Hi Phoenix,
Thank you so much for sharing all of your detailed knowledge!
I’ve been reading this site for several months and thanks to everything you’ve shared here, I decided to buy the Total Latex mattress from Brooklyn Bedding in March. It was a little scary to make the final decision, but I believe I chose the best mattress to suit my wants, needs and budget at this time. The folks at BB made the purchase painless and I would recommend them to anyone.
After the very first night with the Total Latex, I awoke to ZERO back pain and only minor stiffness on a few occasions since. This is significant since I’ve had very regular trouble with sciatica and swelling from a bulged disk for several years. I had to pull myself out of bed in the morning and hobble around for a few hours until my back would loosen up. Now, I get out of bed each morning with ease. It is a far better result than I ever could have expected from a new mattress.
Having slept on the new mattress for a few weeks now, I realize that I need a little more pressure relief. I’m having a bit of trouble falling asleep and I wake up with hip and shoulder pain. I’m 5’ 10" 175 lbs and my husband is 6’ 3" 240 lbs. We are both side/stomach sleepers and my husband also sleeps on his back sometimes. I ordered the Total Latex in a comfort level 5 which I believe is a 6" core of 36 ILD and a 3" comfort layer of 28 ILD. I don’t want to swap out the comfort layer since the support is super and my husband is quite satisfied with the level of comfort (He is much less fussy than me about sleep - I think he could sleep on gravel, while I am a more reluctant sleeper ; ). I do need a bit of extra pressure relief, but I don’t want to compromise his comfort/support. I hope you can assist me in choosing a latex topper that would suit both of us. I’m looking at a 2" or a 3" in 19 or 24 ILD (I think). I read that the layers may interact in unpredictable ways, so I’d appreciate your guidance.
The other issue I have is with the foundation. When I first started reading about latex I was thinking of getting the Ultimate Dreams hybrid that sells for around $999 in king. The more I read, the more I wanted to go with an all latex mattress. The only problem was that I didn’t take cost of the foundation into consideration with the cost of the more expensive mattress. We purchased a metal high rise bed frame with a wire grid - it’s actually two frames side by side that are fastened together. It has a 3,000 lb weight capacity and we were told that this type of foundation is just fine for an all latex mattress, but I think it could be more supportive and should have something between the wires and the mattress. I worry about the mattress coming through the metal grid. I can also feel the metal support bars that run vertically up the center of the bed. (Husband Dear thinks I’m nuts - he doesn’t feel it at all). I’m hoping to come up with a not-too-expensive solution, at least temporarily. I was wondering if one could put a 2-3" piece of very firm HD foam under the latex mattress for an extra layer of support. The thinking behind this is that this is the kind of foundation I have seen recommended for hybrid mattresses since they have the much denser hd foam support layers on the bottom. I’m also thinking of buying a regular box foundation, but this would be at least 2.5x the price (snivel). Here’s where you can call me penny wise and pound foolish, help! help! I bought home a great new mattress and now I can’t afford to support it!! How embarrassing…
Well Phoenix, thank you so much for your dedication. I appreciate any advice you can give me about a topper and a foundation augmentation, and I Really appreciate all the knowledge you’ve shared and advice you’ve given to others on this forum that helped me to buy my great new Total Latex bed!!
Best!
4bluecats