Just bought a new Flobeds
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I just purchased a new FloBeds. It is the 100% natural Talalay 4 layer mattresses. The top most layer being a soft egg crate 2" piece of Talalay. I purchased the following configuration. On the left side of the bed I have a median top layer, firm middle layer, and extra firm bottom layer. On the right side the top layer is firm, the second layer is extra firm, and the bottom layer is extra firm. I felt that this should give me an opportunity to switch the layers around and come up with the configuration that will work the best for my 6' 2" 210 pound frame. It has been quite a wrestling match, reading all the different descriptions that various people like, when it comes to firmness layers. You also run into this with some of the websites. No two people seem to consider this the same way. So I'm just going to have to experiment. This is one of the main reasons that I went with FloBeds. They have the most liberal exchange policy coupled with a generous return policy. They definitely get more money than some of the other sites. But when you're purchasing something this expensive from the Internet, and cannot lay on it, feel it, look at it, and even smell it, it's good to have a situation where you can make corrections at a nominal expense. Given the fact that FloBeds has an excellent reputation with the BBB, and Dave and Dewey Turner are excellent people to do business with, it just seemed to make good sense to me to consider the extra cost as an insurance policy. One last point I would like to make. I just realize that I have been misspelling FloBeds name. I had been misspelling it "FlowBeds." Wrong! It is spelled FloBeds.com. I hope I have not misdirected anyone. It will probably take about a week to get this bed in my home, set up, and slept on. When I have had an opportunity to do this I will be sure to post back and let you know what my experiences are, as I know how confusing this kind of a purchase can be. This message was modified Sep 22, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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First nights sleep report. The FloBeds mattress arrived yesterday the 28th in good shape. Getting the mattress in place was a lot more difficult than I had been led to believe. First of all Pat and I had one hard time removing the old waterbed. I did not rent a pump, which I should have, and so it was a long time draining. Then unfortunately I stop the draining because I thought it had become partially plugged up with the old flotation material. This ended any future draining, which was too bad because there was about 10 or 15 gallons of water left in the waterbed. This amounts to something like 150 pounds of sloshing mush of waterbed for two old people to try and handle. So we worked ourselves to death just getting the old waterbed out of the bedroom. So we were wore out before we even started installing the new bed. Latex, all-natural rubber, is quite heavy. We didn’t get done until about 10 o’clock at night and we started at four in the afternoon. The process actualy went on much longer due to removing the waterbed. We started this process about 1 PM. As you will recall the Flobeds is a natural 100% botanically grown latex 4 layer mattress. It is all Talalay process latex. In any event this is the way the bed was constructed. Looking at the headboard from the footboard, on the left side the bottom layer is extra firm, the middle layer is firm, and the top layer is medium. On the right side the bottom layer is extra firm, the middle layer is extra firm, and the top layer is firm. Overlaying the entire Cal King bed is a 2-inch piece of convoluted very soft Talalay foam. I found this bed to be much firmer than I had been led to believe by many posters at “what’s the best mattress.com.” I don’t know how anybody could feel like they are “falling through” a configuration like this. Naturally the left side of the bed is less firm than the right side of the bed. But I found sleeping on the mattress that both sides were very comfortable. But I did prefer the less firm left side of the bed. I awoke this morning feeling refreshed and without any back pain (and I have a bad back)or anything from all the strain of the previous day’s work getting rid of the waterbed and installing the new latex bed. This in itself is quite a tribute to the bed because both Pat and I were really beat when we finally quit work last night. One other point I want to make. I normally have to take some kind of nasal spray at night because my nose usually gets all stuffed up. I did not take any nasal sprayer, and I only had a very partial blockage of my nasal passages. In any event I believe I have an excellent bed and I will be reporting on a daily bases for the next few days so that you will have a more clear picture of this process. This message was modified Sep 29, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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Congrats for receipt of your new FloBed & setting it up. What a fiasco for both of you! Glad you had good nite on it.... Thanks for words of encouragement for Savvy....doing Savvy because of Dunlap - but maybe Talalay would be ok if you find the extra firm to be good and firm...interesting & also glad I haven't ordered yet!! Can't wait for your next post! lol p.s. re: nasal spray - if you are using anything but saline, PLEASE DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY!!! Those OTC sprays (non-saline) are meant for 3 days use only. Our best friend survived a massive stroke after getting hooked on daily doses of nasal spray & then quitting cold turkey. By end of 1st day off of it, he had mild headache. Headaches continued thru the week & stroke on 6th day off of it. Had he cut back slowly, he would not have had the stroke. His blood vessels got used to opening up with the nasal spray, but without it, they got more & more constricted, causing the stroke in the back of his brain! Drs could find no reason for his stroke until I told our friend to tell them about his habitual use of nasal spray. They now say that it's possible this scenario caused his stroke. After one year, they did a repeat MRI of his brain, expecting to see the constricted vessels that they originally said he "had since birth".....I said BS - when you have that MRI next year, your vessels will be back to normal as the constriction was from going off nasal spray cold turkey. Sure enough, his vessels were 100% normal - so nothing "since birth" there at all! Pls pass this info to anyone you know you uses non-saline nasal spray on daily basis....in case they want to stop using it. Caution needed. