hi there - thanks to the information i obtained here, i bought a latex mattress about a year ago.
custom made at sleepworks north of toronto, i got an affordable bed made of 3" rigid polyfoam base with 6" dunlop latex support layer covered in cotton. instead of having a comfort layer built in, he recommended seeing if the mattress was good as is, then adding a topper if necessary. (my girlfriend, feeling my previous traditionl mattress was too soft, prompted me to explore a better bed in the first place).
i felt the latex alone was too firm, so the sleepworks guy built me a covered 2" memory foam topper. i didn't love the cover (hardened the topper) so i ripped it open and used the foam over my latex and under my mattress cover and sheet. this has been quite comfortable, but the girlfriend still prefers her bed which seems to be a cheap ikea thing with a thick, very firm memory foam on top.
we recently tried a 3" gel memory foam topper from costco which seemed of good quality, but too thick and soft.
next step was going to be to ask sleepworks to buy a 2" slab of talalay, but their number seems to be disconnected.
so now i'm looking at the offerings from "sleeponlatex.com" (or their ebay store).
my question is - given the situation "solid latex foundation, 1 person likes bed firmer than the other" should i try 1 or 2 inch latex top, and in soft or med? my initial inclination would be 1"/soft. but i hesitate.
i feel like a thicker top reduces the force applied to the main support latex too much - the comfort top bottoms out, but there is not enough pressure left to really "activate" the main section and it creates a pressure point. sleeping directly on the 6" of firm dunlop actually reduces pressure points by allowing the mattress to conform and support, but it misses that soft feeling i have experinced trying high end softer latex mattresses.
thanks for any ideas - this place is an incredible resource.