Best Mattress Replacements?

[Rover76]

Here we go again. Looking for advice and experiences with mattress replacements for a PUP.
The original 18 year old disintegrating, once made of foam bricks I slept on last weekend have to go!

I have read article after article. What to do? Topper? Memory foam? Big topper to replace the whole mattress? cut something down to fit? My poor little brain is spinning! What do you like?

 

[JimmyM]

Our hybrid mattresses were fine for the kids, but the wife and I would push right through them with our shoulders or hips.
I bought a "Molblly 6 inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress" from amazon. It's 60" x 80" and is actually 3 layers of different foam. 3 inches of firm open cell foam, 2" of gel memory foam, then 1" of very light open cell foam. It's a little of the firm side. But I'd rather have that than mush.
It has been perfect. No odd smells after leaving it to fully expand for a week in the house. It comes compressed and folded/rolled up.

 

[kitphantom]

The problem is that we all have personal preferences and needs for mattresses. In addition, with popups, you need to figure out what the limitations are for closing the roof, such as using the tissue box test. Place an empty tissue box, or one of similar weight cardboard, on the bed platform, close the roof down completely (i.e. latched). the height of the squished box is what you have to work with for mattress and any bedding you leave on. Some mattresses compress more than others to allow the roof to close, you don't want too much upward pressure on the roof.
We used a memory foam topper over foam bases in both popups. In cold weather, we had to wait for gravity to assist in compressing the memory foam when we closed the camper. We could not leave bedding on the bunk in either popup, which was one reason my husband's big request, when we had to move on to a travel trailer, was for a bed that stayed made up.
We both do well with firm mattresses, with just enough sink space to allow for hips and shoulders, since we're both side-sleepers. If we had kept the second popup, our plan was to use a Thermarest mattress under the memory foam. We didn't know if we'd buy new or use the ones we have had for ground camping. the nice thing with the Thermarest and similar mattresses is that they are a combination of foam and air, so can be deflated in place for folding down, and adjusted for firmness.
We've been through a couple of attempts at comfort in our travel trailer, which came with a weird, two-sided foam mattress. One side was egg crate one side supposedly firmer, both were hideous. We tried adding memory foam, which helped comfort a bit, but made the bed high, and difficult to open to the storage underneath. We then bought foam locally, and used it under the memory foam, but my husband hit bottom after a couple of years, so I soon would have done so too. We bought a three layer mattress last year, which is 6" thick. it has been pretty good, but my husband says he is now noticing a dip developing. We've used it probably a total of 4 months between the two seasons.

 

[Rover76]

Thanks JimmyM. I like your idea. I am not sure if I have the clearance for a 6" mattress or not. I will try the tissue box test like kitphantom mentioned. I have seen it before somewhere else as well. Must be a good idea!

Our hybrid mattresses were fine for the kids, but the wife and I would push right through them with our shoulders or hips.
I bought a "Molblly 6 inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress" from amazon. It's 60" x 80" and is actually 3 layers of different foam. 3 inches of firm open cell foam, 2" of gel memory foam, then 1" of very light open cell foam. It's a little of the firm side. But I'd rather have that than mush.
It has been perfect. No odd smells after leaving it to fully expand for a week in the house. It comes compressed and folded/rolled up.

 

[Rover76]

That is great info kitphantom. Much appreciated. I have talked it over with SWMBO and both have similar needs in a mattress. I think if we get a few years out of them, we would be ok with that.

