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3½ years on my custom emperor mattress – a retrospective
- bsanr 5y agoIt is astoundingly difficult to get collapsing gel sheets, and I imagine that it has something to do with Purple existing. I looked into buying just the sheets or a topper after returning the one I trialed. I really enjoyed the feel of it, but not to the tune of $2000(!) for a twin(!!!).
- MiddleEndian 5y agoSo I ordered my toppers from intellibed but they no longer list their toppers on their website. I talked to a mattress enthusiast not long ago and you can still buy it from them over the phone, but keep in mind they only have that 4x4 buckling gel component in the middle so you need more than one if you wish to cover your bed with buckling gel. In a different life I'd consider setting up a buckling column gel manufacturing station and just sell people custom sized buckling column gel sheets.
- pacman2 5y agoHow about ordering from China? https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Foldable-Supportive-TPE-Gel-Bed-Mattress_62341209876.html https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Foldable-Supportive-T... Any danger with chemicals?
- MiddleEndian 5y agoThis looks like mostly the same thing except the grid itself was rotated 45° from what I had. I did look into alibaba shortly after I made my bed when I was discussing this with a friend. The limitations of alibaba I found at the time were: 1. The HxW dimensions didn't necessarily match anything I wanted well. I needed four toppers to make the original mattress and offhand it looks like I could probably make it with four gel sheets from alibaba but the cuts would be more complicated to lay out and attach. 2. The thickness was listed at 4cm vs the 2" thickness of the buckling gel from intellibed. 2" is about 5cm. 3. Despite the intellibed toppers coming with a useless amount of foam, it wasn't actually any cheaper per square inch to order the gel from alibaba at the time, not that either was especially cheap. Numbers may have changed by now.
- bsanr 5y agoHuh. Something must have changed in the last year or so. I could not for the life of me find a gel grid this large for purchase, going as far back as 2018. Neat, thanks.
- Waterluvian 5y agoThe best thing about a square mattress is that once you have the right sheets, you can’t screw up which way they go on.
- MiddleEndian 5y agoNot gonna lie that was a factor in me choosing emperor (7x7) over caesar (8x7) originally. Square is a good shape.
- baby 5y agoHumans are not squares
- chipuni 5y ago[citation needed]
- TheCoelacanth 5y agoThey aren't rectangles either.
- matthewowen 5y ago1. Stretch your arms out to their full wingspan and then have someone draw four straight lines around you to the smallest area possible. What shape do you get? 2. It is quite common for beds to be occupied by two people simultaneously.
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- Scoundreller 5y agoI originally read that as “caveat emptor mattress”, which would also be a fun topic.
- MiddleEndian 5y agoGiven the weird materials people put in commercial mattresses, this is wouldn't be too far from the truth for most people.
- MiddleEndian 5y agoThe original hacker news thread from when I built the mattress: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17558719 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17558719
- arthurjj 5y ago"At this point, I decided the only thing that made sense was to build my own from scratch." This is such a beautiful sentence and sentiment. If HN were to have a motto it could do a lot worse than that
- JackMorgan 5y agoThis is the spirit that keeps me coming back for more!
- EastOfTruth 5y agoCool project but it seems odd that you didn't really save any money since mattresses appear to be so over-priced.
- MiddleEndian 5y agoI'd say the lack of price savings are mainly these three factors: Material quality: Purple, which I roughly used as inspiration for my original mattress design, used polyurethane which is cheaper and lighter, but less durable, than the latex I used for the core of my mattress. I have no idea what they used now but that was the case at the time. Economies of scale: They can keep making the same few shapes cheaper. I was unable to buy specific dimensions of buckling column gel so I had to buy several toppers to extract the material and I only used 49 square feet out of the 64 square feet (although I found other uses for some of the remaining gel), plus the toppers came with other cheap foam that I had little use for. It's really difficult to order buckling column gel directly. The literal scale: My mattress is larger than most of the US mattress companies, more material = more money. I imagine an emperor sized mattress would be similarly or more expensive from Purple. I would've gotten slightly better ROI per size had I made my bed larger due to the aforementioned discarded buckling column gel. Plus I needed to get nonstandard custom sheets and a custom sized encasement.
- Alupis 5y agoSome things are simply not worth skimping on. A good quality mattress, where you spend 5-8 hours every day - is one of the areas where skimping is not worth while in my opinion. Same with computer chairs, or any other thing that impacts back and joint health over prolonged periods.
