Hi folks,
As I said I would in a few prior posts, this is my review about the Sleeptek Classic 2000 topper.
http://www.tmasc.ca/wooltoppers/sleeptek-classic-2000-wool-topper.html
Key features of the sleeptek classic 2000:
- organic, 3" of wool, organic cover
- wool is not merino wool, but instead Corriedale (http://sleeptek.ca/raw-materials). This is supposed to be important since Corriedale is less straight, and each wool fiber more course and zig-zaggy, and therefore less likely to compress and more suitable for sleeping on.
- if you want wool, this would be among the premium options available… I didn’t bother reviewing workmanship/ quality. It’s fantastic and in line with what you’d expect for a premium item.
Sleeptek (http://sleeptek.ca) is also known as or makes:
Sueno at The Natural Sleep Store (http://thenaturalsleepstore.com/sleeptek.html)
The Clean Bedroom ‘Naturally Organic’ brand (http://www.thecleanbedroom.com/Organic_Mattresses/organic_mattresses_and_toppers.html)
A little about the testing… I am a male version of princess and pea type. My existing mattress is a Green Sleep Vicence, which is 9" of Dunlop latex surrounded in a mattress case with wool and cotton. I have 3 layers of latex, each 3", from bottom to top firm/soft/soft. I tend to buy my bedding from TMASC (tmasc.ca) who recently became a member here. I have nothing but excellent things to say of tmasc. I tend to buy in the more premium end of the scale.
My mattress is 95% tuned for me. I’m a perfectionist shooting for that last 5% perfection. I don’t seem to have any alignment issues with my current mattress, and it’s amazingly comfortable. I have suitable pillows, and other good beddings. Prior to the green sleep latex mattress, I had cronic back and neck pain… I’ve done remarkably well at significantly reducing this. I generally sleep on my side, and am 185 lbs or so, 5’9".
What I was trying to accomplish:
-
When laying on my back, my mattress feels amazing. In fact, I also have an identical but slightly firmer mattress (firm/medium/soft), and when laying on my back it feels even better! I lay on my back reading my iPad and what not for a fair while before deciding to sleep. Unfortunately, when side sleeping which is how I actually sleep, there is a touch more pressure in my shoulders and hips than I’d prefer. On the firmer mattress side sleeping was just painful. So my primary goal was to have less pressure on my shoulders and hips. I knew this might mean a trade off and it could make laying on my back feel less good, but given my sleep style I was ok with this.
-
Experiment with a more ‘cloud like’ feeling. I call it a but more fluff, vs latex which sort of pushes back. Either way, I wanted to experiment and satisfy my own curiousity about how a different material would feel, and wool for me has the perception of being cloud like.
-
Maintain temperature and / or warm up my bed. I sleep super hot. And when I first purchased my bedding, I did everything to sleep cooler. I have a wool duvet, brushed-twill cotton cover. Linen fitted sheet, no flat sheet. Organic wool jersey knit mattress protector. Green sleep 100% natural latex, with wool quilted into cover. And built so I sleep on the mattress, not in it, which helps with heat immensely. Plus, I have air conditioning and keep the house cold at night. Comically, given how hot I normally sleep, I’ve had several nights of being too cold. For the first time ever, at times, I added a second duvet (absolutely unheard of for me). This isn’t a significant problem for me, since it’s way easier to sleep warmer. However, I hoped adding 3" of wool might cause me to sleep a bit warmer.
-
Maintain alignment.
–
Outcomes so far using for about a week (preliminary since it takes a while for wool to compact to your shape, and any mattress changes take a while for your body to adjust):
- I was successful, and not, in providing additional pressure relief. My shoulders feel less pressure, which is good. By my hips ache more due to more pressure, which is less good. This is the interesting paradox Phoenix has spoke to about various layers. The wool itself is soft and pressure relieving, but as it relates to the soft latex below it, it basically firms it up a bit. My rational being it adds additional surface area around me, and therefore there is more surface that needs to be depressed into the foam, which causes it to behave as firmer. It’s not serious pain, and it’s entirely possible what I feel will go away as the wool adjusts as do I, so I’m considering this preliminary. But, if it doesn’t correct, it would mean this topper, by itself, fails to achieve that last 5%. (It might be solvable by an even softer layer of latex under it to account for the greater surface area effect). This also goes to show the art of mattress making - each layer interacts wih both the layers above, and below.
Update since initial post: the aches in hips seem to be subsiding, no doubt as I make natural subtle adjustments in sleeping on it, similar to when you adjust to a new mattress.
-
I would say that wool has a more cloud like feeling. I’ve tried to reserve judgement on this for a week, since wool compacts. I definitely feel it more cloud like when sleeping laying on my back: it’s different than latex, and nice. I’m not sure which I prefer, and likely it would vary. When on my side, it fills in the lighter parts of me better, but unfortunately the cloud like feeling is much less noticeable when on my side. There’s just less surface area on side vs back, and a more variable surface with shoulders and hips. It might be more cloud like if I didn’t ache from my hips, which kind of ruins any other feeling.
-
It did warm up my bed, but didn’t overhead at all. It’s very nice.
-
My alignment doesn’t seem negatively impacted. Back and side I’ve felt no change. Stomach is still doable, but there’s been an ever so slight worsening of alignment. I don’t really rest on stomach so that’s a non issue.
–
Other thoughts and notes. Flat latex is very flat, and there is a simple elegance to that. Wool causes your bed to be all lumpy, (though no lumps, clumps, or irregularities you can feel), not in a bad way, but as it forms a cradle around your body shape. So too is the feel… Latex is essentially uniform across the surface of the bed, whereas wool naturally forms this cradle. I’m torn which I prefer, which probably means sometimes I’d prefer one, other times I’d prefer the other. I’d say wool has a more sophisticated feel, and latex more simple. I trust you could avoid the compression in wool by shaking it out regularly.
–
As I said, this is only on it for about a week, so preliminary. I’ll post more if/as my review changes.
–
Conclusion. This is an amazing product. Definitely a premium quality wool topper. I’d recommend it for a number of circumstances- from those looking to feel, temperature regulation, or some softness. That said, for the perfectionist in me, I didn’t get that last 5% of male-princess-and-pea perfection. Amazing product, and while it added some things I wanted, it also had some consequences i didn’t want. I’m still sleeping on this and plan to for the foreseeable future to see if/how it changes. Apparently Green Sleep is testing and might release an ultra soft latex, which I’m super interested in trying next (both with and without this wool topper).
I’m also mindful that I’d like a month to pass to let my body adjust too. The fact I’m still using the wool, being such a perfectionist, is a testament to the amazing quality and comfort of the product. 