Trimming a Memory foam mattress

[65CV]

From someone with more than 20 years in the latex foam business...

Foambymail.com pictures show Talalay latex, not Dunlop -- despite their claim. There is a difference and Talalay is much better IMHO. That said, a Dunlop topper is better than polyurethane.

If you are interested in Talalay Latex, try kttenterprises.com (Disclosure: related party, I have no financial interest)

I really worked the firmness ratings and found a really comfortable combination. My mattress has 4" of 35 ILD HD Polyurethane and 2" of 28 ILD Talalay Latex. I'm 180 lbs and find it very comfortable yet light enough to drive cross country multiple times. Go higher on both for heavier weight, lower if you weigh less. Search my old posts for a much more detailed overview.

Please be careful with hot knives and foam! Kitchen carving knives are much safer for anyone at home.

[1973Argosy]

+like 10 on the electric knife

[10brink]

Thanks '73! Now I have to decide on foam or memory foam.....Too many choices!

[Bob662]

Originally Posted by 10brink

Boxite, did you get the LUX Firm foam mattress? Did you make a custom cover or have them do the custom wrap?

Boxite is right: foambymail tends to understate the firmness (they're more firm than advertised). I used a softness they didn't recommend for a mattress in a pop-up, where the mattress couldn't be thicker than 4". It was perfect for me/us -- 160# and 120#.

We used their mattress cover--it is high quality and fit perfectly.

[Boxite]

I tried Memory foam and didn't like it. After lying on it I found it difficult to roll-over to a new position because it "remembers" my last position. In that trait, it also more deeply surrounds the body and traps heat. I don't sleep well when hot.

After consideration I came to realize that memory foam made to sense to me. By definition it "remembers" one's position in-bed.... therefore it fails to constantly support individual areas except by "collapse-with-little-recovery" for a time. That is counter-intuitive to my thinking. I want a mattress which will accommodate my present position with consistent support in all portions of my body.... whether I sleep on my back, or side, or prone.... and I don't want it to "remember".

While I've heard of latex allergies...I've never experienced that.

I don't know the difference between "Dunlop" and/or "Talalay" but what I received from foambymail has been completely satisfactory except for my initial ignorance of what they meant by "firm". I think most folks will like one level of firmness less than "mostfirm" from that co.m but that is so personal and subjective and I really haven't experienced their next-level-down.

If I had it to do over...and if they'd do it... I'd order a 6" Firm with a 2" softer glued/vulcanized to it.

[10brink]

Bob, do you remember the specific mattress firmness level you chose? Mega firm or a step down? Unless it's removable I probably won't have the wrap since I have to cut the radius corners in the A/S.

[10brink]

Boxite, I believe your reasons are similar to mine. Thanks

[Krisaloha]

Yes, I was actually able to cut my 4" memory foam mattress with good kitchen shears. It was surprisingly easy.

[Soyboy]

I am thinking about replacing my 20-year-old Airstream twin mattresses. I want to get memory foam both for comfort (we have a Tempur-Pedic at home that we love) and easy of a homebrew modification.

It looks like the way to go is to purchase a couple off of Amazon or Wal-mart (I'm kinda leaning towards Wal-mart because I can easily return it if I have a problem with it, at least if I do a buy and ship to store sale). I'll order twin xl's to get enough length. I'll have to have a couple of inches trimmed off the side an of course the curve cut into it. I realize with what I am doing I likely won't get Tempur-Pedic quality, but hopefully, it will be half decent. From some of the reviews I've seen on fairly inexpensive ($150 or so each) mattress, most folks seem to be satisfied with the el-cheapos.

I actually will use an upholstery person that does work for us to trim it and refit the cover (I could trim it myself, but neither my wife or I sew, so I'll just have her do both - she is very reasonable). Even after paying her to do that, I feel like I will save a lot of money vs. ordering "custom" fit items over the internet (I was quoted 1,400 - 1,600 for custom models depending on the foam).

Anyway, my question is this, I know that most memory foam mattresses come with a zip off cover (I want to get that type) but I also understand that some have another,"non-removable" cover wrapped around the mattress. Have any of you ran into this. If so, were you able to just cut away the inner liner when trimming the mattress with no "harm" to the foam? Also, I have read some folks say that the outer cover might contain fiberglass, has anyone had a problem with that when modifying it?

