My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
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Ok, so this is my proposed mattress. Keep in mind that one of my main concerns is motion transfer, and the other is cost (that's why we're not doing latex right now--oh, and it seemed a bit more motion-y to me). It will be a king-size mattress, we're not big people, and we sleep mostly on our sides, *sometimes* our backs--I like some 'cush' to sink into, boyfriend isn't as crazy about that: 5" Lux-HQ (bottom)--maybe get 2" and 3" of this for more ease of handling? 2" HD36-HQ (mid)--I'm a little worried about the LUX being too hard, but maybe this HD36-HQ isn't necessary? 2 1/2" Poly or Super-soft Eggcrate (wish i could find a 'medium' one--*between* ILD 12 and 36!) Cuddlebed if needed Should i order twin-size of everything for 1) ease of moving layers around and 2) motion transfer--or will splitting it not affect the motion transfer too much? Thanks to everyone for their helpful comments--it made figuring this out much easier! P.S. I'm going for PU foam because, mainly, i need to reduce motion transfer, and i can't afford latex right now. I could *maybe* afford the latex from FBM, but in my (limited) experience the latex seemed to provide more motion...I'm a little nervous about buying this mattress without trying it out first, but i THINK it's the best for lack of motion, and for cost. If i'm missing something--related to motion--let me know!! ;) P.S.S. I'm a little nervous about the 'toxicity' of PU foam, but not sure i have other alternatives right now! |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
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Should i order twin-size of everything Only if you want it to be 5" shorter than a king or queen sized mattress. Twins are 75 inches and kings/queens are 80 inches long |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
| You're right--i forgot about that! I guess it would be x-tra long twins! |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
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electracat: Okay so I was out near a few mattress stores yesterday and used the opportunity to compare a couple different setups. It was funny that at one place the regional manager was there doing sales training and I know he picked me as the victim that he would use as an example of how to make the sale. Anyways, that being said, he was really nice but too pushy for me. I went in and told him exactly the type of mattress I am looking for, something in the area of plush-firm, and that I wanted to try some foam mattresses and then the comparable spring mattresses starting at most expensive going down. Like I said he was very helpful and after trying all the foam mattresses, the one I liked the most was a support core with a few inches of memory foam on top of it, then about an inch or so of fiber covering. I also tried a full latex core with a latex topper, this felt too spongy and soft on the top. I didnt like the feeling of latex all the way through. And I tried a foam core with a mix of latex and MF on top. It wasnt bad but a bit too mushy on top, almost like a pillow top of foam. I didnt really like that feeling. So who would have thought I liked the heavy MF on top of a core this whole time? The cost was around $2200 for that, it was a Serta I believe. Anyways, I knew what I needed to know at that point. I asked the salesman to show me some other spring mattresses that were similar in feeling and he showed me a couple and eventually cutting the price of a high end Sealy in half trying to sell me. I would have taken the deal and just been done with it but in order to get that deal he was taking away the warranty and any comfort gaurantee they had. I am not going for that and no sales pitch will convince me otherwise. So having said all of that. I think I know what Im doing. I am going to buy 3 inches of LUX and 3 inches of HD36. That way I can flip them around if I want firmer or softer. On top of that I will be 3 inches of heavy MF and then a zipper cover and then a 1.5 inch cuddle bed. I think this will give a similar feel to what I had with the one I liked. I am hoping the cuddle bed feels similar to the cover. If I still feel like the memory foam is too much I can always get some heavy latex to put on top. Maybe I will just get 2 inches of MF at first. I guess Im still trying to decide, haha |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
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That's awesome that you were able to try them out! I like your idea for the base--3" of each. How does a memory foam topper feel? Might i like it more than a full MF mattress? |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
| I dont think the temperature issue of MF is as big an issue are you are thinking it will be. And to be honest, I hate the feel of a full MF mattress, especially a tempurepedic without a cover on it. I really like the 1 to 2 inches of fiber cover. It keeps me from having that feeling that the MF is grabbing me. I thought I would like the latex top more but actually like the MF better. I figure at the price from FBM I can do some experimentation and get it just right. |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