- User23 5y agoI’m under the impression that sleeping on rough ground actually produces the greatest long term health benefits. Much like how sitting in a plush chair isn’t all that healthy really.
- EastOfTruth 5y agoIn my experience, paying more for a mattress doesn't necessarily equal to more comfort and I have no aches sitting all day in a cheap height-adjustable captain chair on wheels if I make sure that the arm rests are at the same height as the keyboard tray.
- chrisBob 5y agoI am very interested in the buckling gel, and I have considered getting a mattress from Purple a few times. Is it a significant upgrade from memory foam?
- MiddleEndian 5y agoIt's somewhat subjective of course, but for me it's a huge upgrade. Form-wise, memory foam will respond to your positions but I feel like it's very slow and I also feel like I'm slowly sinking downward forever when I sleep on memory foam. Buckling gel responds very quickly, latex does as well. Latex is more springy, makes for a good core and isn't too bad to sleep on directly itself either, but buckling gel really fills in gaps and is super supportive. Temperature-wise, memory foam makes me very hot when I sleep and I dislike that. Latex is much cooler and buckling gel even cooler than that. (Everything I said about latex applies to polyurethane, which I believe Purple uses for its core rather than latex)
- MikeKusold 5y agoPurple is carried by some mattress stores. When I laid on it, I immediately didn't like it. It has an unstable feel to it because of the grids.
- thethethethe 5y agoI had a purple 2 king and it was very comfortable but the motion transfer was bad. I suggest getting something else of you have a partner and a couple of grand to spend
- dsauerbrun 5y agoI can't imagine needing a bed like that for any other reason besides hosting giant orgies. I hope your ridiculous bed brings you many more years of enjoyment!
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- almog 5y agoEither that or residents of Wyoming: https://sleepboutique.ca/alaskan-king-wyoming-king-beds-aka-family-beds-really-exist/ https://sleepboutique.ca/alaskan-king-wyoming-king-beds-aka-... Alaskans will not ""sleep"" in beds smaller than 9' x 9' it seems.
- math0ne 5y agohaha, that video is hilarious!
- jimt1234 5y agoWait. Are you my kid? Oh well, go to sleep. LOL
- White_Wolf 5y agoChrist... that 9x9 bed is almost as big as our bedroom(30cm left to the wall).
- MiddleEndian 5y agoWell, no comment on that one! :P But I do enjoy the bed quite a bit lol
- beervirus 5y agoMy wife and I sleep in a regular king, and it would be nice to have more room. I like spreading out at night, arms and legs everywhere. She doesn’t appreciate it.
- lapetitejort 5y agoIs there an authority on mattress size naming standards to whom I may offer a suggestion? Having just read Julian by Gore Vidal, I learned that a few centuries after Caesar and Augustus, the title of Caesar ranked below that of Augustus (well played, Gaius Octavius). I suggest King->Caesar->Augustus. However if we want to get into semantics, the word King descends from the word Caesar. Perhaps replace King with Minister, and Queen with Representative?
- violiner 5y ago"King" is derived from Old English "cyning". Some similar words (Tsar and Kaiser, for example) derive from "Caesar", but "king" isn't one of them.
- Jtsummers 5y agoYou beat me to it. Only fresh in my mind because of the Anglo-Saxon and Latin discussions also on the front page right now (I'd grabbed a couple books off the shelf and was trying to read them, I've forgotten a lot in 15 years and didn't make it far).
- violiner 5y agoHigh fives none the less.
- dorfsmay 5y agoI'd much prefer 2x3 fora 2m by 3m bed. Poetic names confuses me: Why is a twin different than a double but the exact same thing as a single? Call them by their size, done.
- MiddleEndian 5y agoIf I do make that 8'4"x8'4" mattress I'll call it an Augustus as you suggest.
- twic 5y agoCan we have one the same width as an emperor but shorter, and call it the Napoleon? (yes, I know it's a myth; I am doing my bit to preserve it)
- goldcd 5y agoAs an entirely subjective point - I went from fully sprung, to a Tempur (all foam) and both had benefits and both weren't 'right' Currently have a 'Simba' (Just one of the UK's many internet mattress brands) which has coil+foam - https://simbasleep.com/products/mattress https://simbasleep.com/products/mattress and think it gives the best of both worlds. Sorry, I now realize this sounds like an advert - but I'm fascinated how 'online mattresses' have become 'a thing' Previous online examples (say amazon with books) were just higlighting that online can provide the same item you could checkout offline, for less. Mattresses should be an item you have to check out in person - but due to the outrageous markups, people will now happily buy sight-unseen online.
