Ultimate Dreams Mattress 6 too firm

So I received my Ultimate Dreams latex mattress from Amazon and it’s a bit firm for me. This will be my 3rd week sleeping on it, and I woke this morning feeling like I was kicked in the back during the night. Their 6 is different than the 6 of Brooklyn Bedding. The Amazon mattress 6 is 28ILD.

After speaking with Mario and Carlos, I went ahead and had them send me a 2" latex topper in 19ILD to hopefully fix my issues. I wanted to get Phoenix’s opinion on what to expect. I’m 6’1" and about 180 lbs. Somewhat broad shoulders and muscular, and about 50/50 back/side sleeper. Will the 2" 19ILD make a difference for me? Should I have gone with 3"? I didn’t want more loft on the bed to begin with, so even 2" is borderline of how tall I wanted it. I’ve seen some of the high end latex mattresses use 19ILD on top of 28ILD, so I’m hoping it’ll be much better than it was at least.

Hi 01svtL,

Yes … their ratings are based on the overall “feel” of the mattress and not just on the ILD of the latex. While comfort ratings are always somewhat subjective … they both have different covers and quilting which would affect the “feel” and relative softness of each.

In “theory” yes it should make a “little to a fair” bit of difference (based on the guidelines I use for toppers in post #8 here). The extra 2" of softer latex will “allow” your wider shoulders to sink in more and improve pressure relief and is still thin enough to have the least possible effect on alignment.

A little thinner is much “safer” in terms of risking alignment because comfort layer / topper combinations that are too thick can be great for pressure issues but are riskier. “Just enough” and no more is generally the best approach.

While only your own sleeping experience can know for certain and I didn’t speak to you on the phone so I don’t know all the information you shared … it’s probably very close to the choice I would have suggested as having the best odds of success as well assuming the amount of extra softness you wanted is in the “little to a fair bit” range.

Phoenix

Gotcha. Well I definitely like the support of the mattress, it just gets to be a bit too hard for me to get comfortable. I feel like it’ll only take a small amount of top “cushion” to make it perfect, kinda like a pillow top. I just don’t want to go all the way through it or sink into it like a memory foam topper/mattress. I’ve learned I really do not like that feeling.

One thing I tried last night was to take off the mattress pad. There is very little fill, and it’s polyester fill. It’s more of a mattress protector, but there’s still a little bit of fill in it. I think it may have been just enough to affect the feel of the mattress, though. I did sleep better last night with just the sheet on top of the mattress. So, what pads/protectors would you get that are LEAST likely to affect the feel of the latex? This is my second pad. The first one was waterproof, but it made a crinkly noise and definitely affected the feel. This one I bought because it says it’ll keep me cool. It did for the most part, but I think it actually felt better without it last night. I’m not quite as concerned with waterproof, as I won’t have any animals or children on the bed. Water resistant might be an added bonus, but not worth it if it affects the feel of the mattress.

Hi 01svtL,

This is the key behind “just enough” and no more when it comes to the thickness and softness of the comfort layers (which includes the toppers and the top layers of the mattress). If you have just enough softness/thickness in the comfort layers in your most pressure prone position (usually side sleeping) then there is much less risk of alignment issues in your other sleeping positions. The thickness and softness of the top layers work together to create the pressure relief you need and also to provide secondary support which “fills in the gaps” in your body profile to help maintain the alignment of the more recessed parts of your spine.

The type of material also makes a difference because with memory foam you are more “in” the mattress while with more resilient materials like latex you are more “on” the mattress even though both can be equally pressure relieving.

The bedding you use which includes your protector, any mattress pads, and even your sheets can make a significant difference in how a mattress feels and performs and on the ability of any foam layers underneath it to contour to your body. There is more about some of the possible options you can look at when a mattress is too firm in post #2 here.

There is also more about the many different factors that combine together to affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress in post #2 here.

It’s always much better to err on the side of buying a mattress that is too firm than too soft because you can always soften up a mattress that is too firm with a topper but “fixing” a mattress that is too soft involves removing and replacing some of the layers (not adding to them) which is only possible with a component mattress where individual layers can be exchanged.

There is more about the different types of mattress protectors and some of the tradeoffs involved in the different types in post #89 here.

Phoenix

Hi 01svtL.

Have you tried out your 19 ILD topper? Love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

I have. The jury is still out. It’s definitely comfortable. My lower back pain is gone. I had a bit of upper back pain, but I don’t know if it’s from the bed or daily activities. I may also order a 24ILD topper and just return the one that doesn’t work. I’ll need a few more nights with this combo to know for sure though.