The problem is that we all have personal preferences and needs for mattresses. In addition, with popups, you need to figure out what the limitations are for closing the roof, such as using the tissue box test. Place an empty tissue box, or one of similar weight cardboard, on the bed platform, close the roof down completely (i.e. latched). the height of the squished box is what you have to work with for mattress and any bedding you leave on. Some mattresses compress more than others to allow the roof to close, you don't want too much upward pressure on the roof.
We used a memory foam topper over foam bases in both popups. In cold weather, we had to wait for gravity to assist in compressing the memory foam when we closed the camper. We could not leave bedding on the bunk in either popup, which was one reason my husband's big request, when we had to move on to a travel trailer, was for a bed that stayed made up.
We both do well with firm mattresses, with just enough sink space to allow for hips and shoulders, since we're both side-sleepers. If we had kept the second popup, our plan was to use a Thermarest mattress under the memory foam. We didn't know if we'd buy new or use the ones we have had for ground camping. the nice thing with the Thermarest and similar mattresses is that they are a combination of foam and air, so can be deflated in place for folding down, and adjusted for firmness.
We've been through a couple of attempts at comfort in our travel trailer, which came with a weird, two-sided foam mattress. One side was egg crate one side supposedly firmer, both were hideous. We tried adding memory foam, which helped comfort a bit, but made the bed high, and difficult to open to the storage underneath. We then bought foam locally, and used it under the memory foam, but my husband hit bottom after a couple of years, so I soon would have done so too. We bought a three layer mattress last year, which is 6" thick. it has been pretty good, but my husband says he is now noticing a dip developing. We've used it probably a total of 4 months between the two seasons.

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

we have an Ikea futon mattress with one topping pad.

 

[Rover76]

Good idea! Seems like a decent affordable solution.

I think I am going to hit up Ikea for an area rug for outside under the awning. Maybe an indoor/outdoor one. The kids tracked in so much mud this last trip i may need to pressure wash the thing out! We even made them take off their shoes before coming in.

 

[Ed Llorca]

Here are two out of the box options. 1) We don't have kids or guests so we take both matresses and plop one on top of the other for double thickness. Since She likes firmer and me softer I also stack a 3" memory foam slab on my side. 2) air mattresses, you can get any thickness you want and take up essentially zero space after collapsing. They can also be inflated to taste so no risk finding the exact firmness you want.

 

[JoeyTheGreek]

We only have about 5 vertical inches to work with in our 98 Jayco so I ordered 4 inch memory foam sleeper sofa mattresses from Amazon. They are a bit undersized for our layout but they are comfortable and big enough (ended up with a couple inches on each side to stash items, so not really a bad outcome).

Otherwise I think you can order custom sizes from foam factory.

 

[brettstoner]

I went custom from foam factory. Well worth it for the price! Remove matress and measure height of roof when closed to determine how much height you have to work with. In my case I went 1 inch thicker on my mattress. I have 1 inch of Lux-R foam base, 2 inch middle layer of HD36-R foam, and a 2 inch top layer of latex foam. I ordered them in king and queen sizes and trimmed to fit. I also ordered custom size matress covers I put them in. I keep the fitted sheet and bed sheet on the bed. Comforter and pillows get stored under the dinnette. It is as comfortable as my bed at home. My stock 4" spring matresses were terrible and we threw them away after the first outing. Nobody slept well.

 

[SheaLoner]

Another vote for foam factory. I'm actually considering replacing my actual matress with one of their 6" hd foam ones.

 

[Zephyr]

Yet another vote for Foam Factory. We bought a standard sized queen mattress in medium density foam (6 inches thick) , then cut it down to size with a bread knife. Then added a 2 inch memory foam topper purchased locally. I sewed a mattress cover out of extra wide muslin with a super long zipper. It's about 10 years old and still as comfortable as the expensive mattress at home.

 

[bluespruce]

We went foam factory as well. It’s a little too firm for me but way better than the factory mattress. If I was doing it again I’d go a little less dense foam on the top layer. It’s still comfortable, just could be a little better.

 

[southern gal]

Good idea! Seems like a decent affordable solution.

I think I am going to hit up Ikea for an area rug for outside under the awning. Maybe an indoor/outdoor one. The kids tracked in so much mud this last trip i may need to pressure wash the thing out! We even made them take off their shoes before coming in.

I found one for $20+ at sportsman's guide (look online). It helps a lot and you can spray it off if you need to. It folds up easily to slide right back in the door when we break camp. I’ve had it a couple of years and it’s held up nicely.

 

[djmello99]

Foam factory is the way to go. Got my custom mattress there and cover to go along with it.

 

[ejorgenson]

Another vote for foam factory. I also find it a little too firm compared to my Casper mattress at home so I may add a topper. But they are still the way to go.