For the past week now I have been reading every post I could find on the internet related to latex mattresses. I came to the conclusion, as others have stated that you really need to just go to some stores and lay on a few beds to ge a feel as to what feels best to “me”. So today I got in my truck and drove an hour away to a savyrest store called the Natural Sleep Shop and spent all afternoon laying on different beds with different configurations. My old bed is a firm box spring that I like. (But its old and its time to go, and I really do think I would like a little softer, settled in feeling.) My lower back has a little bit of a void when I sleep on my back, so that causes some of my aches, and when I sleep on my side ( 30% of the time, back 70%) my shoulder and arm get numb. I am a male 5’10 and weigh 158 pounds, so, average I guess. Here’s my question??? Has anyone here compared Savyrest Beds with other beds as far as firmness?. I was wanting to do a DIY bed and their is nobody else around to compare them with so I’m back to square 1 as not knowing what to buy on the internet. Because savyrest ILD range is so broad, I really dont know what I was laying on. For example Plushbeds rate their soft as 19-21, medium, 24-26, and firm 29-31 in talalay, while savyrest’s dunlop soft is like 21- 30 which is in the whole range of plushbeds talalay soft medium and firm. Going in I was expecting a soft, medium and firm setup, but after laying on these they felt a lot harder than I thought they would be. When I layed on my back it was OK but when I was on my side it wasn’t much different to me than my old firm boxspring. I even tried soft talalay, soft dunlop with a firm dunlop for the 3rd layer, and it still felt to firm on my shoulder . Also I’m not sure if the mattress cover they use made it a little harder. Maybe I was just going in expecting too much or maybe I need to build a zone system, for my lighter body and bony shoulders. So, for those of you that have any input on savyrest compared to others as far as ILDs and such, I would really appreciate it. Or if their is anyone out there with my build and sleeping habits that already have a latex bed and like it, your input would be treasured. Or just any suggestions in general would be a big help. Thanks. BTW, love this site
Hi Trapper,
I would make sure you’ve read post #15 here before designing and building your own DIY mattress out of separate components just to make sure that your expectations of cost and success are realistic.
I would also make sure you’ve read the tutorial post (the link is in the top right corner of the page) which would be helpful as well.
I think that a “spirit of adventure”, a willingness to go through the learning curve of trial and error, and a willingness to take the risk of any extra costs that may be involved vs a component mattress, can be one of the most important parts of your success and how much you end up enjoying (or becoming frustrated with) a DIY mattress project.
If you decide to go in this direction then I hope you have the chance to keep us up to date on your efforts and let us know how it turns out for you 
Phoenix
Trapper,
I bought a latex mattress 3 months ago and I’m still clueless as to how to make comfort adjustments. It can be tricky for some of us. My husband and I are lighter weights and being used to very firm coil mattresses, I thought that we needed something somewhat firm. I am trying to figure out what layer to buy next to take the pressure off my upper body. My advice, after purchasing a latex mattress, is to try to find something in a store that you like… even if you have to drive 2 hours. Spend a lot of time on it. I found stores that I didn’t know about after my internet purchase. In my opinion, it is a much safer bet to find a mattress already built. The other thing that I wanted to mention is that latex to me, even at low ilds, feels hard. A lot of latex mattresses have a thin layer of soft polyfoam and or wool at the top surface to help with the “hard” feel of latex. It is my theory and opinion that those of lighter weights may feel that latex has a “hard” sensation more so than others…(this is all just my opinion) I am also experimenting with some polyfoam on the top for pressure relief on top of my latex layers.
Diane