- rootusrootus 5y ago> due to the outrageous markups Not only that, but traditional mattress shops still use some of the highest pressure sales tactics I've experienced. It only takes once to make you never want to set foot in one again.
- svachalek 5y agoIt's interesting how entire industries take on a personality. Like, there's plenty of competition or seems to be, and yet pretty much any mattress store you go into feels the same. And if I take my car to a body shop, pretty much any body shop, I almost feel like I need to call the police.
- stainforth 5y agoThere's no such thing as competition in markets anymore
- snegu 5y agoI actually recently bought a mattress at a local shop for my son, and it was one of the nicest shopping experiences I've had. He kept trying to guide me to the cheaper options because that's all a kid needs. He also had a bunch of religious stuff around, so I think he felt it was part of his Christian mission to give people fair treatment. Either way, next time I need a mattress I will go there.
- aroundtown 5y agoThe one question I wanted answered, how good is the sex on a mattress this big. Nobody talks of how foam mattresses change the dynamics of sex. Gone is the nice bounce back from the coils. Instead you get the firm motion deadening of the foam. Participants expecting to find that extra spring in their step find they have to provide their own bounce. I hope your muscles are up for it. I personally don't having sex on a foam mattress. I think those seeking a foam mattress should consider keeping around a spare coiled sex bed. Call it your guest bed if so inclined. It will be there for you, providing that extra spring you may be missing from you foam mattress.
- justinpombrio 5y ago> Nobody talks of how foam mattresses change the dynamics of sex. https://www.sleeplikethedead.com/mattress-sex.html https://www.sleeplikethedead.com/mattress-sex.html
- paulcole 5y agoThe WSJ also covered this in 2012: https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-HEB-49292 https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-HEB-49292
- EastOfTruth 5y agono need for a mattress.. try this: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Sex-Adult-game-Hanging-Door-Swing_1700000515200.html https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Sex-Adult-game-Hangin...
- jamiek88 5y agoYeah but grandma is reluctant to use that when she stays over. Something about her hip.
- brailsafe 5y agoI much prefer having quieter mattress and strong muscles. Easy enough to get the best of both.
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- jbelich 5y agoI did something similar to you, except I used progressively less dense layers of latex (also from foamorder.com). CalKing rather than anything larger, but I've considered larger and I've been thinking it's better to make an Emperor or Caesar size formed from two halves. it's been 10 years btw since I build mine. There's a slight give in the densest lower layer but it's held up enough that I still only really need to replace the top layer to get it back up to snuff. My question: how in the hell do you afford sheets that size? lol
- MiddleEndian 5y ago>size Foamorder's max latex size is king or cal king but they were willing to glue a bunch of chunks together for me. I'm not sure what glue they used (presumably latex?) but it's held without issue. I cannot feel the dividing between the latex chunks under the buckling gel while in the bed. >sheets I ordered two sets of bamboo bedsheets from that Advanced Bedding and they've lasted me all this time without ripping or stretching or anything. I usually leave the comforter at the foot of the bed when I get up so that probably helped them air out. Can't remember how much they cost but you can run the numbers on their site.
- TacticalCoder 5y agoSpeaking of king / emperors: aren't these term referring to different sizes depending on the country? For what it's worth I have a "2m x 2m". That's very big for many european countries: it's actually a bit complicated to find mattresses / sheets for such size (typically you need to order them and wait a bit), while if you go with the more standard "180cm x 200cm" you've got sheets and mattresses on display in many shops.
- MiddleEndian 5y ago> Speaking of king / emperors: aren't these term referring to different sizes depending on the country? Even within the UK bed size section of Wikipedia they couldn't decide if an Emperor was 7'x7' (213x213) or 6'8"x6'6" (203x198), although most UK websites seem to use the 7x7 definition. >find sheets I had to order custom sheets online and when I eventually need to replace them I'll have to do it again. They called me to verify that my order was correct, and I assume they will the next time too lol
- rbobby 5y ago> the mattress weighs about 300 lbs That's ridiculous.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- chadlavi 5y agoI'm not sure that my king size online millennial hipster brand mattress weighs too much less than this!
- wellthisisgreat 5y agoDoes someone have a good advice on getting a mattress in US bypassing the whole mattress-sale industry that sells a piece of memory foam wrapped in their advertising budget and “long sales cycle”? Ordering a slab of foam from a foam factory, etc?
