SleepEZ latex one month mattress review

[phoenix]

Hi SleepDeprived,

Thanks for taking the time to share such thoughtful, detailed, and insightful feedback … I appreciate it.

It’s great to see you ended up with your “perfect combination”.

Your comments go right to the heart of different preferences between those who prefer sleeping directly on latex with a thin stretch knit cover to allow the maximum feel of the latex to come through and those who prefer a quilted cover or a thin layer of additional material over the latex to “modify” the surface feel, resilience, and sensations of sleeping directly on the latex. Some people have a strong preference for one and others have just as strong a preference for the other.

Memory foam is a great material to use in a thin layer or a quilting layer for those who want to absorb all the surface sensations because it has a very high hysteresis which means it absorbs energy or vibrations better than any other material. Other options that can perform a similar function (although to a lesser degree) are a quilting layer of fiber (often wool with latex mattresses) or polyfoam or a thin topper or mattress pad on top of the mattress. A quilting layer or a thin layer of material on the top surface of a sleeping system can make a big difference in how the mattress feels. As your own experience indicates the key with this is to use a thin layer so that it doesn’t affect alignment.

I would like to find a really dense memory foam topper big enough for our whole mattress in a 1" thickness now, but cannot find one anywhere. I have read about one called Venus that used to be available but apparently no longer is? I’m wondering if you have any recommendations of another one to try? I really do not want anything much thicker.

While any memory foam layer will have a high hysteresis … higher density memory foam will tend to be slower responding and absorb energy or “surface sensations” more effectively. 1" toppers in higher density memory foam are quite difficult to find but you may want to give Rocky Mountain Mattress a call. They sell Venus memory foam in 2" layers and may be able to supply it in 1" layers on request. There are also other 7 and 8 lb memory foams on the market and some of the sources in post #4 here may be helpful but it’s difficult to find higher density memory foam in 1" layers (usually 2" is the thinnest) so it may take some phone calls.

Oh, it is also different to get used to a thinner mattress, which makes for a lower bed. We are thinking about what to put under the mattress to bring the height up a few inches (we’re on a solid plywood foundation). Any suggestions?

As nej mentioned … it’s a good idea to have good ventilation under your mattress unless there is compelling reason to choose otherwise (see post #10 here). There are low profile foundations that are in the range of about 5" that would be an option and you can also use a bunkie board which is in the range of about 2" thick (see post #4 here) but in both cases it’s a good idea to make sure it has a slatted surface where the gaps between the slats are no more than 3". You could also use one or more bed rugs (they are each 1" thick) which would also add good ventilation under your mattress or a layer of ultra firm polyfoam or better yet reticulated or fast dri foam which would also be more breathable than a solid surface and would add some thickness as well.

Phoenix