Your Advice Is Needed

[phoenix]

Hi NotSleepingWell,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

Thank you for your detailed review of your shopping experience, and thank you for finding us and doing some good research on the forum.

While I can certainly speak to the durability of the materials in a mattress, ultimately the only way to know whether any mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP (regardless of the firmness or thickness of any of the layers) will be based on your own careful testing or personal experience. I’m happy to speak to the quality of a mattress or help you make value comparisons, but comfort choices should always be based on either your own personal testing or on more detailed conversations with a manufacturer or retailer that makes or sells a mattress you are considering. There are too many variables and unknowns to use “theory at a distance” to choose a mattress based on height, weight, and sleeping position information unless you aren’t able to test a mattress in person in which case the manufacturer or retailer would have the most personal experience and information about the mattresses they make or sell and can use the “averages” of their customers to provide some guidance to help you choose between the options they offer, even with the custom-configurations you’re investigating. So, I’ll stick to providing some commentary on the information you’ve offered.

I suffer from back problems due to a car accident I was in. I have a compression fracture in my lower back and have bulging disc as well. Occasionally my sciatic nerves act up so I have pains running down both my legs. My back is often sore and aching from prolonged sitting or standing or bending over. When it comes to sleep, I have a pretty crummy hard rock mattress right now. I’ve had it for several years and there doesnt seem to be any softening. I begin sleeping on my back, but rotate often, and usually find it most comfortable on my side or stomach. My chiropractor has advised that I don’t sleep on my stomach because of the pressure it puts on my back, but I can’t help it.

I’m sorry to hear about your back issues. Hopefully you can follow your chiropractor’s advice and eventually stop sleeping upon your stomach.

So based on that, I think a 2 zoned mattress would serve my needs the best, unless someone thinks otherwise and can explain why. Any feedback would be appreciated.

What you’re describing actually is a three zoned mattress. There’s a bit more about different types of zoned mattress here. Zoning systems of various types can sometimes be useful and worth considering for people that have more difficulty finding a mattress with the right “balance” between comfort/pressure relief (under the shoulders especially) and support/alignment (under the hips/pelvis especially) or who have more challenging circumstances or sensitivities, body types that are more difficult to “match” to a mattress, more complex medical issues, or who have a history of having more difficulty in finding a mattress that works well for them. There is more about zoning in this article and in post #11 here and the additional posts it links to but once again the only way to know whether any specific mattress (zoned or otherwise) will be a good “match” for you will be based on your own careful testing and/or your own personal experience.

Foamite:
Great store with several mattresses to try out. Staff is very informative and knowledgeable. They manufacture their own foam from what I gather, rather than purchasing from other vendors.
Top Layer - VG10 - Koosh VG - 2" 4LB (VG - VISCOELASTIC - SPACE AGE TECHNOLOGY FOR GREAT PRESSURE RELIEF)
Mid Layer - KN26C Medium - 1" 2.5LB (KN - KOOSH NATURAL (KN) - The best 2.5 lb and most natural high resiliency foam)
Bottom Layer - EC38 Firm - 5" 2LB (EC - ECOCELL - GOOD 2.0 lb. HIGH DENSITY SOY-BASED FOAM)

Foamite is a fabricator but not a foam pourer. The density of the materials you presented would all be good quality and there would be no “red flags” in terms of durability. I believe the numbers included in the name of the foams you described are the ILDs. Koosh is just a tradename for some of their polyfoam and memory foam. There is more about foams containing polyols derived from soy in post #2 here (polyfoam or memory foam wouldn’t be considered a “natural” material).

The sales rep did mention that for the top layer they would split it into 2 parts - the top and bottom areas (head and feet) would be a higher density memory foam for comfort, whereas the middle area (thigh/waist to mid back) would be a lower density so I wouldn’t sink in too much and there would be more support, but the sales rep didn’t provide specifics on the density.

Density and hardness (ILD) don’t necessarily go hand in hand in polyfoam, so you’d want to get the specifics on any zoning you might be considering.

DreamTime Bedding:
I’m not sure where they source their foam from, but I think it’s from Carpenter Foams.
Top Layer: 3" of 5LB (Lower/Feet), 3LB (Mid/Waist) 5LB (Upper/Head) Memory Foam
Mid Layer: 3" 3LB Memory Foam
Bottom Layer: 6" Blue Foam, she didn’t specify the density - although from speaking to other manufacturers, Blue Foam seems to be pretty good quality material.

My concern would be with the 3 lb memory foam, as that’s lower than I normally recommend in the durability guidelines here. I’m not sure what you mean by “Blue Foam”, and without the density I wouldn’t make a decision to purchase.

SpringMade Mattresses
Top Layer: 3" of 4LB (Lower/Feet), 5LB (Mid/Waist) 4LB (Upper/Head) GEL Memory Foam
Mid Layer: 1" 2LB 3414 Foam
Bottom Layer: 4" 2.5LB - 3024 Foam
He said that after the Bottom Layer, he would add another Mid and Top Layer (so that I could flip the mattress every 4-6 months to prolong the life of the mattress. So in total it would be 12" thick. So to simplify, it would be 3" (5LB), 1" (2LB), 4" (2.5LB), 1" (2LB) , 3" (5LB). Not sure if this makes sense, or is a good idea.

All of the foam layers in this mattress would be good quality and durable materials for you. While a “flippable” memory foam mattress isn’t common, they are available. Memory foam isn’t a very supportive material, so its use on the bottom of a mattress isn’t common. However, in theory, being able to flip the product should be able to prolong the life of the mattress for you a bit, but this could change the feel and deep support at 3" of memory foam, so you may wish to try a “mock up” before making a decision.

TON Furniture
He advised that a 2 zone mattress is not a good idea as the different foams are glued together. Over time he advised that the mattress may rip at the seams where the foams are glued together which would make the mattress useless.

I personally wouldn’t have a concern with this. The water-based adhesives currently being used are quite strong.

He advised that if you do get 2 zone mattresses, the mid layer should be 2 zoned, not the top or bottom layer as they will rip easier

I don’t understand what you are trying to explain here – sorry.

LAYER ONE:
2" Natural Mineral Foam
Copper Infused, All Natural Latex - Hypo-Allergenic.
All natural Talalay Latex - sourced from the rubber tree.
LAYER TWO:
2" Soy Transition Foam
A transitional foam layer allows a gradual exchange between the natural latex foam and the base to optimize comfort and support.
LAYER THREE:
6" High-Density Soy Foam Core
Made from high-density Soy Foam to keep you propped up and supported.

The top layer is most likely the copper-infused Talalay from Talalay Global, which would be a good quality and durable material. The densities of the other polyfoam layers are not listed, so I can’t comment upon this. And the mattress is not a memory foam mattress, which you said you prefer.

I’ll look forward to your future comments as you move along your decision making process.

Phoenix