Thanks, Den

[JCWDCW]

Mattress usually comes with a muslin cover. Can't think of any reasons for the cover to contain fibreglass. FG cloth is expensive and usually only found in drapes and curtains. If your mattress doesn't' come with a zipper you will simply need to hand sew the cover back on the mattress. Nobody ever sees the cover!
I modified mine to fit. Fitted sheets don't stay in place very well, but I am about to recycle my home mattress to the guest room and buy another foam mattress for the master bedroom. As some have found, memory foam is not for everyone
JCW

[Soyboy]

Yesterday I did order a couple of Lucid brand xl twin mattresses from Walmart. I usually order from Amazon, where they are also sold, but it will be a lot easier to return them to Wallyworld if from some reason I don’t like them. Of course once you hack them up you void the warranty, so my return period will only last while I am waiting for them to expand before I take them to the upholstery person.

One thing I have learned is that it’s a bad idea to put memory foam mattresses on a non-breathable surface such as the wood platforms in our trailer. If they get wet-even from condensation, they can develop mold along the bottom. Seems to be not totally unusual according to the reviews And articles I’ve read. So I am going to use a product that is common on boats, such as hypervent. hopefully that will help. I’ll also use a breathable, waterproof mattress cover like we have on our Tempur-pedic. It’s not cheap at $10 a running foot (by 38” IIRC). But it’s cheap insurance and seems to make sense to me.

[Boxite]

We tried a memory-foam product from WM... took it back because it was hot, and formed "valleys" as it memorized our positions...and made it difficult to roll-over or change positions.

Tried one from Costco.... same result. Took it back.

Visited with others who had been thru this and they'd found satisfaction at a Rocky-Mountain foam matteress outfit that advertised RV mattresses.... but the price ran into the low-thou$and-dollar-mark and I ruled that option out.

I went out on a limb and ordered an 8" foam mattress ...FIRM... from https://www.foambymail.com/ It was only $436 w/free shipping. I cut it to shape using the Airstream mattress as a pattern with an ordinary kitchen electric carving knife. (Laid the foam on top of the AS mattress and, using a Pilot perm. marker drew the outline onto the foam...then cut it.)

The problem with our choice was only that we had no idea of the subjective term "FIRM". The mattress is GREAT...except it was TOO FIRM for our tastes. (Our reg. home mattress is a Sealy Posuturepedic in "firm"...so that had guided us.) We used a 2" egg-carton foam mattress topper from WM and that made it PERFECT. We now sleep all night in comfort.

If I had to do it all again..... In order to accomplish an 8" thick mattress... the Foam Factory actually vulcanized a 2" Firm onto a 6" Firm to obtain the 8" I ordered. If I ever do this again... I'd ask if they could vulcanize a 2" medium onto a 6" firm to obtain the 8" thickness desired. (Edit: I just realized that if it were laid with the medium on top it would probably be exactly what we wanted...and if we wanted it firmer...all we'd have to do is flip it over so the firm-side was UP.)

Final comment: When it arrived in a couple days ...it was inside a vacuum-bag all shrunk down, and I placed it onto a guest bed and carefully cut the bag to allow it to expand to it's finished size. That took about 2 hours, and the most pleasant thing about it is it had no "latex/rubber smell" that so many complain of regarding manufactured foam mattresses. We are so pleased with the end-result I actually considered going into business making RV mattresses and not sharing this source-info with the RV world. I considered offering the RV'ers to simply trace-out their mattress or provide measurements...and I'd order from foambymail and have it drop-shipped directly to the customer and doubling the price.... IT would still be a better RV mattress for less money than our RV-ing friends have paid for the one's they are only mildly satisfied with.

Hope this helps.

[Soyboy]

Boxite, thanks. Our home Tempur-Pedic mattress is "gel infused" which is supposed to help to prevent it getting hot. I don't know if it really makes a difference, but out TP doesn't get hot at all, it just feels like a normal mattress temp wise. Of course, like you have found the foam material seems to make a difference. The Lucid that I ordered is supposed to be gel-infused, so we will see if it keeps it's cool. I will say that after 4 years of use, we love out TP, I would buy another memory foam in a heartbeat. Of course over the past couple of years the on-line memory foam mattress market seems to have exploded. Lot's of choices.

Like so many things on Amazon, you can drive yourself crazy reading reviews. So much of it is subjective. But it's still worth it I think to get a feel for what the product is like. The Lucid we purchased got overall decent reviews. Of course, some folks had problems, some with mold. That's one reason I purchased it from "Wally World, so I can easily return it, vs. Amazon - I don't know what returning the "inflated/expanded" mattress would be like. This way I can check it for comfort/temp/smell etc. and return it to the store if need be. I made sure it was actually sold by Walmart and not an affiliate on their webstore. I guess I will lay on it for a while before I have it trimmed. I also want to make sure that it off-gasses fairly quickly and expands fully over a couple of days hopefully. That is about how long our TP took to off-gas, although the smell never bothered me personally. One tip we got to speed up the off gassing was to walk around on the mattress to work the foam and (hopefully) get the gasses out, which is what I did. Of course TPs come fully expanded and ready to use vs. the compressed mail order ones like the one I a getting. Once I cut it, I won't be able to return it or file any warranty claims. I mentioned above, I have discovered you have to be careful about laying a MF mattress on a hard surface. It needs to breath or mold could be a problem. Especially if you have a leak - of course Airsteams don't leak do they? LOL LOL LOL.