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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Catlover thanks for the info on nasal sprays. I knew they could screw you up but didn know they could cause stroke! What about prescription non-systemic steroid type sprays like flonase or beconase? Do you know? I use these semi-regularly, and have gone off them cold turkey many times. Eagle2, glad to hear you are happy with your mattress! I remember taking my waterbed out! I had a similarly long and hard day of work with that. That's one reason I gave up on waterbeds. However, I must say, all the years I used a waterbed, I had fewer back issues. Coincidence? Could be that it's because I had the car accidents after the waterbed... Anyway, keep us posted on how you like the flobed. The big advantage is that you can fine tune it for not too much money, so don't be afraid to order different toppers etc. When I had one, they let me keep several of the toppers and sections for as long as I wanted within the trial period, then send them back; so I had more foam pieces to use to fine tune it. Then I sent them back and it only cost me the shipping. Good luck! |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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The steroid nasal sprays are safe, and meant to be used daily. Unfortunately they don't provide the same nasal congestion relief as Afrin and the other sprays, but, as Catlover said, these sprays are highly addictive. I can't even use them now for more than a day without getting rebound congestion. I think my new mattress setup made my congestion better, though--latex/pu foam has to be better than dustmite-infested spring mattresses! |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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catlover wrote: Congrats for receipt of your new FloBed & setting it up. What a fiasco for both of you! Glad you had good nite on it.... Thanks for words of encouragement for Savvy....doing Savvy because of Dunlap - but maybe Talalay would be ok if you find the extra firm to be good and firm...interesting & also glad I haven't ordered yet!! Can't wait for your next post! lol p.s. re: nasal spray - if you are using anything but saline, PLEASE DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY!!! Those OTC sprays (non-saline) are meant for 3 days use only. Our best friend survived a massive stroke after getting hooked on daily doses of nasal spray & then quitting cold turkey. By end of 1st day off of it, he had mild headache. Headaches continued thru the week & stroke on 6th day off of it. Had he cut back slowly, he would not have had the stroke. His blood vessels got used to opening up with the nasal spray, but without it, they got more & more constricted, causing the stroke in the back of his brain! Drs could find no reason for his stroke until I told our friend to tell them about his habitual use of nasal spray. They now say that it's possible this scenario caused his stroke. After one year, they did a repeat MRI of his brain, expecting to see the constricted vessels that they originally said he "had since birth".....I said BS - when you have that MRI next year, your vessels will be back to normal as the constriction was from going off nasal spray cold turkey. Sure enough, his vessels were 100% normal - so nothing "since birth" there at all! Pls pass this info to anyone you know you uses non-saline nasal spray on daily basis....in case they want to stop using it. Caution needed. Catlover: Thank you for the warning about the nasal spray. I will keep that in mind. Let me try to reassure you about the Dunlop. I cannot give advice about Dunlop of course as I have not used it, since this is my first latex bed. I felt exactly as you do regarding Dunlop versus Talalay. I think the mattress manufacturers do themselves a disservice by sending out these samples that are small pieces. You just cannot get any kind of an idea about what a piece of latex foam is like by squeezing on a small 3 inch cube. I know it would cost them more money to ship but I would think a 12" Square 3 inches thick would be a much better sample to try and get a feel for. The regular mail might be too expensive, but give the potential customer a choice between getting it quick and getting a small 3 inch cube, or waiting for the UPS man to deliver it and having a larger piece, might prove fruitful. It's very easy for us folks to armchair this kind of a business decision, when it isn't our money! In any event though it was quite protracted, I am very glad that I wound up with FloBeds. David and Dewey Turner are good people to work with, because they want to work with you. But I will say this about Talalay Catlover. A lot of the opinion that I have read about Talalay has just not proven true for me at this point in time. As I indicated earlier one side of my bed is medium, over firm, over extra firm. and there's no way that I feel like I'm falling through it or that it is too soft and nonsupportive. And I'm 6 foot 2, 210 pounds. Now granted, I have just come off 20 years of sleeping on a waterbed. A waterbed experience is like no other experience out there that I'm aware of. It can be a very soft experience and still be supportive. You just have to be careful that it doesn't get too soft and therefore nonsupportive. But I would have no qualms about advising you to try Talalay as opposed to Dunlop in so far as support goes. Now again, keep in mind, I have only slept on this for one night. But I have lain down on the mattress at various times through the day just to test out how I would feel. I was feeling a little tired this afternoon, after our long day of work yesterday, so I thought I would lay down and try out the bed a little while. The next thing I knew I was sound asleep and took about a 30 minute nap. For me at least, Talalay is quite supportive. So much so that I'm thinking about talking to Dave Turner about trying out a soft piece of Talalay. But then again using FloBeds Firmness Advisor, and modifying the input data slightly I come up with the advice of, firm, over medium, over firm. I already possess this level of firmness that I can interchange and try it out. I have finally come to the conclusion, that for me, possibly the best approach is the softest bed I can generate that will give me good restful support. At