- MiddleEndian 5y agoYou can get a slab of latex from foamoarder, which is how I got my mattress core. Honestly that alone would make a solid mattress on its own, although you'd still want an encasement I imagine. If you want something more specific, check out the mattress underground forums. Very helpful users there.
- _tom_ 5y agoI simply ordered a foam mattress from a foam mattress company. Saved me all the hassle of figuring out what type of foam and cover etc. still only ten percent of the price of a fancy mattress from a mattress store and took ten minutes on amazon. I doubt it's that much more expensively than a comparable block of foam. (I think it has multiple layers, as well). Three years in, no problems. Good mattress.
- wellthisisgreat 5y agodo you mind sharing which company? As that is approximately how I would want to go about it. Oh I assume foamfactory.com Looks really reasonable pricing-wise
- swayvil 5y agoInspiring. I am inspired. Also I can smell the outgassing volatile organic compounds from here.
- baby 5y agoI’m so disappointed with foam mattress, there’s no firmness that is satisfactory. I tried some hybrid beds are IKEA that were really dope and I’ve been thinking about changing mattress.
- busterarm 5y agoThe saatva hd is very firm. Not the firmest thing I've ever slept on but close.
- Der_Einzige 5y agoI see folks here talking about different sheets and custom ordering. I've had the luxury of owning real silk sheets. I can't go back from that experience. Do silk sheet manufacturers do custom orders? I love the idea of building an emporer sized bed from scratch like this but the sheets are a huge deal...
- wyclif 5y agoIn the Philippines, I don't think these will catch on even though in this culture it's common for large families to sleep together in the same bedroom. These beds are simply too big to fit in the typical Filipino bedroom.
- andrew_ 5y agoI love the internet for all of the random stuff you see. It's wild to see this post surface on HN - three years ago I was researching Purple brand beds and stumbled across OP's blog post about their build. The content ended up being what pushed my wife to "OK, fine" from "Not on your life." And we ended up giving the Purple a try. (It didn't work out, but still wild how this comes full circle)
- MiddleEndian 5y agoJust out of curiosity, did you and your wife come across it on HN or elsewhere?
- andrew_ 5y agoElsewhere, via a Google search about the gel honeycomb material IIRC
- MiddleEndian 5y agoInteresting. My original article is apparently about 30 entries down on a google search for buckling column gel.
- new_realist 5y agoIs it legal to build your own mattress without treating it with flame retardant chemicals? I presume so.
- barbegal 5y agoYes but you just can't sell it as a mattress
- MiddleEndian 5y agoThe encasement I used for the mattress has flame retardant properties. Like barbegal mentioned, there are some safety requirements for selling a mattress. I don't recall exactly how you'd get approved, but I vaguely remember that it wasn't actually that hard to meet them and had the production quality of my mattress been a bit better I probably could have gotten the approval to sell it.
- saimiam 5y agoFor everyone struggling to find the perfect mattress for you - foam vs memory foam vs latex foam vs cotton packed vs coil spring - I found great results with Sleepnumber mattresses. My biggest regret of moving back home from the States was that I didn’t ship my sleepnumber mattress home because it cost so much. Sleepnumber stores look (and probably are) gimmicky but man, the first couple of nights I slept on them, I didn’t know when my head hit the pillow and when morning came. I truly understood what “sleeping like the dead” means. Now I’m planning to somehow insert a thin air mattress into my current latex foam mattress for extra back support.
- dominotw 5y ago> Sleepnumber stores look (and probably are) gimmicky this is why i never considered them. I hate hard sells more than i love sleep.
- saimiam 5y agoI am mostly the same way but when I bought my first Sleepnumber, I was really struggling to sleep. Personally, I’m glad I made the switch to their mattresses though I’m back to a latex foam mattress now (after relocating) and so, I no longer know what a good night’s sleep feels like.
- noir_lord 5y agoI have spine issues (syringomyelia) and tried a bunch of mattresses. The best thing I found was a really hard spring mattress with a 2" memory foam topper, it offers the support I need but also takes the pressure spots.
- adamkrez 5y agoIt's really surprising to me that mattresses larger than a king/cal king are not more common. When I was single and sleeping on a full size mattress, that felt pretty good. Now that I have a partner and we upgraded to a king, I actually have LESS space since there are two of us sleeping in a bigger mattress. A king split between two people means that each person has the width of a twin size mattress. In my opinion, this is entirely inadequate and is a massive downgrade to me. A full size mattress is 54" wide, so for each person to get the equivalent of a full, you'd need a mattress that's 108" wide (Alaskan King size.)