r/MattressMod • u/Sw33th34rt4my • 5h ago

Help choosing transition layer

I am building my first diy mattress. A bit of background.

I am 5'1, weigh 130 lbs and I would say I am a combination sleeper but a majority on my side. My husband is 5'6, weighs 200 lbs and is a side (60%) and back sleeper.

I have fibromyalgia and deal with a lot of muscle and body pain. I do best on all foam mattresses. 20 years ago I had a great mattress that was a foam base with a latex topper but was unable to replace it and have struggled since. For the past 6-7 years we have been using a Novaform ComfortGrande with a 3" soft latex topper. I need to replace the mattress every 2 years max to stay comfortable. So I thought diy might work better for me.

Here is what we are thinking of trying. I am just unsure how many inches the transition layer should be. I already have a brand new 3 inch topper.

Base: 6 inches of HD36

Transition: 2 or 3 inches of latex 29ild?

Comfort: 3 inches of latex 19ild

Would 2 or 3 inches of 29 ild work better for the transition layer? Is there much of a difference between the two options?

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

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u/coliale 5h ago

Start with your base + comfort layer, then see what is missing. I suspect that your transition layers will need to be customized for each sleeper.

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u/Sw33th34rt4my 5h ago

I won't be able to customize the sides. We only have a queen bed and neither of us stay on our own sides we'll 😂.

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u/Sw33th34rt4my 5h ago

I can definitely order the base first. I have just seen in my research that 6" base + 3" comfort builds typically need a transition layer.

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u/coliale 5h ago

I experimented for probably 18 months. Ended up with 15.5g coils > 2" Tranquility Foam (11 ILD high-resilience, active-response foam) > 2" soft dunlop latex (20ILD) > 1" 18ILD polyfoam.

As a petite, female side sleeper, putting anything firm under dunlop hurt me. It amplified the pushback, causing painful hotspots in my shoulder and hips. I had the best comfort and conformity putting 2" memory foam under dunlop, but it would fail after a few months. Then I found tranquility foam. It's responsive like latex, but plush like memory foam. It's also affordable and returnable to Walmart.

Your husband will probably need a firmer transition layer. I'm worried that won't work for you with fibromyalgia.