The princess & the pea

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi Phoenix!

I’m considering getting a new mattress because the current one I own, even though it’s already organic, is too firm and uncomfortable. It is a Greensleep innerspring mattress with a latex top. If I get a new mattress now, this will be my 4th mattress in 7 years. Prior to my Greensleep mattress, I had purchased a Savvy Rest latex mattress that absolutely did not work for me. I slept on it for about two years and was in pain for most of that time. Even with exchanging layers I just could not get the right support. It literally felt like I was sleeping on a rock even though I had soft layers on top. I’ve been since told that feeling may have been due to the type of material that the mattress cover was made out of, a cotton canvas that doesn’t have much give. There was also a lot of pushback from that mattress, it felt like the latex was resisting me and was trying to push me out, if that makes sense. I also have since wondered if I was bottoming out the soft layer and compacting it down so that it felt hard.

I have chemical sensitivities and so need a mattress that is natural and low to no odor. To give you an honest picture of me, I am out of shape, 5’5" and about 190 lbs. I sleep mostly on my side. Because my current mattress is so firm, it creates pressure points on my hips and shoulders causing me to toss and turn a lot. I actually even recently tried a DIY kit to make a buckwheat hull mattress and ended up having an allergic reaction to it-- so now I’m stuck with 210 lbs of buckwheat hulls and out $900. (This kind of blows my mind because I have slept on a buckwheat hull pillow for years and never had a problem. But I think this is the wrong forum for allergies! :stuck_out_tongue: )

I am now back to my Greensleep mattress and on a budget. :-S I’m at my wit’s end and would appreciate any feedback you can give for a mattress. I’m thinking of going again with an all latex mattress and would like ideas for configuration. Anytime I’ve gotten a memory foam product that is supposed to be as eco-friendly as possible and not off gas-- they always smell to me and need to be aired out for a good while before I can use them. So I would prefer to avoid a foam product.

I’ve read a lot of the forum posts and have read the mattress shopping tutorial but I still feel at a loss for a configuration to start with. I realize each individual is different and that mattresses should be tried out in person. But just the same, any suggestions you have are appreciated. Thank you for the forum and for your help!

2

Hi LookingForACloud,

There is more information in post #2 here and the more detailed posts and information it links to about safe, natural, organic, “chemical free”, and “green” mattresses and mattress materials that can help you sort through some of the marketing information and terminology that you will encounter in the industry and can help you differentiate between them and answer “how natural is natural enough for me” or “how safe is safe enough for me” so you can make more “fact based” choices on the types of materials you are most comfortable having in your mattress. These types of issues can be complex and are generally specific to each person and their individual sensitivities, circumstances, criteria, beliefs, and lifestyle choices.

[quote]I am now back to my Greensleep mattress and on a budget. :-S I’m at my wit’s end and would appreciate any feedback you can give for a mattress. I’m thinking of going again with an all latex mattress and would like ideas for configuration. Anytime I’ve gotten a memory foam product that is supposed to be as eco-friendly as possible and not off gas-- they always smell to me and need to be aired out for a good while before I can use them. So I would prefer to avoid a foam product.

I’ve read a lot of the forum posts and have read the mattress shopping tutorial but I still feel at a loss for a configuration to start with. I realize each individual is different and that mattresses should be tried out in person. But just the same, any suggestions you have are appreciated. Thank you for the forum and for your help! [/quote]

I don’t make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or materials because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

I can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer any specific questions you may have along the way that I am able to help with, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress is the best match for you based on your own careful testing or personal experience and on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

There is also more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP in post #2 here that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for once you actually sleep on your mattress.

I would be cautious about choosing another latex mattress if your experience indicates that you aren’t comfortable with the “feel” or resilience of latex (what you are calling “pushback”) unless you are confident that it would be a good “match” for you in terms of PPP or it has a good return policy.

Since you already have a very high quality mattress, if the only issue is that you need some additional softness and pressure relief then it may also be worth considering a softer topper instead of buying a whole new mattress.

