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What are your DIY mattress experiences?
I have been researching DIY Latex / Hybrid mattresses lately and have been thinking about pulling the trigger. I've been eying a full latex build, 3 inches of Firm, Medium, and Soft talalay (firm -> soft).I was able to find a good amount of information between Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/Mattress/comments/otdqms/diy_mattresses_an_introductory_guide/?rdt=54627) and Arizona Premium Mattresses, but I feel like I'm lacking information about people's anecdotal experiences.
Have you gone the DIY route before? Was it a success? Did you end up effectively buying multiple mattresses worth of components trying to dial it in? Looking back would you just buy a bed in a box? Any insight / tips would be very much appreciated.
I've done this. The purchase experience of my DIY mattress was not that complicated. The main downside was waiting for delivery and unpacking everything. After everything is decompressed and aired out it takes less time to put together than it takes to make a bed. It's a giant sandwich.
Why I went DIY
My main reason for doing so was because I usually buy stuff online. Shopping for ready-made mattresses seemed confusing because there were too many options but they never really differentiated offerings in terms of technical aspects. It seemed mostly about who could spend the most marketing money and it is difficult to know what you are really getting. Mattress stores solve this problem but this was during covid times and I was feeling socially anxious so I never actually checked whether any mattress stores were open...
What did I get?
Everyone has different tastes and despite being relatively young (I'm in my late 20s) I have slept on probably more than 80 beds in the past ten years and I know from experience that I don't like memory foam or water beds. One makes me too hot and one makes me too cold. From spending ~30 mins reading in /r/Mattress/ it seemed like latex was the ideal material for me. I ordered from Latex Mattress Factory because it had the best deals/reviews at the time.
In total it was $734. If I were to do it again I wouldn't spend $223 on the Quilted Cover. That was way overkill. I'm sure there are cheaper options for that. I should note that this is only a Twin XL as my plan was/is to get another Twin XL and then merge them into one mega-bed after my wife gets her visa approved in the next 1-2 years.
Would I do it again? Yes. It is the definition of comfort and not just due to the IKEA effect. I can really tell the difference between latex mattresses and other mattresses.
DIY is about customization but I think it only makes sense for certain types of mattress materials. I've had this mattress for about two years and I haven't felt the urge to adjust anything about it. In the US mattresses must comply with federal mattress flammability standards. I wouldn't have done DIY mattress if I preferred fiberglass mattresses or something like that. If you prefer hard beds you could DIY a bamboo bed/mattress pretty easily too and depending where you live that might only a few hours of labor and some kind donations from a neighbor.
But especially the adjustable bed part. It's a game changer. Acid reflux? Just make the whole bed slightly tilted. Stomach ache / back ache? Turn on vibrate mode. Doesn't always make me feel better but it works surprisingly well when it does. It's the definition of convenience.
Thank you so much! This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. I'm glad to see that you're happy with the 8" pocket coils, that setup also looked very appealing to me. This have given me a lot to think about! I never even considered an adjustable bed base.
Prices must have jumped significantly since you put together your bed, the cost of a twin size adjustable bed base alone is more than your total cost.
I didn't buy the sheets or the adjustable base from the mattress company. Those were bought separately but yes this was a couple years ago. There are many adjustable bed options and you don't need a fancy one. I see some on Amazon for $250 right now (shipping inclusive) and there is one by Okeene for $160 on Wayfair with free shipping.
Unlike cfabbro above, I knew this is a thing some people do before seeing this post. I've got the same opinion he does, though: unless you know you'll enjoy the process of putting together a new mattress this way, I'd recommend just buying one of the premade ones instead. If just because that would mean only needing to go through a return/dump process for unwanted or unsuitable mattress 'stuff' once per assembled mattress.
I think you would likely end up doing this unless you have lots of experience with mattress DIY materials. You sound like you don't have that experience, so unless you're ready to accept that it'll be a process and you'll have some waste or unused stuff sitting around once you're finally satisfied with your end product, I would highly recommend going premade.
There is also the mattress underground forum that has tons of info not only on store bought but also DIY mattresses. You may have more luck there especially for specific questions.
We got our latex mattress from sleepEZ, which lets you customize the layers but has the convenience of delivering it all in one go, from one manufacturer.
Highly recommend it.
Not completely DIY, but along the same lines. Bought a latex mattress from Arizona Premium Mattress online and love it. It is ten years old and no sagging in the middle. Super comfortable, by far the best mattress I've ever slept on.
That's wonderful to hear! Did you go for a hybrid or full latex?
Full latex. I don't have the ILD numbers handy, but I believe it is a 6" medium-firm base, and a 3" topper. My wife likes a really soft plus mattress, I prefer something much firmer. If I were to do it again, I'd go with three layer, and split the cores, giving me a firm side, and her a soft side. One other thing I noticed is that with a thick, soft mattress, the fitted sheet is often the thing providing support to your body, which isn't ideal. On a firm mattress with less deflection this isn't the case. Stretchy jersey sheets would likely mitigate this, but I haven't tried that yet.
Not directly related, but I feel it's worth mentioning to anyone getting into the weeds of mattresses. Try sleeping a few nights on an extremely basic (continuous coil, little padding), firm spring mattress. They're cheap, maximally breathable, and last a long time. From a first principles perspective, it shouldn't be complicated for the human body to get quality sleep, and this is the type of surface that we've evolved to sleep on. I've slept much better ever since getting one and my parents have also benefitted from switching.
While I don't disagree with this statement completely, the less flat my body has become over the years, the more I appreciate a mattress that conforms to my various protrusions. That said, I can still get a solid nights sleep on a carpeted floor with a blanket over me.
Edit: Please label this comment as offtopic, so it doesn't detract from the more on-topic comments actually addressing OPs questions.
I never even knew this was a thing that people can do. But honest question, why would you do this? I read the reddit post, and they go over the how, but not the why. I totally understand the appeal of DIYing things, but mattresses are so incredibly important to your sleep quality, so going the DIY route on them seems a bit iffy.
And looking at all the parts you would require and their costs (esp since most prices on those sites exclude shipping), it seems like no matter how bare-bones you go it will still end up being rather expensive... so you likely won't save much money over a traditional mattress, and might even end up paying way more than a comparable one from an established brand.
Also, if you mess up, and your DIY mattress turns out terrible, all that money has basically gone down the drain. Although as you hinted at with your "multiple mattresses worth of components trying to dial it in" question, I suppose the advantage is you could always just replace some of the layers in your DIY build to fix it. But with traditional mattresses there is typically a decent return period, so you can test them out adequately, and a bunch of brands even have no-questions-asked, total money-back guarantees for 100+ days... so I still don't really see the advantage to DIYing it rather than just testing out a bunch of traditional mattresses until you find the one you like best.
p.s. Kind funny seeing this topic so shortly after the top comment in the "What is worth the splurge to you" topic included a mention of mattresses. :P
Well, I can only speak for my own experience, but as someone who's done this, it was because:
For the average store-bought mattress, there is only a loose relationship between price and materials quality/sleep quality. An extravagant mattress might give you terrible sleep, and a cheap basic mattress might be the most comfortable thing your body has experienced. A mattress made of high quality materials will last many years, whereas one made of cheap materials will fail quickly. A typical mattress retailer will happily sell you a high-priced mattress that is made of cheap materials and also isn't comfortable for you.
For me, the objective with DIY wasn't to save money. It was to empirically determine the composition that gives the best sleep, and allow for adjustment of that composition over time (e.g. in reaction to weight gain/loss). Nobody gets it right the first time, there's always a process of gradual observation and configuration changes, and what's "right" changes over time anyway. The ramp-up learning period may cost more than going to the mattress store, but once you've reached a steady state, you have a detailed understanding of your body's preferences that can't be obtained otherwise, and have enough knowledge to react to change intelligently. Reaching that steady state is the objective.