least it's a theory I'm going to look into. Savvy Rest looks like a good company, and I would not be afraid to purchase from them. But just keep in mind that FloBeds has the best exchange and return policy on the Internet, that I am aware. Good luck with your choice. This message was modified Sep 29, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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jimsocal wrote: Catlover thanks for the info on nasal sprays. I knew they could screw you up but didn know they could cause stroke! What about prescription non-systemic steroid type sprays like flonase or beconase? Do you know? I use these semi-regularly, and have gone off them cold turkey many times. Eagle2, glad to hear you are happy with your mattress! I remember taking my waterbed out! I had a similarly long and hard day of work with that. That's one reason I gave up on waterbeds. However, I must say, all the years I used a waterbed, I had fewer back issues. Coincidence? Could be that it's because I had the car accidents after the waterbed... Anyway, keep us posted on how you like the flobed. The big advantage is that you can fine tune it for not too much money, so don't be afraid to order different toppers etc. When I had one, they let me keep several of the toppers and sections for as long as I wanted within the trial period, then send them back; so I had more foam pieces to use to fine tune it. Then I sent them back and it only cost me the shipping. Good luck! Jim: Thank you for the post. Yes I really like waterbeds! But they can be a hassle. And since at my stage of the game, if I were going to try something else I had better go ahead and do it. So, my adventure into the land of latex. While it is far too early to have any kind of concrete idea about how this is going to turn out, my initial impression is that it's going to work just fine. Dave Turner at FloBeds began working with mattresses that were waterbeds. In fact I believe he slept on a waterbed as long as I did, or possibly even longer. He says the reason he changed was the very thing that you have indicated. It just became too much of a hassle over time. He is very much into trying to find the right comfort level for the individual. As I just stated, he's been into waterbeds and still is, into air mattresses and still is, and now principally he sells latex mattresses. He has invented the zone system and in fact sleeps on this kind of a mattress himself. My excursion into the wilderness of mattress manufacturing has only encompassed about a two-month period of time. But it has pretty much been night and day, seven days a week. I've read everything I could find and communicated quite a bit on this forum. I've gone back and read a great deal in their archives. From everything I have been able to find, FloBeds seems to be the most adaptive and willing to work with their customers of anyone that I have found. This is not to disparage against any other company. It also became obvious to me from my reading, telephoning, and actually going to visit a dealer, that the niche market manufacturers such as Savvy Rest, FloBeds, SleepEZ, Habitat and others, are doing the most to let the customer choose what goes into their mattress based on knowledge and not "flimflam" that we get from to many of the mainline mattress manufactures. I will continue to keep everyone posted on my experience, as I know how important this was to me in trying to make this very important decision. For a great many of us, spending between $2000 to $3000 is no small adventure. This message was modified Sep 29, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009 I slept well last night. I believe it is convenient to have both a soft side and a firmer side to help compensate for various physical conditions. I find that I do most of my sleeping on the softer side, but occasionally use the firmer side. I am wondering if I cannot soften up some more the side that has medium, over firm, over extra firm, and have an even more restful sleep. I’ll just have to give it some more time before I make this determination to try any different grades of latex. I would just like to reiterate, what I have stated before, regarding what some folks who seem to feel about Talalay not being supportive enough. Some have stated that Talalay felt like they were "falling through the latex", I am finding this is not the case for me. I don't know how anyone who needs a firm bed would find my Cal King firm side inadequate for proper support. Given my size and weigh, the firm, over extra firm, over extra firm, is quite supportive, to say the least. I will report again tomorrow. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
| I also think talalay is very supportive, in the higher ILDs. Nothing in a low ILD is supportive. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
| Congratulations eagle2 on your new FloBeds Mattress Latex Kit. I love my Latex FloBed also. I used to have to use decongestants before bed and many times they kept me up before I bought my Talalay Latex Bed. So far me, I looked into Latex for my allergies and also got a good night's sleep and support with very firm layers with a little cushion on top. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
Thank you Lynn for your response. In fact "Thank You Everyone" for your responses. I had another good nights sleep last night. However I suffered some discomfort but it was not from the bed. I took my flu shot Monday and consequently I have what really consists of a very mild case of flu. This manifests itself primarily as very mild hot flashes that come and go. This does cause some sleep discomfort. So I guess it's quite a tribute to the bed that I had as good a nights sleep as I did. I am going to stop recording on a daily basis for a while as it becomes rather redundant to keep saying the same thing over and over. I have ordered two more cores of latex from FloBeds. A soft layer and another medium layer. This will give me an opportunity to test a theory that I have. Namely, I want the softest surface that will give me really good support. What I prefer right now is the softer side of my California King bed. It is arranged, as you may recall, from top to bottom, medium, over firm, over extra firm. The other side is to firm for me. It is arranged top to bottom, firm, over extra firm, over extra firm. So, I will do some rearranging once I get the new cores next week, and see if I cannot come up with the ideal configuration. Once I have something substantive to report I will do so. |