When we purchased the mattress, Chuck asked us what firmness and I told him that we were side and back sleepers, I’m 220 lbs and my wife is 180 lbs, and that our prior mattress was a Spring Air back supporter with a Novaform gel topper from Costco. He recommended a #6 and so we went with that.
After setting up the bed and sleeping in it, we love the bed but felt it was too firm and that we weren’t as comfortable as we’d like while sleeping on our sides (which is probably more than on our backs). We stuck it out for a week and still feel its too firm and uncomfortable so, last night, we put the Novaform gel topper back on and were both more comfortable.
We want to get a latex topper because we want something that’s more natural and also because we never loved the way its so hard to move around in bed with the gel topper.
We’ve narrowed our options to these:
3 Inch 100% Natural Latex Foam Mattress Pad Topper - Medium Soft - This is dunlop latex and we like the price and reviews of this one, but I haven’t seen much on this manufacturer here other than the ILD (16-18) for 4.7pcf may not be accurate. My wife is nervous that we’ll make the same mistake as the bed and get something too firm, but I’m also worried about getting something too soft.
3 Inch All Natural Talalay Latex Mattress Topper - This one is tempting, but its $100 more than the first one on Amazon. The ILD of this one is 19 or 28 depending on our choice and I know this company is well respected on this board.
Any recommendations between these three toppers based on our current bed and our weight? I know there is a lot of subjectivity in what I’m asking, but would appreciate any honest opinions or recommendations.
I would probably give it a little more than a week to allow the mattress to break in and to go through the adjustment period that is involved with any new mattress before adding a topper. There are also some suggestions in post #2 here that may be helpful if a new mattress is too firm.
If you do decide on a topper then post #2 here and the post it links to may be helpful in terms of choosing the thickness and softness of the topper and it also links to a list of some of the better sources I’m aware of.
Since you’ve dealt with them already … both Dreamfoam and Brooklyn Bedding (their sister company) sell blended Talalay toppers as well. Brooklyn Bedding also has an exchange option which may be important to you in case you choose a firmness level that turns out to be softer or firmer than you’d hoped.
I’m not sure if you prefer the “feel” of Talalay or Dunlop or whether you’ve tried both of them but there is more in post #7 here about the differences between them although the best way to know which one you prefer is with your own testing or experience.
The first topper you listed is 100% natural Dunlop and if it’s 4.7 lbs density then it’s probably firmer than the 16 - 18 ILD that they list (see post #2 here as a reference for Latex Green density and ILD ranges).
The second one you listed is 100% natural Talalay and the ILD’s would be inside an accurate range (ILD isn’t exact with 100% natural latex).
The third one you listed is also 100% natural Talalay and the ILD’s would also likely be inside an accurate range.
When you are uncertain about the thickness or the ILD of a topper then it may be important to know the exchange or return policy in case your actual experience doesn’t match “theory” or “averages”.
First of all, thank you so much for the fast response and for all your help!
How long would you recommend? Also, should we take the gel topper back off to get a more accurate break-in and feel for the mattress? We do not really want to use the gel topper long term.
I would have loved going with them, but we would prefer a 100% natural Talalay or Dunlop topper and didn’t see any such offerings from either Dreamfoam or Brooklyn Bedding.
Ok, thanks! Do you have any strong opinions of Ultimate Sleep as to the quality of their products.
One last question…would an ILD of 19 be too soft for a 3" natural talalay or dunlop topper? Not so much in terms of comfort level because I know that is very subjective and dependent on a lot of things. I just want to make sure I’m not going to sink right through it to the bed below and not get enough pressure point relief when sleeping on my side.
I would suggest 30 days or so when possible and I would remove the topper as well (again if possible) because it can slow down the process.
They may have 100% natural Dunlop available so it may be worth calling to find out for sure.
I would also be aware that 100% natural Talalay will be more costly than blended talalay (and perhaps feel a little firmer as well in the same ILD) and may not have any significant performance advantages (although it’s a great material).
They are owned by Andrews Marketing Partners and have been in business for about 10 years. I would look at them on a “product by product” basis and then compare them to any other options you have available for a similar product. I don’t have strong feelings about them one way or the other. There are many other options available as well for 100% natural Dunlop toppers and some of them may be less costly (see here for an example) but both of these would probably feel firmer than “soft” talalay. Sleepwarehouse’s return policy has a 15% restocking fee and you pay for return shipping but there are also many others that don’t allow returns at all on toppers.
ADDED: for some reason I was discussing Sleepwarehouse in the last paragraph but the question was about Ultimate Sleep (who are also ahhmemoryfoam and ultimatecomfortonsale). They have been in business for over 15 years and when I’ve talked with absolutecomfort on sale they have always been helpful and informative about their products. A forum search on ultimatesleep or on absolutecomfort (you can just click the links) will bring up more information and feedback about them.
There are too many variables, unknowns, and personal preferences to be able to predict this on an individual basis based on “theory at a distance”. I would also keep in mind that both 100% natural Dunlop and 100% natural Talalay come in a range of ILD’s not a specific ILD (see post #6 here). Once the time comes to decide if you need a topper the best way I know would be to use the topper guidelines which are based on your subjective assessment of your mattress in combination with your body type because the same topper will feel different on different mattresses and for different people.
Just wanted to provide an update on our mattress…
We took off our existing gel topper to allow the mattress to break in properly, as suggested. It took about 2 months, but we were very pleasantly surprised to find that, after breaking in, the mattress is a perfect match for us. It has softened considerably and we no longer feel any need at all to buy another topper (or use our old gel topper).
The mattress has just the right amount of top softness so that our hips are not sore from side sleeping, but yet firm enough that I can sleep on my back or stomach very comfortably.
We’re very pleased with our purchase and with Chuck’s recommendation of a #6. Also very thankful for the help found on this forum and especially from Phoenix. Thanks! :cheer:
