Mattress Pads
Have you bought a traditional inner sprung mattress bed in the last couple of years, let alone suffer in misery on a sofa bed, and regretted your purchase because your back hurts, your ankles ache? Perhaps you have heard about the amazing properties of latex beds, but you choke at their price? All is not lost. Mattress toppers and pillow top pads soften, and do a makeover for an existing mattress at a semi-affordable price. While I love the feel of viscoelastic memory foam, it is a synthetic non-breathable product, which makes some people feel like they are in Dante’s Inferno they are so hot! The very heat sensitive properties, which make foam sensitive to your body heat and mold to your body, can make you overheat, while conversely in winter, the foam will be as hard as a rock when the temperature approaches 60ºF. Unfortunately, as I found out recently, if you have a memory foam mattress and you want to put on even a thin mattress pad on it to make it more breathable, you end up putting a barrier between your body heat and the foam, and the foam needs your body heat to soften it up. Memory foam mattress manufacturers specifically recommend against using mattress pads.
So let’s assume you have a regular mattress and you want to extend its life.
The top of the heap belongs to Royal Pedic with 3- and 5-inch flipable pillow top mattress pads. These pillow top pads weigh as much as some manufacturer’s entire mattresses, and latex core is encased in cotton and Belgium wool and then quilted. If you are retrofitting an existing bed go with the 5 inch, but if you want to add more softness to an existing latex bad and not interfere its body molding properties go with the 3 inch. Speaking as one who owns one of these little pieces of bed heaven, I cannot recommend them more highly. I have had one for two years with no signs of wear. The workmanship is superb and the resultant effect is just blissful! The Royal Pedic pillow top pads come in organic and non organic versions. (From $742.00)
Another excellent choice is the Euphoria rubber (latex) topper which has a 2 inch latex core and is nicely finished with all natural materials. The Euphoria mattress topper transformed a guest room bed in our house into a really comfortable bed. The difference in feel was quite amazing. It was softer and molded to my body. You cannot hope to get the same full therapeutic benefits with a latex topper as you can obtain from the full depth of latex found in a latex mattress, but you can obtain a dramatic improvement. (From $497.00)
For the latex averse, there is also the option of a wool topper by Euphoria. This is a thick surprisingly soft topper, which provides a breathable layer on top of your mattress. As a devotee of latex toppers, it would not be my first choice, and be mindful that wool does compress by about one third after a while, and it does not have a luxury “enveloping feel” to it but it is the softest and thickest wool topper that we carry and is a healthy choice. (From $370.00)
For the budget conscious among you here is a really good tip. Haul out that elderly down comforter out of the closet and just put it on your mattress instead! Just shake it out to get the loft back again. It works like a charm and the price is right for a low cost feather bed!