I am looking for a nice topper for a hard mattress.. I have a Sealy Posturpedic King mattress I bought from Sears, it is the firmest mattress you can get, NO pillow top.  I have the mattress mounted on a platform base, no boxspring.  I am looking for something to help my back because I have been waking up lately with back pain and think it's because my current mattress topper which is just a cotten square pattern 1.5" thick topper is no longer any good.  I used to have a latex mattress and it was very comfy but terrible back support and I woke up every morning in horrible pain so I got rid of the latex and got this firm coil spring mattress.

I'm wondering what other materials and what thicknesses I should get?

I too had a very hard mattress with no padding that worked well until I started feeling the effects of aging. Then I started waking up with all kinds of aches and pains. I bought an "upholstry grade" 11/2-2" thick eggcrate topper from a foam outlet. It is too huge to package and this grade is not available in stores but have seen similar ones on Foam by Mail site. Then I put a 1" 20 ILD latex topper on it (from Foam by Mail). It' still not as comfortable as my new latex bed but it sleeps so much better. I got all the suppport I wanted but also the comfort. Once you have a good foundation, its just a matter of experimenting with different kinds and thicknesses of toppers. It usually takes some trial and error but with perseverance you will find what is best for you. One thing, don't judge a new configuration on just a night or two of use...try for about 2 weeks so your body can adjust to it and then decide if you want to keep it. Hope that helps!

One thing I heard about box springs/foundations is that a good box spring will make

the mattress last longer and work better than just a foundation too.

Dan.