The princess and the p-o'ed!

November 10, 2007 10:47 AM

WTF is up with these stupid ass pillowtop mattresses?! How can I get over the fact I'm stuck with one now that I have it?!

Long story short, I've had a firm pillow-top mattress and I loathe it. The big scoops where my partner and I sleep are like divits in ice cream, you can't flip over the bed to even it out, I had to get new bigger sheets, and it cost a fortune, so I'm stuck with it. What can I do? Is there anyway to rip off the pillowtop part? What would happen if i did? I just wanted a nice firm mattress.

posted by DenOfSizer to grab bag (15 comments total)

I wouldn't think you could remove it or treat the mattress as anything other than a learning experience, but you could rotate it 180 degrees instead of flipping it in order to get some evenness going.
posted by rhizome at 10:53 AM on November 10, 2007

We just got a new mattress with one of these things because my wife really wanted it. I'm not as bugged out by it as you are, but yeah, we have to get a bunch of new sheets now because the thing's like six feet thick. And yes, we were promptly making princess and the pea jokes.

FWIW at the store when we were shopping, they pretty much ALL had them. I think it's just the wave of the future.
posted by Naberius at 11:08 AM on November 10, 2007

You might try adding a memory foam mattress topper. That'll make it even thicker from a sheet perspective, but it may eliminate some of the 'dipping' thing, since the foam will bounce back better than the mattress.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:28 AM on November 10, 2007

I hadn't thought about the new sheets angle; that's probably the way they get the retail stores to carry them: 'if you can get your customers to buy one of these, they'll be back to buy all new sheets!' How clever.

If you sink even as much as an inch into the pillow-top though, and continue to use your old pillow, I'd guess that would increase the angle between your neck and the rest of your body enough to cause many people significant problems.
posted by jamjam at 11:32 AM on November 10, 2007

How old is your mattress? You shouldn't get divots in the pillow-top. That sounds like a defect in the padding material. Ours is 5 or 6 years old and you can't tell where we sleep. (It's the most comfortable bed - ever!)

If yours is new, perhaps a call the manufacturer is in order. Most beds have a decent warranty which lasts a few years at least.
posted by 26.2 at 12:05 PM on November 10, 2007

Get the thinnest futon you can find and put it on top? I know this is adding to the thickness, plus it's an additional cost (coupla hundred), but it will even out the bumps. Futons hold their shape forever.
posted by nax at 12:52 PM on November 10, 2007

(Sleeping on a futon is not unlike sleeping on a brick.)
posted by konolia at 1:06 PM on November 10, 2007

A thin futon on top of a firm standard mattress shouldn't be too awful and the OP did say the mattress is a firm one, he just doesn't like the pillow top, which is the squishy part. So cover the squishy part with something firm.

And I sleep on a futon and it's NOT like brick so THERE. (Goes off to cry.)
posted by nax at 1:26 PM on November 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Our pillowtop has the same divots. I hate that bed.
I miss my waterbed. Best sleep evar.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:42 PM on November 10, 2007

2nd 26.2....we don't get divots on ours. Did you try the bed out in the store and did it have the same behavior?
posted by mmascolino at 4:37 PM on November 10, 2007

Actually, you can turn some "pillow top" mattresses over, and some are even made with dual "pillow tops" on either face, to facilitate this. If your mattress only has a pillow top on one face, but has reasonable spring construction and ticking on the "underside," you still could turn it over and use a foam egg crate pad on the new "top" surface. The interface between the new "bottom" of your mattress and your box spring will be funky (because of the pillow top), but if your bed spread covers the funky crack edges, who's going to really care?
posted by paulsc at 5:07 PM on November 10, 2007

Our pillowtop has the same divots. I hate that bed.

Ditto, Thorzdad. We are about to buy a new one just for this reason -- the mattress isn't even that old, the bastage.

I love taking a nap because I get to sleep on the solid bump down the middle -- ahhh.

People without divots: what brand/model did you get?
posted by theredpen at 5:46 PM on November 10, 2007

We rotated the pillow top on our king to even out the divots. Make sure you do it on a Friday morning (or before a stretch where you can afford to toss and turn a bit). The first couple of nights was like sleeping over a speedbump. It was rough. It's much better now. I never thought to call the manufacturer - that's a good idea. I just figured we were ignorant first-time pillow top owners and should have been rotating all along.

If we could just get the dog and the two cats to sleep together in a pile and just only on the bump in the middle, we could really even things out.
posted by jerseygirl at 6:09 PM on November 10, 2007

Our is Simmons Beautyrest. I'm not sure what model, but when I bought it, the salesperson told me it was the softest bed they made. Also, the bed does have the pillow top on both sides - not that I flip it often because that thing is heavy.
posted by 26.2 at 6:18 AM on November 12, 2007

We have a Sterns and Foster and it is a double pillow top as well. The mattress itself is relatively firm but luxuriously supportive and just like 26.2's...its a beast and I don't look forward to the flipping.
posted by mmascolino at 11:21 PM on November 12, 2007