Going to the mattresses

[MagicBox]

We are about to buy a used Roadtrek.

Is it advisable and feasible to replace the mattress/bed cushions?

Thank you

[rowiebowie]

I would think that would be a good investment, both hygienically and comfort-wise.

[mkguitar]

Depending on age and overall cleanliness of the unit


in my 2006 RV, the foam is "ok" but starting to show it's age- & I am thinking about having redone




I have a little carpet/upholstery cleaner and went through the entire van when we bought it- and a couple times since


I recently replaced the foam in the van seats bases ( chev) and while I had the seats out gave the covers a real good cleaning


using distilled water* for the rinse ( soft)


Mike


* I get about 2 gallons a day from my rooftop home ac unit

[GallenH]

We had new mattresses made by a local company. Many can do this. Having slept on them for 2 trips I'd say they are an enormous improvement.
If I were to do it again I think that I'd go with the Froil [?] system and a thinner mattress. Might still try adding the Froil system and see how it works. Perhaps some articulating system like Davydd current.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by GallenH

We had new mattresses made by a local company.

maybe you mean Froli?

local company who/where?


Mike

[Davydd]

I use my electric articulating bed constantly for lounging, elevating my legs, reading, adjusting for slightly front to back leveling, etc. My wife not as much. At home all our beds have the IKEA slats which I like and am considering them in our next van. They give a thinner profile than the Froli system. Our current articulating beds have 2" memory foam topped with 3" high density latex foam over a plywood base. It is adequate without any mattress toppers and such and better than my two previous Class Bs, but I think from our home experience the slats will be a tad better.

[GallenH]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

maybe you mean Froli?

local company who/where?


Mike

The Mattress Factory. It's over on the far west side of Phoenix. They mostly make mattresses for apartments and hotels. The guy there (owner) spent a lot of time with us mocking up different setups with 2 different types of foam (bottom, standard; top latex) and 1.5" 100% cotton topper. What I really wanted from them was that they have 6" pocket coils but adding foam over that plus a topper would have made the mattress over 8" thick and I thought that was too high since our feet go under cabinets. Probably would have worked. Yes. I did mean Froli.

[MagicBox]

Thank you all for all these ideas.

Ha! How bout that froli system? Customize-able lego springs. I want to buy it just to piece it together.

Got some studying to do.

Thank you everyone.

[GallenH]

I might not have made that clear. By "topper" I mean an integral layer of the mattress. I believe that our mattresses were 3" of standard foam, 2" of latex foam and 1.5" cotton topper. But it's all sewn/assembled into a single piece mattress. There is no loose topper on the top of the mattress.

[Jon in AZ]

How old? Is it the layout with a folding sofa across the back or permanent twins with bridge cushions to make a king?

In terms of hygiene only, I do not think it is necessary to replace the works. Remove and launder the covers and let the foam air out in the sun to kill odors and germs.

On the other hand if you want to replace it for comfort or aesthetic reasons, sure- you can replace it all, and the sky's the limit on how much you can spend! (Your options are fewer if you have the folding sofa.)

[Average_alice]

Our older second hand RT came with a memory foam mattress which we quickly replaced with standard upholstery foam because we often are camping in colder weather and the memory foam took forever to warm up with our bodies alone. Our bed is always out and getting the foam ourselves allows custom 3 piece arrangement which can be rotated if one area starts to compress more than others.

[GallenH]

Originally Posted by Average_alice

Our bed is always out and getting the foam ourselves allows custom 3 piece arrangement which can be rotated if one area starts to compress more than others.

That's a good point. We experienced that. Since, in our RV, the table sets up between the beds and those beds are used for table seating, they eventually became more compressed at the front edge. When we used them as beds there was a noticeable slope toward the isle. Our new mattresses can be rotated to avoid that developing.

We like having twin beds (or should I say, mini twin beds) and leaving them made up with a quilt on the top. When it's time for bed, we just slide in.

[an av8r]

On our first trip out in our new (to us) 2001 Xplorer 230XLW my wife woke up during a rainy night on a wet pillow. The rear window had a leak that had gone undetected, or at least not addressed, by the previous owner. I intended to simply remove the covers and toss them in the dryer but found the underlting foam to have some mold. After removing the mattress I found extensive mold on the plywood bed deck. I ended up rebuilding the entire deck. I got a new custom mattress from mattressinsider.com and they were awesome. They were very helpful and it was quickly made and shipped.

[tomiverson]

Originally Posted by MagicBox

We are about to buy a used Roadtrek.

Is it advisable and feasible to replace the mattress/bed cushions?

Thank you

If for health reasons, I wouldn't think so. If it is a power sofa, we found the gap on ours (2012) at the bottom of sofa back to be uncomfortable. We were going to add an egg crate but my wife rolled up a towel and stuffed it in there and that did it for us.

[ChicagoTom]

I replaced the memory foam, seat section, on my power sofa. 09 Chevy PW Lexor TS. Section was easy to remove, 4 bolts, and had a pro do it.

[Jpownell]

I have a 1987 xplorer. The bed area is 48 wide by 75 long with two cutout areas in the rear corners. I found great reviews on memory foam style mattresses on Amazon, ordered a 7 inch deep “full” size memory foam mattress. And was easily able to cut it to exact measurements with a kitchen bread knife. It came with a nice cover that we used a sewing kit to make a bit smaller for the new size.

Brand new mattress, super duper comfy, one hour work, all for $140. I had used this same mattress before so I knew how comfortable it was. And now I don’t feel like I’m sleeping in someone else’s bed!

[GallenH]

I thought I'd send this re Davydd's comment about Ikea slats. This is a guy in England. Granted........it's a boat. But he also used the slats for flooring on his inflatable. ikea.jpg

[Yoshimura]

Mattress Insider will make you a custom mattress of any form or shape. Really happy with mine. Free shipping.

[ProB]

A bed being comfortable is one of the biggest criteria in my rig. I use my van for travel and waking up refreshed for the day allows me to enjoy my ventures.

After being spoiled by hotel beds, I found a decent bed and went with it despite it being thicker than other options. I'm happy that I did.

[MagicBox]

Hey Jack111,

Glad you found something that works for you.

I am finding more and more that if I just use the thing in question for a while I might find I dont need to replace or modify it.

Whether its a car or bike or rv I tend to want to mess with/reengineer it without first giving the original set up a fair chance.

Turns out our standard issue electric fold up bed in our '12 Roadtrek is pretty comfortable. And with the curtains on all windows we can get it pretty dark in the van. We actually get better sleep in the van than in our bedroom at home.
We really appreciate the way the electric bed gets out of the way and forms couch for reading and eating.

I tell me friends a class b is like owning your very own submarine: so many systems, fluids and maintenance to tend to. Not for everybody but I like it.
After all the vehicle prep, finally being at the campground can be boring.