I wanted to come back and give an update on this project. tldr - I pivoted away from the wool idea, and ended up with a great DIY bed rehab.
The whole project started indirectly because of wanting to upgrade from a queen size to a king when we move to our new house (currently building and should be ready this summer). All research pointed towards latex, but at the time I wasn’t aware of anywhere locally to try a latex mattress. As an intermediate step and a way to at least try the feeling of latex, I ordered a 2” med topper from Latex Mattress Factory and we loved it. The pressure relief and contouring was just what we were looking for.
While we were continuing our new bed shopping, we came across Bowles Mattress, a local manufacturer, and really liked a couple of mattresses there - I liked the Latex Hybrid and my wife fell in love with the Serene Hybrid. I liked that one as well, but had never heard of Serene foam. It felt great in the store, but how would it feel actually sleeping on it longer term? Since the topper idea worked out for the latex, I figured I’d try the same for the Serene. After some searching, I found a 2” topper from The Company Store, and it also slept beautifully - very cradling. It sinks in a little more than the latex, but not as much as memory foam. It’s a very… serene feeling.
That’s when I got the bright idea that became the rehab build. I had both of these toppers that we really enjoyed sleeping on. Neither were cheap, so didn’t really want to abandon either one. I decided to stack the toppers together and just see how it would go. Tried latex on top of the Serene first, and while it still provided great pressure relief, it also gave a feeling of “squishing” into the layer below and didn’t feel quite right. Then I tried the Serene on top of the latex, and it was just right - the comforting sinking of the Serene flows right into the latex which is a bit firmer and together it just feels like a big bear hug.
To lock that feeling in, I ordered a 10” case from The Pocket Coil Store. Current mattress is an aging open coil flippable pillow top. The springs are still good, but everything else is compressed and shot. I gutted the old mattress, removing the springs but tossing everything else. I put the springs into the new case, followed by the latex layer, then the Serene. I got it all zipped up and placed it back on my existing box springs. This new mattress is a home run! We’ve slept on it for three nights now, and just don’t want to get out of it in the morning - it’s so good.
All-in, was right around $200 each for the latex layer, Serene layer, and case (plus existing springs). Right around $600 for a new mattress that feels better than anything else I’ve ever slept on. I may swap the box springs out for a sturdier foundation, just because the box springs are as old as the original mattress and probably well past their expiration date. This setup will make a great guest bed in the new house, when we replace it with the new king size bed for us - more on that search will come in a different post.