The start of our search for mattress comfort....

[phoenix]

Hi rockscreation16,

There are several guidelines I would follow before buying any memory foam mattress to make sure you avoid the worst choices.

1. Never buy a mattress that includes memory foam without knowing whether the foam has been certified by CertiPur, Oeko-Tex or a reputable testing agency for both chemicals and offgassing. The minimum alternative is to make sure that you can verify that it is North American made. If the outlet you are looking at doesn’t include this information and/or won’t give it to you with a phone call (or if this information isn’t publicly available) … pass them by. There are too many who do to spend any time here.

2. Never buy a mattress that includes memory foam without knowing the density and layering of the memory foam layers. Density is a main indicator of the quality and durability of memory foam and will also affect the feel and response (although the memory foam chemical formula will play an even bigger role in how it feels and responds as you can see in post #9 here). The thickness and layering of the memory foam is a key part of how suitable a certain memory foam mattress may be for your weight, body shape, and sleeping positions. If the outlet you are looking at doesn’t include this information and/or won’t give it to you with a phone call (or if this information isn’t publicly available) … pass them by. There are too many who do to spend any time here.

3. Never buy a mattress that includes memory foam without knowing the type and quality of the support layers underneath it (either an innerspring, polyfoam, or latex foam). The support layers play a key role in how well a mattress will keep you in alignment and in the feel, performance, quality, durability, and value of a mattress that uses memory foam in the comfort layers. It is just as important as the memory foam itself. If the outlet you are looking at doesn’t include this information and/or won’t give it to you with a phone call (or if this information isn’t publicly available) … pass them by. There are too many who do to spend any time here.

4. Use the least amount of memory foam that is suitable for the pressure relief you need and never buy any memory foam which is under 4 lbs. There are too many good options that use 4 lb or higher even in the lower budget ranges to use the lowest grades of memory foams under 4 lbs density. Even 4 lb is “mid range” in terms of durability and the best quality memory foams are usually 5 lbs and up but in some cases thinner layers of 4 lb foam are often used in combination with higher density memory foams to create a more responsive (faster reacting) layer against the body or dfferent “feels” in a mattress. They are also used in lower budget mattresses where the use of 5 lb foams would increase the price of the mattress beyond the targeted price range. It can also be a good idea for those over 200 lbs to reduce the amount of 4 lb memory foam in the top layer or limit their choices to 5 lb density and higher.

The Lucid possibly fails on #1 (where is the foam made and is it certified), and #3 (what is the density of the support layer), and certainly fails on #4 (includes 3 lb memory foam). Even if #1 and #3 can be confirmed to be OK with a phone call, #4 by itself is enough for me to exclude considering it.

I would definitely pass it by.

Considering that I like the soft feel I get from memory foam, what firmness level do you think would be preferable in the ultimate dreams latex comfort layer? Through trying out different latex and memory foam beds in the last few days, I feel that I’ve determined my firmness preference to be soft. That also depends on the bed though. As long is there is a decent core that will push on my lumbar well, very soft comfort layers are fine with me. The only thing I want to avoid is feeling like I’m being folded up. That’s the feeling I get from some older memory foam mattresses and when I’ve put cheap and thick memory foam toppers on my crappy spring mattresses.

The softest talalay latex is 14 ILD and this is closest to the average ILD of most memory foams but this can also be very misleading because memory foam is a delayed response foam and feels much firmer until it becomes softer with body heat and the feel is very different. 14 ILD would normally be used only by very light people and even then the normal softness level for talalay latex is usually in the range of 19 - 24 ILD with a few people going softer and a few going firmer. Weight also plays a big role in how soft a particular ILD will feel. In your case … I’d probably play it safe and go with 19 ILD and with the extra quilting foam on top you would also likely be OK with 24. A little firmer than the softest ILD would also be better for her stomach sleeping but not so firm that it interferes with pressure relief on her side. You are heavier so firmer foam will feel softer to you.

It would be a great help for you to test the Pure Latex Bliss mattresses which mostly use 19 ILD on top in different thicknesses for different models and the 2" and 3" topper they offer is 14 ILD. It would give you a great chance to see what the different ILD’s feel like.

Phoenix