I had a 17 yr old higher end Serta innerspring that actually still slept well but the stitches between the side and the tops had split and I thought it was time to replace it.
I ordered a new all latex mattress online and disposed of my old mattress. There’s no need to mention the brand for the purpose of this post, but it gave me terrible back pain after a couple nights. The company was very good about honoring their return policy though it cost me $99.
Since then I’ve been sleeping on different guest beds and an air bed while I’ve been searching for another mattress. I’m a little gun-shy after the first experience, but I think I’ve selected the one I want.
The point is that I really wish that I had my old bed back while I’ve continued searching.
If you have a bed that is usable and doesn’t hurt to sleep in, I would suggest that you consider keeping it until you have a chance to trial a new mattress.
Yes, it may be a little convenient to have it taking up space and it may cost a little more for disposal if that’s included in the new bed purchase - but for me it would definitely have been worth it!
There are people who repurpose their old mattresses by removing the springs, testing the firmnesses of the foams and replacing it. Technically the cheapest route you could take is cutting around the top, pulling out the old foam and replacing it with similar layers from foambymail.com, then using a natural mattress cover like an affordable wool one from amazon to both improve the feel and conceal where the bed was cut. As long as you make sure it doesn’t have a fiberglass fire retardant cover.
Realistically you could also just order one of foambymails covers with their foam.
All this is really fun to put together. If you had a full latex mattress, it’s likely the influence of all that latex and how buoyant it is was too much for you, but a latex hybrid with coils and materials/a proper cover can be very comfortable and more neutral.
Thanks for the input and the links. Yes, I also came up with the idea of reusing my old springs for a DIY build - but unfortunately after I had already disposed of the old mattress.
I had also wondered about your last suggestion to build a DIY latex hybrid and whether that would make latex more comfortable for me vs what I’ve been leaning towards, which is a memory foam hybrid. Likely this one from Nest & Wild Luxury Hybrid Mattress, Fiberglass-Free – Nest & Wild
I do have a 2" Talalay topper that I could use as part of a build. Do you have any suggestions for an additional comfort layer to utilize progressive resistance?
Yes, with a latex hybrid they often have wool or nice soft cotton and other materials which settle down the bounciness of the latex. Every part of the bed transmits up to the sleeper, and springs are solid and supportive with less pushback than latex, so with the right construction you can get the benefits of latex without too much of that over responsiveness. Latex has a stronger support gradient as you press into it; it’s trying to resist being compressed. Dunlop has a stronger resiliency than talalay. Materials like wool and other soft additions create a dampening effect.
The nest and wild hybrid is my favorite mattress under $1000. Well they have a 10% off on the site so it’s $960 for a queen. I have been to the factory twice, met the owner Brandon and learned everything about how it’s composed.
The top layer is a latex and memory hybrid foam, which is open cell for airflow that he makes with this huge foam machine, and the transition layer is a special type of memory foam called pneumatic which he also makes and is a faster responding memory foam so it doesn’t feel like you’re stuck in the bed. All in all it’s a nice plush neutrally responsive, well built bed. The foam is pre treated for durability and he uses the Texas pocket spring quadcoil base for the support layer.
The feel of it is soft and breathable on top and very supportive at the same time. I do not receive any commissions or have a referral code, and recommend it to anyone, actually everyone including local friends.