Mattress How to Firm up a Memory Foam Mattress That's Too Soft

[anna_jackson]

So, how to make a memory foam mattress firm? I am 5'-4, 150 pounds and my husband is 6'-3, 240 pounds we are both side sleepers. My husband has had back surgery some time in the past. We purchased a Sealy Optimum Radiance gel memory foam mattress. Although my husband had no problems with it, I found this bed too soft for me and it gave me a lot of lower back pain.

I trying to find out if there's some kind of a latex topper that could add a bit of firmness to the bed. I called the retailers and asked if I could add a 1" medium firm topper. They said they would not advise the firm topper, except if it is to be placed under the bed. OTOH a 2" topper would make the bed too high for me to climb on to.

Another thing, will it help if I add a sheet of plywood instead? BTW, I think the boxsprings are wire frame in a fabric wrapping.

Any helpful ideas are most welcome.

 

[SleepMaster]

A topper is essentially to bring in some extra pressure relief where the mattress is too soft for it. Support, on the other hand, is provided by the firmness of the base layer(s) and it also depends on the thickness of the comfort layer(s) to the extent how far you are from the base layers. The support feeling you will experience depends on your weight as well as your shape.

I would suggest you try placing the mattress on the floor and check for any flexing in the foundation. You may need to replace the foundation with one that doesn't flex as much or you could place a sheet of plywood even. If the problem is not in the foundation, then you know you need to tweak the mattress structure.

Try insulating the memory from with a mattress topper or mattress pad. That should reduce the body heat reaching the memory foam so it doesn't soften so much. Remember, though, that this is trade off between support and pressure relief. You could use a fiber (natural or synthetic) topper, pad, or latex topper.

Once your mattress has been through its break-in period and has stabilized, you could improve its support and comfort levels using Mattress Remedy, an inflatable that you place between the mattress and the bedsprings.

 

[anna_jackson]

Using a sheet of plywood seems to have worked, it feels firmer now. I will try a couple nights more and see. For good measure, I have ordered the mattress remedy as well. I thought I could give it a try and didn't cost much either. If only it could hold things in place while I decide on a right solution from SleepEZ or something.

 

[Voxper]

I have bought a Tempur pedic mattress a few months back and I have been having severe back pain ever since. I also woke up with a stiff neck a couple times in these months. It seems a good idea to give the runner solution a try and I would like to know what kind of mattress pad might be best in that case.

Another thing, I am wondering if a bed board would help firm up a soft mattress. Any thoughts?

 

[anaymohite]

We had exchanged our first memory foam mattress for a high end Tempur pedic as we expected it to be best memory foam that money can buy. Maybe it even is. But it ended up giving my husband a nagging back pain. Within an hour of going to bed, he would start sinking into the mattress. It was a split in King size and had memory foam on one side and foam on springs on the other. Neither of us wanted the tempur pedic side of the bed. When we put it up on craigslist for half the cost price, not one person in the world wanted to buy that kind of mattress, and a used one at that.

That was when we decided to do something about it. We headed to the IKEA store. Finding the softest mattress among the ones there, we placed a thin firm topper (TJOME) on it and checked. Yes, it reduced the sinking into the foam when we laid on it. We also picked up a LYNAS runner and placed it at the lower back position on the tempur pedic side of the mattress. The whole thing covered with the topper and a top sheet completed the picture. Now that became the better side of the bed. We have the problem finally solved.

 

[andersonjohn13]

I can see that was a brilliant idea, thank you. After reading the post, I went and bought a couple of thick rubber door mats and put them on the mattress. I covered it with a mattress protector. It worked without a topper even.

 

[Mattresso]

I am wondering if a bed board would help firm up a soft mattress. Any thoughts?

Considering that what you have is a Tempurpedic, if you have a foundation then it would be an inflexible solid base that cannot benefit in any way from a bed board to stop it from sagging or flexing under the mattress. That makes a bed board redundant in your case.

 

[rubyclifton]

Memory foam is by design firm when cool and softer when warm. The warmer it is, the softer it gets. As your body heat warms up the memory foam, it gets softer in order to form the contour of your body. It does not need the continued body heat to stay in shape, though. So make sure that it is not continuously heated by your body making it softer by the hour. Check room temperature and adjust the air-conditioning as needed to see that the heat is promptly carried away. That way, you will also be increasing the life span of the mattress. Apart from not having to complain that you had to "sleep hot."

Hope that helps.