Too firm

Hi, I recently purchased an innerspring mattress that is very firm. To compensate, I then bought a 2" natural latex topper, a feather bed and a wool topper. This has made the top of the bed much more comfortable but there is still no real give from the mattress and I am at a loss as to what to do. I don’t really want to go buy a softer innersping mattress to replace the firm one but it may also be cheaper than buying a brand new high end bed. The one thing I know I cannot add is memory foam as I find it much too hot. Any help would be greatly appreciated… Brad in Vanvouver BC.

Hi Zercado,

It sounds like you may have added too many layers on top of your mattress at once which is interfering with the compression and “give” of the layers underneath them (either in the topper or in the top layers of your mattress) although if you are sleeping well on the combination and it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) then I’m not so sure I would make any additional changes or why you are looking for more “give” in your mattress. The upper layers of a sleeping system will always have the most give and every topper you add will be the layers that compress the most and they will reduce the amount of compression and give in the layers underneath them. If there is too much give in the layers underneath a topper (or toppers) then there would be a much greater risk of alignment issues.

Wool in particular can reduce the amount of “give” in the latex underneath it and can firm up a softer latex comfort layer or topper and reduce the amount it compresses and contours to the shape of your body underneath the topper (see posts #3 and #6 here and post #8 here and post #12 here).

The same would generally be true for a featherbed which is more for “feel” than pressure relief because it has little resilience (see post #2 here).

When you are looking to add additional softness and pressure relief to a mattress I would always make one incremental change at a time to see how it affects your sleeping system and your experience as a whole and then add additional layers or toppers based on your experience with the previous changes and what you are looking to change.

I don’t know the type or firmness of the latex topper you added or the specifics of your mattress but if you are looking for more pressure relief then I would try sleeping on just the latex topper to see how it works for you by itself and then add the additional toppers one at a time to see how they affect and change the feel of the mattress with the latex topper on it. You may need either a slightly thicker or a slightly softer latex topper without so many additional layers on top of it if you want more “give” in your sleeping system.

Post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to may also be helpful.

Phoenix

Thank you very much for your advice. The reason I want more give is that I have been travelling a lot and I sleep better on softer mattresses. I will follow your advice and try one thing at a time. I did buy the featherbed after trying the latex for awhile but I always have used the wool topper.

Hi Zercado,

If you are only looking for more softness and pressure relief (rather than the “feel” of the wool topper and featherbed) then it may be worth considering removing the fiber layers (the wool and the featherbed) or perhaps just one of them and then using a latex topper that is thick and soft enough to provide the softness, pressure relief, and “give” you are looking for.

Phoenix

Thanks again Phoenix! I can’t beleive how much difference there is in just removing the wool cover! It really restricts the latex from doing it’s job.