If you do decide to go in this direction then there is also more information about how to choose a topper in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to that can help you use your sleeping experience as a reference point and guideline to help you choose the type, thickness, and firmness for a topper that has the least possible risk and the best chance for success. It also includes a link to a list of some of the better online sources for toppers I’m aware of 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

3

Hi Phoenix,

Thank you for your reply. I guess maybe my first post was a little bit misleading for what I’m looking for… I don’t necessarily want a recommendation for a specific mattress. I was more looking for some help or tips troubleshooting why my first latex mattress didn’t work and what direction I can go in to prevent that from happening again. Perhaps even as you said, latex may not be the best option for me. But then, how do you get a support layer that provides support but also has give and doesn’t feel like a slab of cement? I’m kind of feeling at the moment that all the natural and organic mattresses are made to feel like rocks. :frowning: I don’t know why I can sleep at a hotel and be fine, but to find something in that medium firmness equivalent in an organic or natural mattress feels so hard. I recently slept on a granite slab bed at a friend’s house in Korea, they sleep on them for health, and I swear sometimes that’s what the natural bed industry feels like here to me sometimes. :stuck_out_tongue:

I do see the value in going to a mattress store and trying the mattresses. However as you know, what you feel in that short time is significantly different from what you feel after a whole night or even after many nights in a row compounded together. I have been thinking of assembling my own mattress together just so I can put the components that are comfortable to me together in one mattress. I’ve even thought of the possibility of adding a thicker latex layer (4 or 6") to my existing mattess to allow it to have a bit more give. I’m more of an online shopper because I usually live a distance away from most places and I find it easier to price compare. But my zip code is 93510 if there happen to be any reputable suppliers nearby.

Some of the posts you linked for cleaner green mattresses I’ve already read. But I will also check out the other posts you have linked as well. Thanks for taking a look at my post and providing the links!

4

Hi Lookingforacloud,

There is more detailed information about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here.

There is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.

These posts are the “tools” that can help with the analysis, detective work, or trial and error that may be necessary to help you learn your body’s language and “translate” what your body is trying to tell you when you sleep on a mattress so you can make the types of changes or additions to your mattress that have the best chance of reducing or eliminating any “symptoms” you are experiencing.

I would need need more detailed information about how your experience and symptoms changed with each incremental layering combination you tried with your component mattress to be able to guess at the type of changes that may be a better “match” for you in terms of PPP but it’s possible that the top layer was too firm for you (although that’s less likely if you were sleeping on a soft Talalay layer) or that the cover was affecting the contouring of the latex underneath it more than you would prefer (which you could have tested by unzipping and removing the top of the cover for a few nights and sleeping directly on the latex with just your protector and sheets on top of it) or that you just aren’t comfortable with the “feel” and resilience of latex.

It’s possible that a different latex mattress design (other than a 3 x 3 combination) or softer latex in the top layer or a different more stretchy cover (see post #12 here about quilted covers vs more stretchy non quilted covers) would work better for you and it’s possible that a softer latex topper would also have helped but there are so many variables involved that there is no way for me to know the type of changes that may have helped you and the only way to know for certain would be based on your own careful testing or personal experience.

It’s unlikely that if the Savvy Rest you tried didn’t work out for you that another similar mattress with a similar design and cover would work well for you either so if you did try again with a component latex mattress I would make sure you are comfortable with the return policy just in case.

The better options or possibilities I’m aware of that are reasonably close to you (subject to the quality/value guidelines here) would be in the list for the greater Los Angeles region here or in the list for the Hesperia/Rancho Cucamonga/San Bernardino areas here. These would give you a chance to test some different types of latex or latex hybrid mattresses to see if you feel the same way about them as you did with your Savvy Rest.

I also took a look in the Acton/Palmdale area (from Santa Clarita to Lancaster) and based on their websites the better options or possibilities I’m aware of that are closer to you (subject to the same quality/value guidelines) and the manufacturers they carry that I would focus on include …

http://www.lunamattressstore.com/ Palmdale, CA. Stress-O-Pedic, Spinal Care, Therapedic.

http://www.sitnsleep.com/ Palmdale, CA. Sherwood, Dormeo.

http://www.selecthf.com/ Palmdale, CA. Diamond Mattress

http://avfurniturenmattress.webs.com/ Palmdale, Lancaster, Rosamond CA. Diamond Mattress

http://avmattresswarehouse.com/ Lancaster, CA. Maxim

http://avfurniturenmattress.webs.com/ Santa Clarita, CA. Natura, Coco-Mat, Carpe Diem, Hastens. These are in more premium budget ranges.

http://www.consumersfurniture.com/ Santa Clarita, CA. Diamond Mattress, Stress-O-Pedic.

http://www.aroyalsuite.com/ Santa Clarita, CA. Diamond Mattress

I don’t know the specifics of the mattresses they carry on their floors so I would call them to see if any of them carry any mattresses that fit your criteria that you would be interested in testing and to make sure that they will provide you with the information you need to make an informed choice (see this article).

Phoenix