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OK, you can check my thread on a foamdistributing.com bed for details on my saga (http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/another-foam-factory-bed-foamdistributingcom/5571-0-1.html) but: First, a 4" thick slab of the Lux-HQ (ILD-50, very firm, 76X82" so needs trimmed down to King) should weigh 40 lb, so 5" should be 50 lb. I didn't find it hard to move around, but I'm a 6'+ male who while overweight and sedentary is still in his 30's. Your mileage may vary. I've seen comments on this site about a single layer being better than several layers but I could not begin to testify to their accuracy. Second, I personally found 4" of Lux-HQ topped with 2.5" of 1.8 lb egg crate PU to be delightful for a week, but too firm for long term use. The 2" of HD36 might have fixed things for me, but the mattress was WAY too firm for my wife's back. Third, with our bed set up with 5" of MF on top of the base I described, I just had my wife lay down next to me and get up. Noticeable lateral motion transfer consisted of the top sheet tugging as she rolled. It wasn't much more noticeable when we just had the base, no MF. I'm becoming a believer in PU, and maybe in MF time will tell. Latex seemed too bouncy in the store. |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
| Which MF did you buy? What was the ILD of that MF? |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
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last377 - From what I've read MF should be rated by density, not ILD. MF softens as it warms, so the ILD is measured at what temperature? But I had 4" Lux HQ ILD 50 as a base, 2.5" of Lux 1.8 lb/cf egg crate above that, then 3" of 5.5 lb/cf MF and 2" of 4.5 lb/cf MF. Just the base was wonderful for a week (sometimes just a change, any change is great; this is probably why so many people buy a mattress, sleep on it a week, then hate what they loved in the store.) then I realized it was too firm for long term use. My wife refused to sleep on it a second night because it had so little give, but she's a side sleeper and the reason we have so much give in the mattress. With the MF it is much softer than the base (duh!) but it is still firmer than what we lay on in the mattress store. But I can't quote you an ILD, I can just say the density was what I ordered. I hope that helps. |
Re: My proposed DIY foam mattress--help or advice welcomed!
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electracat wrote: Ok, so this is my proposed mattress. Keep in mind that one of my main concerns is motion transfer, and the other is cost (that's why we're not doing latex right now--oh, and it seemed a bit more motion-y to me). It will be a king-size mattress, we're not big people, and we sleep mostly on our sides, *sometimes* our backs--I like some 'cush' to sink into, boyfriend isn't as crazy about that: 5" Lux-HQ (bottom)--maybe get 2" and 3" of this for more ease of handling? 2" HD36-HQ (mid)--I'm a little worried about the LUX being too hard, but maybe this HD36-HQ isn't necessary? 2 1/2" Poly or Super-soft Eggcrate (wish i could find a 'medium' one--*between* ILD 12 and 36!) Cuddlebed if needed Should i order twin-size of everything for 1) ease of moving layers around and 2) motion transfer--or will splitting it not affect the motion transfer too much? Thanks to everyone for their helpful comments--it made figuring this out much easier! P.S. I'm going for PU foam because, mainly, i need to reduce motion transfer, and i can't afford latex right now. I could *maybe* afford the latex from FBM, but in my (limited) experience the latex seemed to provide more motion...I'm a little nervous about buying this mattress without trying it out first, but i THINK it's the best for lack of motion, and for cost. If i'm missing something--related to motion--let me know!! ;) P.S.S. I'm a little nervous about the 'toxicity' of PU foam, but not sure i have other alternatives right now! There is nothing really "wrong" with your plan, perhaps, but I would do this instead: 6" base of M-Grade foam from overnightmattress.com skip the eggcrate and use a low ILD latex instead - 1 to 2", maybe 1.5" Use a 1" sensus memory foam IF you need it softer still, but you probably won't with the low ILD latex cuddlebed, to me, really does not add much except it holds the foam together nice (not that you really need that - they tend to stay in place good enough on their own) but the cuddle bed makes it all look like a real bed and is nice and soft, though very thin in terms of padding I'd go the 2 x twin route because that gives you more flexibility in making changes and they stay in place together just fine. You might want to check every month to see if they are drifting apart but I've found that to be very minimal and not a problem. |