What do you sleep on?

[mantis]

There was a thread on this a while back with some members recommending hard mattresses (or sleeping on the floor). My current mattress is over 10 years old and it needs to go, now. I'm thinking of getting a kind of platform frame + futon mattress or something similar. Thoughts?

[deci belle]

I always wanted a tatami, so I made one out of 5~6 layers of burly, large appliance cardboard cartons, about 75mm (1.5") thick and cut down to the size of a full mattress. Cheap. It rests on 1x4 pine slats. Obviously, I like very firm surface to sleep on (My day-job involves sleeping on rock, ice or snow ledges). haha!!

[mantis]

I always wanted a tatami, so I made one out of 5~6 layers of burly, large appliance cardboard cartons, about 75mm (1.5") thick and cut down to the size of a full mattress. Cheap. It rests on 1x4 pine slats. Obviously, I like very firm surface to sleep on (My day-job involves sleeping on rock, ice or snow ledges). haha!!

 

Interesting, any back issues?

[Elliot]

I sleep on a normal mattress, I used to sleep with my head on 2 pillows, but felt it better to just have one.

I would go for a comfortable mattress, but listen to what other folk recommend!

[konchog uma]

i sleep on a futon. I can't stand soft mattresses.

[doc benway]

I have a very firm mattress with a pillow-top which makes it very comfy.

I use a single memory foam type pillow, also, which is great.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I like my futon because it keeps me from oversleeping.

[ATMA]

do away with sleep.

meditative lotus pose.

rest when you are dead.

[Adj]

A hard bed lets you sleep like a rock.

 

There are stone beds of jade and other minerals...

 

With heating elements...

 

And people swear by them...

 

$4k + piano movers

 

http://i24.tinypic.com/11j2byx.jpg

[Aaron]

I never had back problems until I got a soft mattress. I sleep on firm surfaces now, even if it has to be the floor. It takes getting used to, but I think it is ultimately better. That doesn't mean you can't have a degree of softness, just that you don't need something to make you feel like you're on a cloud.

 

Aaron

 

edit- The floor thing is literal... I got rid of my mattress about a year and half ago and I sleep on several folded up blankets on the actual floor. It can get cold during the winter, but it's still much better than a mattress in my opinion.

Edited November 16, 2011 by Twinner

[mantis]

I never had back problems until I got a soft mattress. I sleep on firm surfaces now, even if it has to be the floor. It takes getting used to, but I think it is ultimately better. That doesn't mean you can't have a degree of softness, just that you don't need something to make you feel like you're on a cloud.

 

Aaron

 

edit- The floor thing is literal... I got rid of my mattress about a year and half ago and I sleep on several folded up blankets on the actual floor. It can get cold during the winter, but it's still much better than a mattress in my opinion.

 

Why don't you get a Tatami mat?

[AЯAB]

Been sleeping on the floor with just a blanket under me for about 2 years now. I always sleep like a baby but lately I've started to feel pain in my hips from no support in that area. FUTON HERE I COME

[mantis]

I've spent the last two nights on the floor, really comfortable. Going to try and find a decent platform bed or futon this weekend and trash the old box and spring.

[mYTHmAKER]

I've spent the last two nights on the floor, really comfortable. Going to try and find a decent platform bed or futon this weekend and trash the old box and spring.

 

The futon as most of us know it is a western version -

Original real futons are very thin and can be easily folded and put away in a cabinet- closet after each use.

They are used in layers to determine comfort level.

They are not the heavy clumsy western version.

I found one in between the two many years ago about 2 inches thick. Still not the real thing but easier to handle.

 

So a firm foam mattress on the floor or a raised platform may be just as good.

[konchog uma]

A hard bed lets you sleep like a rock.

 

There are stone beds of jade and other minerals...

 

With heating elements...

 

And people swear by them...

 

$4k + piano movers

 

http://i24.tinypic.com/11j2byx.jpg

 

wild! thanks for the pic

 

file under things to buy if i get rich

[mantis]

The futon as most of us know it is a western version -

Original real futons are very thin and can be easily folded and put away in a cabinet- closet after each use.

They are used in layers to determine comfort level.

They are not the heavy clumsy western version.

I found one in between the two many years ago about 2 inches thick. Still not the real thing but easier to handle.

 

So a firm foam mattress on the floor or a raised platform may be just as good.

 

Yeah I know, I was looking around the net and I found the tatami mats and other traditional Japanese futons. I figure a platform bed with a extra firm mattress should be AOK though.

[mantis]

This is what I'm thinking of doing

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Better-5-Inch-Mattress-Topper/dp/B002EQAYNG/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/Fashion-Bed-Group-B51094-Platform/dp/B0015VBU6G/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1321587637&sr=8-43

 

Would that work? I'm not sure if a 5 inch topper would suffice on a platform bed, I'm not worried about it being too "firm" or anything like that, I just don't want the foam to thin out where I sleep and end up putting too much pressure on the wood itself.