Also, as I mentioned above, I got prices from a popular mattress place that folks use here on the forums and depending on whether or not they were gel infused they would have run $1,400 to $1,600. That's $700 to $800 a piece for a twin. If they are really good quality and well made I guess they might be worth it, who knows. It's like our TP is it worth the extra? TP does have a good rep. Time will tell. In any event, I figure I will have about $250 or less in each of these after I pay my upholsterer. If DIY'ed like you, it would be even less. BTW that's cool that they will custom bind the different foams together for you.

[nomadleslie]

Has anyone tried to custom cut a Purple mattress? We sleep on one at home and *love* it and would like the same in our Classic curved twin beds.

If no one has tried this, do any of you have any experience &/or advice on purchasing an “off brand” with similar construction & feel?

[Soyboy]

Nomadleslie, it looks like purple mattresses are basically foam and I would think they could be cut just like other memory foam mattresses.

I see that NWRVR and some others didn't modify the cover after trimming. I'm curious and was hoping to get some feedback as to how that worked out for him and others over time. I was going to have an upholsterer do the trimming and adjust the covers, but it seems like it is rather easy to trim the foam with an electric knife, so I might go that route. However, I am not proficient at operating a sewing machine (proficient - you might as well put me in the cockpit of a 747 and tell me to fly it lol) so I wanted to see if others think it will work out ok just leaving the mattress cover "lose". I was thinking I might be able to use elastic sheet straps under the bed to hold the cover out of the way if need be. I do that with my sheets. Anyway, any input is welcomed. Thanks

PS, I let the Lucid mattresses I purchased (I have twin beds, see earlier post) expand in the basement. They expanded very quickly, pretty much in hours. With virtually no odor. I was pleasantly surprised about that as our Tempur-Pedic even had more odor (although not too bad either). As my wife wanted to keep the height down, we got the 8" models. They are firm but don't seem like they will be uncomfortable (of course that is very subjective). I think in general the thicker models are softer. Time will tell as to the comfort of course, but I am sure they will be better than the 20-year-old Airstream Lump - O - Pedics LOL.

[nomadleslie]

Thanks for your input, Soyboy! The good people at Purple did seem to think all the layers would hold up just fine if I cut the mattresses, just warned me to stay away from heat while cutting because that would be a problem for the actual purple layer of the mattress.

As far as the covers, I’m planning on a sewing alteration (I do sew and for me it won’t be a problem), but maybe you could tuck/fold the excess fabric and safety pin it in place? You could also use those clips with the elastic bands to hold the excess fabric to the other side of the mattress (go underneath the mattress). I’ll see if I can find a link to those for you.

[nomadleslie]

Something like this:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06...0NL&ref=plSrch

[Soyboy]

Thanks Leslie. Yeah, I just bought some of those clips for my fitted sheets. We haven't camped yet this year (hope to next week) so that will be the acid test. I get tired of them pulling up each night. I if they work on the fitted sheets then I will likely get a set for the mattress covers per your recommendation.

BTW, you may have noted that a lot of folks use an electric carving knife to trim their mattresses. It sounds like that works out pretty well. I actually went to Wally World this morning and pick up a Black and Decker for $14. I hope to try it next week. I'll use my current mattresses as a pattern.

Note too that there are WAY less expensive mattresses on Amazon if you are "stuck" on the purple ones (perhaps from personal experience?). The Lucids I got have good ratings and cost less than $150 ea. Surely not as nice as our TP at home, but from laying on them in the basement I think they will be fine.

[dmbecke]

I cut a 2 inch memory foam topper with a larger knife and straight edge
It work well enough

[Soyboy]

FWIW

Edit to my above post....

What I typed: "Note too that there are WAY less expensive mattresses on Amazon if you are "stuck" on the purple ones (perhaps from personal experience?)."

What I meant to say: "if you aren't 'stuck' on the purple ones".

I caught it too late to use the usual edit method.

BTW I checked out the Purple mattresses, as I am not familiar with them. They look kinda cool.