We tried to 12" Casper from Costco, and for me its way to firm. My wife is pretty happy with it.
Looking for something softer, we tried the standard soft from Sleep-On-Latex…waaaaaay too soft!! I felt like I went straight through the thing. I’m 6’5" about 200 lbs, my wife 5’4 130lbs. Thanks to Sleep On Latex for having such a great return policy!
We do have a 20ILD soft latex topper from Sleep On Latex that we used on our old bed. We currently have that on the Casper while we try to figure something out. The topper helps, but I still wake up with really bad lower back pain. Without that topper on the Casper, I have pain all over my upper body.
So, I am really interested in the DIY option from Arizona Mattress, and it would be nice to be able to use my latex topper in the mix…but i don’t want to end up with something similar to my current configuration with the casper.
We recently went to an original mattress factory and really liked their orthopedic hybrid - seemed to have the softness for me, but the spring support for her. We were going back and forth between one of their all memory foam beds - but it just didnt feel the same. We kept coming back to that hybrid. The card on the bed in store only had info on the topper - it was 2" 8-14ILD memory foam, 5 lb/ft. I could probably call and get the info on the other layers if needed. But I also am not a huge fan of memory foam - would rather have latex since its natural and longer lasting.
We also really like a taller bed - so right now, with the casper and the topper we are at 15". When we tried the sleep on latex it was only 8" tall and was way too low for us.
Any help/guidance would be much appreciated. I feel we’ve made two decisions so far that don’t work and I dont want to make another one!
I will try to address your concerns. First “The topper helps, but I still wake up with really bad lower back pain. Without that topper on the Casper, I have pain all over my upper body.” This could be caused by the Casper simply not having enough back support for you. The topper can add the extra cushion necessary to relive the excess pressure you are getting on the Casper but no topper is going to add back support if the core is lacking in the first place. Second “We recently went to an original mattress factory and really liked their orthopedic hybrid - seemed to have the softness for me, but the spring support for her. We were going back and forth between one of their all memory foam beds - but it just didnt feel the same. We kept coming back to that hybrid.” This is an indication that your body may prefer the support given by an innerspring core mattress. Foam core mattresses struggle to provide the support that you can get from an innerspring core. You are not comfortable on the all foam Casper and didn’t like the feel of the memory foam mattresses at Original. Listen to what your body is telling you. It likes the sport of a spring. By the way the Original Hybrid is a durable design, I get not wanting memory foam and preferring latex. So look for an hybrid with latex layers instead of memory foam. Third, “We also really like a taller bed - so right now, with the casper and the topper we are at 15”. When we tried the sleep on latex it was only 8" tall and was way too low for us." Here you are making the case again for the hybrid design. With a latex mattress 8 to 10 inches is about all you would want. If you use too much latex, say 15 inches you will loose both comfort and support. In my experience all foam mattresses, latex or poly, preform best when they are not real thick. Hybrid mattress however will preform best in the 12 to 15 inch range.
In conclusion, look for a latex hybrid mattress to try, they are not as common as memory foam hybrids but they are out there. If you want to make a DIY mattress, make it a DIY hybrid, again not as easy to do as an all foam hybrid but it can be done.
Go ahead and call OMF, they’re more than willing to give you the information - I ended up doing that myself for a couple of theirs.
Also, go back into the store, and try out the Latex mattress that they have in-store.
Check out: THIS THREAD and THIS THREAD BTW. They give some background of me looking at OMF, and then going with APM.
Something I’d highly recommend is checking out Sleep EZ. Not necessarily to buy (APM is much cheaper), but for their configuration tool. You can put in size/weight and sleeping style, and it will give recommendations. Once you have tried some stuff in-store and have a configuration in mind, give Ken (from APM) a call and talk to him about it. He was really helpful for us!
After doing a bunch of research, I decided to go with Arizona Premium…as I indicate IN HERE.
As for your concern about bed height. I’m assuming it’s not a matter of “wanting a thick mattress”, and it’s more of a “we want to be up higher off the ground”, right?
If so, one option is always to get a new bed-frame…but I assume you don’t wanna do that.
The other option is to get a platform/base/foundation - LIKE THIS. Now you can use a thinner mattress, but still be raised up higher.
After reading the replies and your info I think it would be a good idea to give me a call. I think a pocket coil with 2 3" layers of latex would get you where you need to be but we need to discuss more about your sleeping style preference for both you and your wife. Our 8" pocket coil with 6" of latex and our bamboo cover would finish right at 15" and provide the ability to change the position of the latex layers if you need to tweak the feel. 888-773-7326
Thank you all for the input - I got off the phone with Ken, and think we might have a path forward:
1: 8" combi-zoned pocket coil
2: 3" medium talalay
3: Leverage my 3" soft 20ILD dunlop topper
Hopefully this will be the magic combo. Its unfortunate that the mattress shopping process is so difficult, but thankful for the members here and their willingness to take the time and share their knowlegde! Will keep people updated as we move through the process.
In doing research, it seems like alot of other latex hybrids use some sort of base HD poly foam for the pocketed coils to rest on, but I am not seeing this in the Arizona mattresses - can you tell me why?
Anyone out there have experience on a latex bed with a HD poly foam base vs a latex bed with a pocketed coil base? I spoke with Ken, and he was super helpful - but when i was in bed last night, I started wondering how my current casper setup (casper + 3" soft latex topper) would differ in feel/performance vs the pocket coils + med + soft latex layers. I know the casper has a polyfoam base topped with foam layers that I am guessing are medium to medium firm. So by putting the 3" soft latex on top of the casper am i effectively recreating the setup I mentioned above? I’m trying to find a local place with a latex hybrid to see if i can see how these pocketed coils feel and respond vs a poly base.
Most people buy our products because of the non toxic nature. Adding poly foam is a turnoff for those people and besides that it’s totally unnecessary. The pictures of the coils don’t show that there is an extra layer of fabric over the coils on both sides for protection. You would not be able to see the coil layout if they left in on for the pictures. Since 2014 when we introduced the first latex/pocket coil hybrid we have never used anything under the coils and we’ve had no issues.
You could add 3" of soft latex to just about any mattress and improve the feel dramatically. Adding it to your Casper is not a bad idea in fact the original Casper mattress had latex in it until they realized how expensive latex is and went to cheaper memory foam. The difference in feel between doing that and a pocket coil hybrid is that you won’t have any bounce other than what comes from the latex. To many that’s a good thing and to others, well they prefer more bounce.
I take a 2" soft latex topper with me when I’m staying in a hotel to give me the added comfort I’m used to and it works quite well.