[mYTHmAKER]

This is what I'm thinking of doing

 

http://www.amazon.co..._pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.co...1587637&sr=8-43

 

Would that work? I'm not sure if a 5 inch topper would suffice on a platform bed, I'm not worried about it being too "firm" or anything like that, I just don't want the foam to thin out where I sleep and end up putting too much pressure on the wood itself.

 

IMHO It is always best to go to a store where you can try out the foam to see if it works for you.

A high density foam should last a long time. A lot of them come with guarantees of how long the foam is good for.

Ours is over 10 years old and in good condition.

We have a 6 inch very firm foam which we topped off with a wool pad.

You can turn the mattress so it wears evenly if that is your concern. We don't bother.

[Aaron]

I wouldn't knock western futons. I had one that had a fairly thick mattress, but it was very firm, just enough that I didn't have problems with my hips (which is common when you're sleeping on a surface that's too firm, after all our ancestors didn't seek out rocks to sleep on), but not so firm it screwed with your posture. I would suggest trying them out in the store, til you find one you like.

 

Also, if you like soft surfaces, but not too soft, you can look into things like air beds that have settings for firmness or even extra-firm mattresses, I just know for me, the firmer the surface the better. After awhile you don't even think about the surface being hard, but rather you just sleep.

 

Aaron

[Seth Ananda]

I just love Latex mattresses... I sleep so well on them.

[mantis]

It's been a few nights on the floor for me and I must say, I'm getting the best sleep I have ever had. I did have some initial minor soreness in my hips (side sleeper, occasionally) but that no longer bothers me. I've went ahead and placed my order for the extra firm topper I linked a few posts back, I look forward to seeing what other benefits sleeping on harder surfaces brings forth.

[Papayapple]

I resurrect you, thread

I have a really nice mattress, but whenever I sleep on ones that are even more firm I need noticeably less time for my limbs to feel ''fresh''.
So does anyone know a good way to harden a mattress? Once I heard about putting birch twigs on top inside the cover, or a coconut fiber mat. Will it do the trick?

[Taomeow]

39 minutes ago, Papayapple said:

I resurrect you, thread

I have a really nice mattress, but whenever I sleep on ones that are even more firm I need noticeably less time for my limbs to feel ''fresh''.
So does anyone know a good way to harden a mattress? Once I heard about putting birch twigs on top inside the cover, or a coconut fiber mat. Will it do the trick?

 

There was another thread where I described how I engineered my bed, with many other options discussed, but I seem to remember it had the same title, if that's possible.  If not, I don't remember what it was called.  

[Nungali]

 Here is a  variation of the   'what we sleep upon'    theme .

 

I will never forget this story  -    what my friend used to sleep on  ;

 

( Reminiscing around the fire  one night )  " I remember at Baryulgil, when I was a little kid, all the people went to live there as they built us these little shacks to live in and made jobs for all the men. It was a new plan, give 'em a job and a house to improve our lives. The job was at the asbestos mine they made at the  town. The houses were basically one room that the whole family slept in.  The walls didnt go all the way down to the ground, so the  water used to run through when it rained.

 

" My job, every day, was to collect the mattresses, they were old sugar bags, potato sacks and stuff, I would take them out and shake them out and cut bladey grass and stuff them with that.  I remember , at night, the rain on the tin roof and little streams of water running through the room, so my  mattress would not get wet, I would divert the little streams around it by making a little diversion channel, around my bag, with my hand through the asbestos dust on the ground . " 

 

 

 

Uncle Lewi - still alive  ;

 

 

( " We never ate the bread they gave us, it was wrapped in white paper and when you unwrapped it it was full of that yellow dust, my sister said not to eat it, she didnt like it. We made our own bread and went  upstream to get our water and carry it back. " )

 

.....    

 

" Dust permeated workers’ houses, and women and children were fully exposed. As at Wittenoom, tailings (mill residue) were spread around the community to settle the dust and provide material for road works. Children played in the tailings and on the mine site itself.

 

‘We didn’t know it was poison,’ explained one wife. "

 

https://www.australianasbestosnetwork.org.au/asbestos-history/asbestos-baryulgil/

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-30/baryulgil-facing-more-asbestos-illness/7892452

 

 

 

Baryulgil school being built

Posted 30 Sep 2016, 3:03pm

A pile of asbestos in the yard of Baryulgil school.

 

(  James Hardie can only be sued in relation to the Baryulgil mine as a 'defendant of last resort', because of a special clause in an agreement the company struck with the NSW Government in 2005. )

Edited March 6, 2018 by Nungali

[Aetherous]

A futon that isn't folded open...so it's kind of tilted all the time due to being in the couch position. As a result, it took me a year and a half to not have back pain, but I'm finally at the point where it's pure comfort to sleep on.