Wondering if you might have any advice for me on the pros and cons of a topper vs a new mattress?
I’m 6’2", 165 lb, BMI 22. I bought my current, queen size mattress in 2002. It is a Restonic, two-side, extra firm, innerspring mattress. At the time I bought it, I was a stomach sleeper, it was the firmest mattress in the store, and I loved that about it. However, these days I prefer to sleep on my side and this mattress puts more pressure on my hips than I would like. I’m starting to think a more conforming mattress would be more to my liking.
A few months ago I stayed in an Airbnb for five nights that had a Casper mattress. I liked the way that mattress conformed to my side as I slept. So now I’m considering getting a Casper or something with similar characteristics.
Alternatively, I’m thinking of just investing in a nice topper for my Restonic. It seems like the comfort layer on most mattresses in only around 3". So maybe a high quality, 3" latex or memory foam topper would provide the benefits I’m looking for at 10% of the cost of a whole new mattress.
On the other hand, I wonder if it is shortsighted to invest in a topper for a 14-year-old mattress. I’ve read numerous sources say that innerspring mattresses only last around 10 years. But my 14-year-old Restonic still seems in fine shape to me. There are no body impressions and no sagging. I feel like it gives me great support. Excessive firmness is the only shortcoming in my view.
Placing a topper upon an existing mattress that is too firm can certainly be an affordable, and often a most appropriate, method to increasing your sleeping comfort.
With your mattress being 14 years old, you’re certainly in the “bonus time” of the life of that product. The key thing is to make sure that the support system is still intact and that the foams are still performing to a level that you deem “suitable”. A mattress that is firm, but where the foams are sagging, will end up being a softer sagging mattress if a topper is placed upon the product. This is one of the most common mistakes that people make – believing that a topper will cure the ills of foams that are showing deep body impressions. This doesn’t seem to the case in your situation.
The Casper has a combination of 1.5" of synthetic Dunlop latex over 1.5" of 4 lb memory foam over 1.5" of 2.5 lb high performance polyfoam over a 5" 1.8 lb polyfoam support core, so it is of course a softer and different construction from your Restonic, which is an innerspring unit that is extra firm. Placing a topper on top of your existing Restonic mattress won’t recreate the feel of the Casper mattress you tried, but you’d certainly be moving in a more plush direction.
In general, a range of 3" to 6" is quite common for the upholstery and quilt foam layers in a modern one-sided mattress. In a poly core mattress, 3"-4" is more common above the polyfoam core, although there are products that use more or less. If you’re considering using latex, 2" -3" for a topper is common, with 3"-4" for memory foam also being common. Of course it all comes down to your personal preference. Since latex and memory foam are the most popular topper materials there is more about the pros and cons of each of them in post #2 here .
The three ways to get the most accurate possible idea of how a particular material will feel and perform … in order of importance … are to test it in person on the mattress you will be using it on (or a very similar mattress), to have more detailed conversations with knowledgeable people who make or sell that specific material and are familiar with how it compares with other materials in terms of either feel or performance, and finally online research that can give you some insights as well. Just bear in mind that a great deal of the online information is also inaccurate or misleading and only “disguised” as being neutral or factual and meant more for marketing and selling something that a particular retailer sells than it is to actually educate and inform based on fact. Different people may also have very different perceptions and preferences than someone else and what is “perfect” for one person may not be suitable at all for the next.
If you are using a local retailer for a topper purchase, attempt to find a very firm mattress in their showroom to approximate what you currently have at home and then test the various toppers upon that product. If you are choosing a topper that is different in some way from what you are familiar with or where you are unsure of how the mattress/topper combination will work for you because one or the other are more of an unknown, because of unfamiliarity with either, or because the mattress itself has changed since a combination worked well for you … then there are some TOPPER GUIDELINES IN POST #8 HERE that you can use along with your own experience on your mattress to choose the thickness and softness that has the best odds of working well for you.
Some of the BETTER SOURCES FOR TOPPERS I’M AWARE OF ARE LISTED IN POST #4 HERE . If you are uncertain it would also be a good idea to check for any exchange or return policies, just in case the topper you choose is firmer or softer than you would like.
As I mentioned earlier, you certainly are in “bonus time” with your mattress, but being in a lower BMI range, and being double sided using firmer foams (and hopefully rotating the product frequently), it seems that you’ve been able to extend the life of the product. I’m a fan of maximizing the usable life of any product, but only you can make the judgement of whether or not this mattress is still worthy of providing you a longer, serviceable life.
Thanks Phoenix. I’m studying your reply and all the pages you link to. Quick question. Do you know of any brick and morter retailers in Austin, Texas where I could go and lay out unboxed toppers on a mattress like you described?
Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article ) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around San Antonio and Austin is in post #2 here .
