with 6" of latex and the Sleep Number air hoses sticking out the back would require a forklift to pull it off. So I did figure out a trick to putting on the cover this time. First you pull the bottom part under the mattress (this was already done on mine from the night before). Then you build up all your comfort layers so they are aligned with each other (not much ability to adjust once the cover is zipped). Next you spread out and align the cover on top of the mattress so the zipper is in right corner to attach with the bottom part of the cover. I suggest you align the zipper with the foot of the bed because it’s a pain to get it started if it’s up by the headboard. Then you take one corner of the cover and put your hand in from the back side (sleeping side of the mattress cover) and use your fingers to make sure the corner of the cover goes over the corner of your top comfort layers. After that you can pull the zipper part of the cover down and around the bottom layers (sort of how you would for a fitted sheet). Then continue to do this for opposite corners (this will ensure you have equal stretch on the cover and that the edges are aligned with the covers corners. The zipper doesn’t have much stretch so once you have done the first 2 corners you will need to bend up the corners to makes sure you don’t damage the zipper while you pull the cover around the corner of the mattress layers. Once you have all 4 corners on then you start the zipper by pulling down on the side of the cover to remove stress on the zipper as you close it around the edge. The zipper is not a big one so try to keep stress off it as you move around the edge zipping it all up. Once you have it all zipped you can adjust the edges to align the cover a bit by pulling out and up slightly to relieve stress on the edge of the comfort layer. It sounds complicated but once you get the hang of it, it’s really not that bad at all. The second time I did it was much faster and the cover looked better when done.
I’ll keep reporting back on it but to me this is the winning combo. Only other thing I want to try is a layer of that Purple smart grid gel if I can find an old mattress to salvage but for now I’m super happy with how it all worked out. I do hope this helps others in their quest to build themselves a perfect bed too.
This has been a super interesting story - thanks for taking the time to update everyone and keeping everything organized under one post. You have certainly been industrious and I really commend your perseverance and positive attitude.
I have a DIY latex mattress with a double knit (ie very stretchy) ticking, and I agree that the stretch-factor makes a huge difference in pressure point relief. Thanks for the photo comparisons of the “fist test” with your old and new covers. Your new Purple mattress cover looks quite nice as well - I didn’t realize they sold those separately.
Regarding zipper placement, mine is at the middle of the sides, and even that is a pain along the mattress edge at the headboard. The headboard makes it difficult to get to the zipper as you have to lift up / bend back the top edge of the mattress (which is heavy) to access it, while at the same time trying to align the zipper to close it back up again. If doing it again, I’d give preference to mattress covers with zippers along the top edge of the mattress (if any exist!).
Glad you’ve found a combination that works for you, and thanks again for sharing!
Emily, so glad you and hopefully others enjoyed the building process. I hope it inspires folks to really go after what you want rather than just settling for whatever disposable bed in a box you can buy these days. It can definitely be a frustrating and sometimes expensive process (at least up front) to DIY yourself the perfect bed but I think most of us that have done it realize it’s more of a journey than a destination.
Quick update. I had a bit of alignment discomfort (hip/back) the night before and woke up very early from it but then I realized I had lowered the sleep number (from 55 to 45) to try and see if there a was any additional improvement in body surface cradling. As soon as I realized this I set it back to where I originally had it (55) and the bed was fine again. Funny how tiny little changes seem to make a big difference in how it performs. I really don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have an adjustable base layer because it would drive me absolutely insane not to be able to fix it right away. Bed still feels great now and no trouble getting to sleep quickly.
I am looking for a good waterproof mattress protector that doesn’t have plastic on it (I hate that plastic film feel under the sheets). I was thinking of something like this (see link below) has anyone else tried these or have any others they could recommend?
Yesterday I still had a tiny bit of hip/lower back pain although it’s been greatly diminished compared to what I was dealing with previously. I’m pretty sure this is an alignment issue still because if I’m on my side and tighten my muscles to straighten myself it does feel better and the discomfort goes away. I suspect that I’m still lacking support in the lumbar region as being the cause of the lower back/hip discomfort. Ideally my shoulder could also sink in more but right now I have no pain or discomfort there other than it still being a bit tender from when it began to hurt in bed prior to getting the air mattress base (I was able to bench press the other day so it feels like it’s healing fine). In order to really fix this permanently I may need to create to a zoned setup similar to the Flobeds Vzone. That way I can really tune the firmness for where I need it firmer/softer depending on where on the body I need more support or cushioning. I haven’t really seen anyone do this as a DIY yet with latex (found a few threads where folks cut up polyfoam) so if anyone knows of any links where they did latex zoning please post them up. I have to admit I’m a little scared to cut the latex because with all the Covid stuff going on now replacements are much harder to get up here in Canada but I think I won’t have a choice if I really want to solve this for good. So basically I’m planning on sacrificing 1 soft (20ILD), 1 medium (30ILD) and 1 firm (44ILD) 3" SOL dunlop twin XL layer to try and create the zoning pieces I need for this. I will be putting these under an SOL soft 3" dunlop layer which has been working but I also have a soft (not sure on ILD) 2" Natura Talalay topper I can experiment with too to see which feels better.
Since the latex foams are are quite an expensive material to work with I want to make sure I’m doing this right so I’m probably going to get something like this to make sure the cuts are smooth and vertical. Once I have a bit of use with it I’ll let everyone know how it worked along with a few pics. I have a couple couch cushions I want to put better foam in too so that should allow me to do them myself too. https://www.sailrite.com/Sailrite-Blade-8-Foam-Cutter-with-Carrying-Case-110V
Ok so I ordered the Sailrite foam saw I linked to above, can’t wait to see how well it works on latex (likely alot better than an electric carving knife).
Here’s what it can do, seems pretty impressive but haven’t seen it used on latex yet so we’ll see how well it does on that later.
I’ve been working on the zoning design to figure out how I want to arrange the zones on mine so I was doing a bit more research at lunch.
I came across these videos which are super helpful because you just don’t find may folks cutting open better quality mattresses to see what’s inside. It’s always good to have plenty of ideas to draw on so we can improve on our own DIY designs too. Here’s a whole bunch of links where these guys cut open all sorts of mattresses and I learned a bunch from watching them, hopefully you do too. Some of these brands/models I’ve never heard of but each is somewhat unique so it’s great to see some of the designs and why they might have failed over time.
Mattrebuild, I like that sailrite foam saw. That would definitely cut better than an electric knife. Ive been thinking about getting one for a few months now. When you get it let us know how it works and if it’s good I’ll pick one up. I also like the research you did on zoning, very impressive!
The more I think about this issue the more I’m convinced zoning is the problem on most of the mattresses today especially since they have all gone to the pocket coil spring system (Marshall coil) versus the older Bonnell Coil system which seemed to do a much better job of support and provide incredible durability to the detriment of perhaps pressure relief and motion isolation. Obviously mattress makers had been adding lots of batting and polyfoam on top for decades in an effort to reach a good compromise (many did). Some of you who have tried tons of different pocket coil systems only to come up short might try these (especially if you have a higher BMI) to build yourself the perfect DIY bed. Motion isolation on springs like that is near zero so if you want to try this type make sure you’re building a twin XL if you have a partner.
Enough about that, I did some more looking at the Flobeds design and I like what they did design-wise but I’m not sure it would be fully optimized for any one person. Their Vzone system is made up of common strips of either 10" or 19" wide throughout the bed (with one exception, see the photo below). I also labeled the zones so you can see what each one is for and how you could tailor them to make things work for your specific situation (shape/weight/feel/etc). This will likely help fix support/alignment issues tremendously over just using uniform layers of latex but again I’m not convinced this is the ideal zone sizing for every person. Again I totally understand why they made the pieces common since they provide a guarantee to swap them out for free so it minimizes the inventory they need to carry to make this work and also minimizes the waste when cutting latex foam sheets. I’ll need to do a bit more research and experimenting myself to see if I can dial this in any further.
One of the biggest areas most people (myself included) complain about on a bed is the lumbar region. So I took one of the photos of the Vzone (see below) and drew lines across it so you can see the deflection the bed needs to create in order to accommodate the sleeper and provide good alignment. I also added arrows where I saw peaks and valleys of deflection in the bed layers, I think it’s very telling visually when you look at it as to why so many have problems in that area. Pay special attention to the two arrows in the middle and how close they are together versus the knees and shoulders. This is likely why if you are lighter and less curvy (smaller peaks and valleys) you can fit most beds somewhat comfortably while others may feel this to be terribly painful (yep, I’m in this group). The shoulder can also be a bad area simply due to the amount of deflection in the bed required there too so it’s important to have alot of give in the bed for that region if you are a side sleeper. Anyway I thought this would be helpful for others to see what you are trying to accomplish when building a DIY bed when nothing in the store seems to be working for you.
The setup I have now is close but it just needs that little extra design tweak to really make it a Goldilocks solution. I’ll have to do quite a bit of experimenting to see what solves the alignment best for me but in the meantime if anyone has more info or links on zoning theory/design/application for mattresses please post it up.
I have been working a bit more on the design and I wanted to do some ILD testing of my own at home to see if I can use that info to help select which materials (dunlop vs talalay) and firmness that I may want in each section. Obviously I want the simplest design possible that still gives me full support and comfort at the same time. In order to make any sense of this you also need to know how much weight is being carried in each part of the body. So to help with this I created a graph which helps to show visually how the weight is distributed in the average person (there may be some exceptions at the extremes of BMI). It was assumed the weight of both arms is carried in the shoulder zone as well. The percentages themselves came from the data tables here: https://exrx.net/Kinesiology/Segments
I find it very interesting that the weight distribution also follows the basic shape of the body (which makes sense) but interesting to actually see it validated. You can also see men and women have obvious differences in how they carry their weight which can affect how you design the zoning on the mattress, Next if you actually apply it to someone that’s a male around 250lbs (see below) you can see what sort of forces might be involved in each zone to support someone like that comfortably.
My ultimate goal is to see if I can translate this into a way to somewhat accurately guess what foam zone combinations will work best to solve my issue (hopefully saving money in the process). I’ll post more results when I do my foam ILD testing but I thought others might be interested to see this data as well.