I found DIY to be challenging, but ultimately it was a positive experience that precipitated some self-reflection. But, it's certainly a little weird, and probably not for everyone. However, there are mattress retailers out there that offer DIY-esque experiences, one I'd recommend is Flobeds. Their product is essentially a DIY mattress, but the components are well-integrated and their support staff can help newbies learn the ropes. Another similar retailer is Comfort Option.
This is getting long so I'll stop here, but hope this gives some perspective on it.
There are a few other benefits that were high on my list when I was looking into making a DIY mattress:
In the end, I did not make a DIY mattress because I lucked out and found a shop that makes custom mattresses for cheaper than I could make my own mattress.
It did. Thank you for taking the time to write all that out and share your perspective on putting together a DIY mattress. TBH, I never really thought about the ethical issues with mattress stores before, but you're right that a lot of them do come across as incredibly shady. I tend to avoid those kind of "late night commercial", massive sale signs out front (which they never take down), high-pressure salespeople, horrible financing plan stores though. And I have also had the same mattress for over 10 years now, which has served me well enough. The back pain I sometimes experience after waking up is mostly because my chonky 85lbs bulldogge occasionally likes to sleep directly on top of me, rather than due to any issues with the mattress itself. ;)
I admit that custom tailoring one to my exact preferences certainly does sound appealing, so I get that aspect. I just don't know if the end result would be worth all that hassle, especially since there is no way to test out the individual components before committing to them.
And by all means, please continue to write more on the subject if you have the time/energy. I would definitely read more of what you have to say, and I'm sure OP would also appreciate it too.
Hey, if you're getting good sleep now, then why mess with a good thing? No need to fix what isn't broken. For those who aren't, though, I'd contend that DIY is not as crazy as it sounds. It almost doesn't matter that you can't test components beforehand, because it's expected that adjustments will be needed no matter what you do at first. The idea is to start with a generic configuration (these are extensively documented online) and gradually learn the properties of the different materials so you can make adjustments. Just have to accept that it'll turn into a fairly involved long-term effort, with some "wasted" components, and set expectations accordingly. I kept the extra components in a storage unit for a while then sold them on craigslist once I was sure I'd learned what I needed to from them and wouldn't need them again.
Also, thanks for the encouragement. This thread aged out before I had time to write more, and I don't have much else to add for OP's benefit anyway... but I did wanna say, 13/10 doggo would experience back pain again. :)
Ah, if that's the case then a DIY mattress definitely isn't for me. Researching components and putting them together is something I typically enjoy doing, which is why I have always built my own PC. However if the norm with DIY mattresses is that components will probably have to be returned or resold until you get things right, or to your taste, that feels anxiety inducing and a bit too much effort for me. But if people enjoy that process, and find it worthwhile, then more power to them. I do understand the appeal now, and more about the reasons why people do it, so thanks again for your comments which enlightened me in that regard. :)
IMO one of the nicest things about Tildes is that topics don't really age out in the same way they do on reddit thanks to the "Activity" based sorts here, with their oldschool-forum style comment bumping mechanic. Since you're new, in case you weren't aware: "Activity" sort orders the topics so that the topics with recent comments posted in them appear at the top. Some comments are excluded and will not cause the topic to "bump" back to the top of "Activity" sort, such as ones made in threads labeled as 'Offtopic' and 'Noise'. However "All activity" sort does the same as "Activity" sort, but without any exclusions, so any new comments will bump the topic back to the top of the sort.
So keep commenting away, regardless of how old the topic is. Doing so essentially resubmits the topic, so at least a few new people are likely to see your new comment, and it also has the potential to draw new people into the discussion which is beneficial for everyone interested in the topic. :)
Honestly, you had me right there. Every time I've gone to a mattress store its always shady and it feels like I'm getting ripped off.