I recently bought a 9" brooklyn bedding latex matress, medium firmness. I have had it about 2 months now and I hate it! I have been tossing and turning all night, have lower back pain that I didnt have before, and shoulder pain that may be related. I think it is too firm an therefore not letting my hip bone “sink in” to the bed, instead it is throwing my spine out of alignment. Honestly I was much hapier with my 10 year old pillow top spring matress that I replace with this. The brooklyn bedding sales person told me to exchange the bottom layer for a softer one and put my current top layer on the bottom.
I dont really understand how putting the current top layer on the bottom is going to work, but anyway, has anyone had any luck with this? I think it is going to cost my some oney to do the exchange and I am so discouraged right now I really dont want to throw any more money at this matress, I kind of just want it gone, but if people think this really might work I guess I would give it a go.
Hi chicagorob,
One of the advantages of a component mattress with a zip cover is that it allows you to rearrange and change the layers so that you can change or fine tune the firmness of the mattress after a purchase. Each different combination of layers is basically a different mattress with a different response and firmness levels and just like when you try different mattresses in a store … some combinations will be a good match for some people and other combinations will be a better match for others depending on their body type, sleeping positions, and personal preferences.
The deeper layers are generally more for support/alignment and the upper layers are more for pressure relief and based on your description it sounds like your phone call with them led them to believe that you would benefit from both a softer support layer (on the bottom) and a softer comfort layer (on the top).
If your original mattress for example used a firm layer on the bottom and a medium layer on the top then by putting the medium on the bottom you would have a softer support layer and then by exchanging the firm layer that was on the bottom for a soft layer and putting it on top of the medium you would have a softer comfort layer as well. This would result in a significantly softer mattress that was several steps softer than your original choice.
There are many people that have benefited from the ability to make changes to their mattress and switched from a layering combination that wasn’t working for them to a layering combination that was a much more suitable match in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences). Having the flexibility to make these types of changes is one of the main reasons that people purchase a component mattress. There are many people who make the most suitable choice with their first combination but there are also others that need to exchange or rearrange their layers before they end up with the layering combination that works best for them.
When they send you a new layer you will have three layers that will give you the option to try several combinations and then when you have decided on the best combination for you based on your actual experience you can send back the one that you don’t need. Using the example above as an illustration … if your current layers are a firm support layer and a medium comfort layer and they send you a soft layer then that would give you the chance to try either a medium support layer with a soft comfort layer on top or a firm support layer with a soft comfort layer on top.
Not everyone chooses their best combination the first time.
Phoenix
Well, after chatting with the sales guy again, I opted to simply return the matress. It was going to cost me $75 to try a new layer, and if that didnt work, it would still cost me another $100 to return the mattress. I opted to only pay once, so I am paying $100 to return the matress.
No I have the issue of needing to buy a mattress. I haven’t had a good nights sleep in a while now. I am considering buying a casper, as returns are free if I don’t like it, or maybe I should just go to a store and buy an old school spring mattress (which I had before this and it basically worked for me). To be honest I am pretty grouchy about the whole thing, I am now going to be out an extra $100, and havent had a good nights sleep in a while, i would have been better off not buying a new mattress at all so far as I can see.
Anyoway, thanks for the input, unfortunately I cant justify throwing more money at this mattress when I am so unhappy with it. Trying to minimize my losses at this point.
Hi chicagorob,
I’m not so sure that I would have taken the same approach since you lose some of the main benefits of choosing a component mattress in the first place where you can use your bedroom as a testing ground instead of having to go to a showroom to try different mattresses and different firmness levels but of course these types of choices are always up to each person and what they believe is best for them.
Now that you are starting over again … the first place I would start (if you haven’t read it already) is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
You certainly have more options that just these two (the Casper or an innerspring mattress) either online or locally and there are also many hundreds of innerspring mattresses that are very different from each other that may use different types of springs and have different types of comfort layers with different firmness levels as well so even if this is the type of mattress that you tend to prefer it would still be important to make sure that you do some careful testing to choose the one that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP and to check and make sure that it also uses good quality materials so that it doesn’t end up softening or breaking down much too quickly.
There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here.
The Casper mattress is an “all or nothing” choice and with companies that only offer a single mattress it would be the “best” choice for a relatively small percentage of the population, a “good” choice for a slightly larger percentage, and an “OK” choice for a larger percentage yet so it depends on whether you are confident that it’s “the best” or a “good” or an “OK” choice for you compared to any other mattresses you are considering. Of course if it’s not a “good enough” choice for you then they have a great return policy so you can just return it and begin your search over again. A forum search on Casper (you can just click this) will bring up more information and feedback about them as well.
If you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.
Phoenix
Thanks again for the input.
You may be right that I am not really taking advantage of the modular layer component of my mattress by simply returning it, it’s just that am so dissatisfied, and haven’t had good rest in a while, I can’t stand the thought of paying to try to change the layers out, and then possibly paying again to return the whole thing if it doesn’t work.
I live in Chicago, 60657 . Again, maybe I am just negitive, but Going without sleep after spending real money on a matress has made me not even want to deal with it. It seems better to pay $100 once to get rid of this mattress, than the possibility of $175 to send it back after trying different layers.
Hi chicagorob,
I understand … and these types of decisions are all part of each person’s personal value equation. A mattress like the one you purchased would be significantly less costly than a similar quality mattress that was made by a mainstream manufacturer so if you spent an additional $75 for a layer exchange and ended up with a combination that was a good match for you then you would still be saving hundreds of dollars compared to a similar quality mattress that you could buy from a chain store or mainstream retailer but of course these are all part of the tradeoffs that are involved with any mattress purchase.
The better options or possibilities that I’m aware of in the Chicago area are listed in posts #2 and #4 here. If I was in your area I would make sure to include Quality Sleep Shop / My Green Mattress in your research. They have a wide range of options and different types of mattresses to choose from that are all good quality/value choices.
Phoenix