Hi Parisgirl,
Welcome to the
Mattress Forum!
Hi Phoenix...what an incredible site! I have learned so much. And it's sort of addictive
I’m glad you found us and the information presented here has been helpful to you.
Husband wakes up with lower back soreness. We both find the Dunlop topper comfortable but would like it a bit softer.
There are multiple reason for low back soreness, but more often with an older mattress it is the gradual loss of support factor of the foams in the mattress, and also some loss of deep down mattress support. When sleeping on your side, this can manifest itself as sinking in overall a bit too much, almost as if you are in a hammock. I’m not sure if that was the case in your situation.
Based on your recommendations I forced myself to go to a store yesterday. Tried the Pure Talalay Bliss Pamper, Nature, and Beautiful. Only the Beautiful was soft enough by itself. I added soft toppers to the other two and they felt fine.
The ultra plush Talalay topper from PTB is 15 ILD, which is the same as the upper 3” layer in the Beautiful mattress. While adding this topper to the Nature will achieve a similar surface comfort, the overall feel of course will be different. Adding his topper to the Pamper will definitely have a deeper firmer feel, as the Pamper uses a core that is 10% higher in ILD than the Nature or Beautiful.
I also tried Savvy Rest in a medium, soft, soft talalay configuration. It felt great.
That is a very plush configuration. The softest Savvy Rest generally recommends for someone under 160 pounds is Firm Dunlop, Soft Talalay, Soft Talalay.
We are in early retirement and cost is a factor. Both intrigued by DIY.
If you are attracted to the idea of designing and building your own DIY mattress out of separate components that are purchased from one or several different sources, then I would start by reading option 3 in
post #15 here
and the posts it links to (and option #1 and #2 as well) so that you have more realistic expectations and that you are comfortable with the learning curve, uncertainty, trial and error, or in some cases the higher costs that may be involved in the DIY process. The best approach to a DIY mattress is a "spirit of adventure" where what you learn and the satisfaction that comes from the process itself is more important than any cost savings you may realize (which may or may not happen).
Also looking at sleepez 8" special as well as their other models. If we do the 8" special, I'm thinking of medium, soft, soft talalay (to mimic the savvy rest).
The best advice I could offer would be a phone call to SleepEZ (they are a site member here, which means I think highly of them and their advice) with your concerns and preferences and results from local testing (the PTB and the Savvy Rest), and they be best able to guide and advise you in configurations they offer and the results that they have had with decades of experience with people in similar situations, sleeping styles and somatotypes. They do have a 90 day comfort exchange program, with a $30 fee for the first layer exchange within that timeframe. Personally, the combination you mentioned would be on the very plush side and there could be a concern of having adequate deep alignment support.
I also wonder about their 6" special if they still have it, and adding a 3" talalay topper.
This would have less of an ability to customize (could only be accomplished by changing the topper), and does have an extra layer of polyfoam in the quilt on each side. The mattress can be flipped.
I’ll be interested in learning about any conversations you have with SleepEZ or other decisions you might make or questions you may have.
Phoenix