Using mattresses –foam, cotton, choir—what are your choices?
By kalav56
@kalav56 (11464)
India
March 5, 2013 1:42am CST
In the good old days we used to have mattresses using superior cotton which was extremely soft. Cotton mattresses would get worn out and then be converted into pillows.
After a while, Dunlop pillows replaced this in many households. Dunlop had almost become a generic name and all foam pillows used to be referred to as ‘Dunlop’.
We have had different reports about this and some have also said that this foam is not good for the backbone. Now we have stiff choir mattresses too which are better for the backbone. However, Dunlop pillows and mattresses are still popular.
Do you recycle the cotton in your old mattresses or do you throw them away?
Do you use a foam pillow and mattress or do you think it is bad for your back?
Ours is a tropical country and if even if I sleep on a mat there is no risk of catching a chill except during the three months of winter.
While there are different theories floating around, one thing I can vouchsafe for. If you have back pain, sleep on hard surface and it will get better.
4 people like this
14 responses
@celticeagle (166761)
• Boise, Idaho
5 Mar 13
When I was pregnant with my daughter and my later months I had a lot of back pain. I would sleep outside on the ground and it helped my back considerably. I think when a person goes to buy a mattress they should do their research and see which type of mattress is best. Paying alittle more for the better brand would be a plus.
@celticeagle (166761)
• Boise, Idaho
8 Mar 13
And yoga may help as well. It helps to put things where they belong. Something to think about.
@allknowing (136083)
• India
5 Mar 13
In the good old days we made our own cotton. We had cotton trees and come summer holidays we kids had the boring jobs of separating seeds from cotton. Mother used to make pillows to be sent to those who resided in Mumbai and other places as gifts.
Dunlop has been our choice for several years although I would always want a home made pillow! Now there is no one who makes those pillows and so our pillows are also of Dunlop. I am comfortable on this bed - so far so good.
1 person likes this
@kalav56 (11464)
• India
5 Mar 13
wow!cotton trees at home! What a luxury to think of these days in cities like ours.
My mother-in-law used to painstakingly refill old cotton in new pillow covers and make them new.I sleep on a cotton or choir mattress now.When there is back pain I just sleep on the floor.
@allknowing (136083)
• India
5 Mar 13
Strangely despite the fractured vertebrae I have no pain and am comfortable on my Dunlop bed. I am only careful not to exert.
We still have our old home but there are no cotton trees. The younger generation thinks differently
For those with back ache floor is highly recommended.
For those with back ache floor is highly recommended.1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
11 Mar 13
Thanks for this discussion, kala
I agree for people having back pain hard surface even floor is best, one can keep blankets on floor, in our house there are 6 , 6 feet by 2 feet by 18 inch trunks , that are filled with the thick mattresses we made, i collected pure fresh cotton from cultivators; now no one needs them, one bed sheet of pure cotton or woolen shawl is enough for covering body, my pillows are pure soft cotton from Semel plant
The ones we put on the beds are made from 4 inch foam of 27 density, they are not warm like sponge of yesterdays, they wont get pressed when you sleep.
Over this i have my mattress that produces pulsed electromagnetic field radiations.
1 person likes this
@kalav56 (11464)
• India
12 Mar 13
Your house in Sambalpur must be a huge one with lots of trees in the backyard etc..,[I remember the ghost tree also] Was there a cotton tree too ?
this semel cotton is superior to all others and is specially designed for beds.I too sleep on one; we just recycle the cotton and make them into mattresses and pillows.We use choir also.
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (46917)
• India
13 Mar 13
So which kind of mattress you consider as the best?
1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
12 Mar 13
Yes there is the semel cotton tree, the drum-stick tree with ghosts, some papaya and guava tree are still there; you are welcome Sister, Kala
1 person likes this
@mrswhitfield (2044)
• Indonesia
13 Mar 13
I remember when I was kid my matress was made by my aunty, it's cotton matress. We never buy a matress cos my aunty know how to make it and she is famous around neighbourhood for her skill. Now I am using foam matress it's more soft and comfort than cotton matress I think.
@roshigo58 (4859)
• Pune, India
6 Mar 13
Hi,
We have some old cotton mattresses and some 3 new foam mattresses. But my parents say that foam mattresses are not good for back pain. When they come to my house they want to use cotton mattresses. We use foam mattresses. One is on my son's bed and two on my wife's and on my bed. we don't have any problem of back pain.
1 person likes this
@randomarts09 (1405)
• Indonesia
14 Mar 13
I don’t recycle the old mattresses. But I did change it when it’s getting too old and lumpy. If you have a backache, I think the surface which is not too hard or not too soft will help.I still need to use mattress since I can’t really sleep in hard surface, it’s making me can’t sleep. Maybe because I have already used to it.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
5 Mar 13
Personally I think this is an issue that will never get answered depending on the type of bed you feel that is right for you. That is why their are companies out there that claim things like the Sleep number bed is best to find your number which is most comfortable. I actually slept on one once, and will stick to the more conventional.
The mattress we have is not too soft, and not too hard. Most of the time it is quite comfortable except for when my Fibromyalga is flaring up and then nothing really seems to help. But comparing ours to a hotel mattress when we are away, it really makes me miss my bed.
@GardenGerty (160626)
• United States
5 Mar 13
Often back pain is the result of not having good abdominal muscles. Our mattresses have springs inside and some padding, but we do not recycle mattresses. I do use them until they can no longer be used. An expensive foam they use is called tempur pedic and it supposedly came from Sweden and has been used in outer space. I bought a pillow out of that but did not like it. I have some feather pillows and then some polyfil pillows. I reuse that filling in decorative pillows when it gets to old and lumpy.
1 person likes this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
6 Mar 13
I like a firm mattress. Just last summer, after having been fairly dissatisfied with all the pillows I ever tried, I learned abut the Chiroflow Professional water pillow, and I just love mine. They are expensive, but
I am worth it.
@mensab (4200)
• Philippines
5 Mar 13
i get used with the foam. that is where i sleep on. i remember that when i tried to sleep on a hard surface, i had a backache and pain the morning after. my body is not anymore used with hard surface to sleep on. when i was a kid, i remember that we only have a thin foam. now, i can hardly sleep on that surface. i prefer to sleep on a thick foam.
@ptrikha_2 (46917)
• India
7 Mar 13
Well, many types of mattress are getting popular now a days. One can choose among them. I did see that the mattresses were quite firm and they are still ok after nearly four years. And people choose what is best for them.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
5 Mar 13
Hello kalav,
Our mattress is a mixture of spring and some kind of other support foam and other that I don´t know about.
Not a very good mattress either as it is wearing out rather quickly too.
My youngest has bought a mattress which is soft to lie on and when I sit on that I do not get the back ache at all I get up feeling much better.
Lots of walking does me a lot of good then I sleep so sound I don´t notice if the bed is too hard or too soft.
Pillows here are dreadful quality made of foam and they slide all over the place too even with a pillow case on so I have two or three older pillows that I wash often and they don´t slip and slide and put them in between the ones that keep going all over the place for the moment it works.
Hard surface does not work for me at all but not really soft things either.xxx
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
8 Mar 13
Hello kalav,
Sometimes I do not always but I found that surfaces that are not too hard or soft are better for me.
I had an epidural injection ages back when I had a baby and it has caused some kind of damage in that side but they cannot find it probably a trapped nerve.
To counteract it I walk as much as I can and cannot wear high heels for long either.
Also having done very heavy jobs for so long has not helped either. In the meantime better than a mattress is exercise like walking or moving around as much as I can take.xxx
