Thank you to all the feedback from everyone here helping me pick a Naturepedic Arcadia. It’s a split queen mattress with 6” coils and 3” of latex in the bottom compartment and then 3” of latex in the top compartment. I don’t notice this in the store, despite hours there, but I have tried flipping myself and the mattress every possible way and I definitely sink in a good 0.5”-1” on the side by the split because it’s not reinforced. I have the sensation it’s because the layers slide down past one another and all compress on their unreinforced edge, but it’s been hard to check. I think the coils unit slides down and then that means every other layer also sags that direction.
Is this just a design flaw on split mattresses I have to live with? Can I pack or otherwise assemble my way into minimizing this? Or if I’m seeing this much of a tilt on a new mattress, I may have a coil problem? I otherwise love the mattress but it’s really irritating a hip problem I have. I’m frustrated they split the coils on this model because there is only one firmness so it’s just for ease of shipping.
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They were willing to do one full-sized one, but I’m concerned the real problem is the split springs.
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Thanks, I have taken apart mine and troubleshot it extensively. I am a PhD engineer who runs a research lab.
The problem is not reproducible with a book and up to 30 pounds of weight on top. I see when I sit on top of an inside the compartments that I look clearly down an 1” near the inside edge. And after I unzip the compartments to get to the springs, it moves, so there’s nothing to photograph. I’m unwilling to cut a hole down into my setup for a camera to see if my catch hypothesis is true: there’s a compartment the first two layers are in that’s separate from the topper latex layer compartment, that also has padding on top of that, so cutting holes in both the inside containment fabric and the top would impact the structure.
If anyone has had a similar experience or could just tell me if this is an intrinsic design flaw that would be great. Or to suggest a specific test would be great. But vaguely suggesting I need to troubleshoot it more is not helpful: if I had found an obvious test to send the company, I would have sent it.
Hey CatAndGirl.
That doesn’t sound fun at all, and for a mattress of that price, you’d think it would be basically flawless.
Without having tested it myself, I can’t say for sure whether it’s a design issue or if you’re just more sensitive to non-reinforced split perimeter.
Here’s a stupid question, but can you flip the springs to put the reinforced edges butted up against each other, and the non-reinforced edges on the side/perimeter of the mattress?
I tried to dig around here in the forum and elsewhere on the internet and haven’t heard of this issue.
Does the store allow for exchanges/returns? Is there a sleep-trial?
The other (probably not awesome, but definitely do-able) option would be to buy a solid queen sized spring system for the bed elsewhere and toss the ones that are being problematic.
And, even though people hate when I ask this question, have you ruled out your mattress base as the issue already?
For example, does this sinking/tilting happen if the mattress is on the floor?
NikkiTMU
Thank you for all your ideas! I did a few experiments: it appears when I sleep on it, the coil packet on the non-reinforced edge sinks down and gets stuck relative to the packet next to it. I can’t tell if this is a problem with split mattresses overall or that if it’s packaged properly (well-fitting cover, coils and latex fitting in), everything bends together and there’s no separate movement of just one side that can get stuck. I had a trip right after I figured out how to measure this, so I haven’t been able to check the other side.
I don’t have space to try everything on the floor, but I have a solid foundation that has support even in the middle, so I don’t think it’s the foundation sagging. What are you thinking I’d learn if I flipped the reinforced side to the center? I could believe it could be helpful but want to make sure I’m looking for the right thing 
They don’t offer a trial on this one, sadly, so I am pretty frustrated. The cheaper ones they did offer a trial on, but they were taller and my headboard and nightstands weren’t tall enough for a 15” mattress. They did offer to replace the split coil packet I saw slipping, but when I suggested they just provide a single large packet to avoid the issue, I was told that would be $3300.
I’m cautiously optimistic they’ll be helpful about a solution. The service has been great so far and they’ve certainly been receptive to the idea this is a problem and not that I’m somehow extra sensitive (I don’t think I am?), so I am hoping if I can advocate there’s an issue, they’ll make it right.
To quantify this a bit more: if I sleep on it, get up, and then take the mattress apart, the coils on the side I slept on are still stuck down relative to the coils next to them by about 0.5”. That suggests they slip even more than that when I’m on it and then rebound up to there when I get off the mattress. It suggests I’m not imagining there’s a tilt toward the middle.