The mattress topper debate

[BikerGran]

I'm not sure what mattress I have, it's in 3 sections (joined), grey, quite heavy, and all sections are the same depth.

Whatever, it's not going to be any good for me for more than one night, if that, as it doesn't suit my arthritic hips.. What I hope to do is to remove that entirely and buy a cut to size mattress with an inch of firm foam topped with 2 inches of memory foam, also having that cut into 3 sections, and use a duvet cover as a cover for it, so I can still fold it flat in the back.

I just wondered if anyone else has done similar, before I take the plunge?

 

[briwy]

We have the VW comfort mattress because it came with the ex demo van and don't find it too bad. We normally sleep in the top where we have Comfortz mattress which is excellent.
In our previous Cali when sleeping downstairs we pulled the Comfortz mattress out of the roof and used that. Easy to do as the Comfortz mattress (unlike the standard VW one) is in two parts so easy to move around without a fight.

 

[Kmann]

Today we went to the local "mattress custom shop". We tried differend thickness with the roof down, and since the roof gets slightly closer to the car at the rear end, it is not possible to get much more material in there, than the original 5 cm mattress.

We really want to travel light, so we decided to change the foam in the main mattress to a softer type. For sure it is not the ultimate solution regarding comfort, but it might safe us from driving around with the zone sleep or other extra.

The owner of the shop, advised us not to go for a latex/memoryfoam type. It would get way to hot in the summer. And not thick enough to give comfort. Ill be back with update ;-)

 

[Kmann]

BTW … I also found this product, and it strikes me the high is 7 cm. I am not sure how it possible could fit. Maybe there is more space in the T5 - i find it hard to believe?

http://www.frankana.de/Technology/Interior/Mattresses/Special-Mattress-VW-T5-California-36905-EN-FRA

 

[AlisonF]

I don't think that the zonesleep can remain in place with the roof closed.

the zone sleep topper can remain in place if you have the thinner mattress under it. Then it is very comfortable.

 

[Astronomy]

can the zonesleep stay in the top bed when the roof is closed?

 

[shudycamps]

We really enjoyed the extra bit of comfort the self-inflating topper from Calitop.eu gave us. I did not use a fitted sheet on it and the material it is made out of kept us cool. Much appreciated in southen France and Spanish summer heat. After the roog incident with leaving the pillows up top and their lack of compression, I vetoed leaving the topper in situ up top. Deflated, it takes very littleup on the seat bench - sort of sleeping bag size.

 

[Paulro]

can the zonesleep stay in the top bed when the roof is closed?

Not with the standard VW mattress.

 

[leightonjthomas]

Y

can the zonesleep stay in the top bed when the roof is closed?

Yes, as long as it's on top of the thinner Comfortz mattress.

 

[Astronomy]

ahh ok, it will be on top of std cali matress so looks like a storage job.. cheers

 

[Kmann]

We just spend 4 weeks straight with our modified mattress. As told, we just exchanged the foam in the original matress for a slightly softer form. And added a thin topper with cooling abilities from IKEA. It worked very well on our roundtrip in southern europe. And it might be the cheepest solution after all.

 

[2into1]

the zone sleep topper can remain in place if you have the thinner mattress under it. Then it is very comfortable.

I reported this on a different thread, but if you only use one bed at a time, but vary your choice, there is another option.
Store the original vw upstairs mattress at home in the loft, and put the upstairs zonesleep directly on the bed slats, then put the downstairs zonesleep on top of that. The combined thickness is the same as the original foam mattress so you can close the roof with them both in place.
If you wish to sleep upstairs you are sorted. If you wish to sleep downstairs, just pull the downstairs topper (which is on the top) downstairs.
It does mean that you don't have to store your downstairs zonesleep on the parcel shelf during the day.

I wouldn't claim this discovery justifies buying 2xzonesleeps, but if you had two, or was offered a cheap pair like I did, it's a space saving option.

 

[Walrus]

It's worth looking at IKEA single duvets/covers because they are larger than the UK standard - 150cms as opposed to 135cms. That almost six inches . I don't have much luck with vacuum bags. I use drybags with a roll top. Stuff a duvet in, sit on it and seal it up. It works for me. Cheap enough in Sports direct. I think I use a 40L one for my duvet.

 

[2into1]

On the same theme, the ikea 9cm fitted sheet isn't bad for the zonesleeps. Still quite a way perfect, but better than anything else I had in the linen cupboard.

 

[Walrus]

Linky to the drybag

http://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-dry-bag-784313

 

[Velma's Dad]

+1 for drybags. Shove the duvet etc in, kneel on it to squash it, roll up the top, click and done.

 

[Erbster]

Am I missing something, but on my MY17 Ocean, when the metal parcel shelf is on the higher setting it is higher than the level of the seat, the only way to make a flat bed in my Cali with the shelf on higher setting would be to have some kind of mat/topper that is the same as folded down seat only. I have a zonesleep and no comfort mattress


Charles

 

[Mark Garrett]

Would you reccomend buying the comfort mattress from VW? £234 with VAT I think!

I missed this from my Cali order, which would have been £234, now the configurator says £258 and yet from the dealer as an after-market item, its quoted at £474+VAT = £570!

We used one on ahire and it was fine. The standard doesnt cover the seatbelts/seats when folded flat, so would be very uncomfortable...

 

[JohnnyP]

Hi all,

We're about to take possession of an ex demo T6 Ocean which does not have a comfort mattress. I have previously slept (downstairs) on a VW T5 comfort mattress and would have liked a bit more comfort given the space it takes up! We're planning to go away for a good few weeks a couple of weeks after getting it so need to get this stuff sorted asap.

I've looked at the options that have previously been discussed and am finding it really hard to reach a conclusion! All advice gratefully received.
Zonesleep - does this really smooth out the seat belts etc, is it enough? Like the idea of it being cool.
Duvalay mattress - seems quite good, but takes up a lot of space when stored - how much? We're likely to have a dog sleeping on the parcel shelf and another on the back seat so space is (as always) at a premium.
Memory foam from comfortz - my nearest and dearest is a hot sleeper, so I think this could be a problem.
Duvalay sleeping bag/topper - looks too bulky.

For upstairs I'm clear that a zonesleep would be a good idea, followed potentially by a 1" memory foam from Comfortz if we still need more but this is less urgent as upstairs was ok as is!

We're still debating what bedding to use. A double duvet took up loads of space during the day and didn't work that well when we slept one up, one down!!

Thanks all
Tigs

p.s. instead of storing a mattress topper on the rear shelf, does it work moving the bench seat slightly forward and storing the topper on its end in front of the wire shelf? Thinking of dog space..... 30Kg + 25 Kg of dog space, think labrador sized.

I dont want to add more confusion to this debate but after looking at all of the usual options and rejecting them due to cost or not wanting to use memory foam we have bought wool mattress toppers from the woolroom.com. Allthough still quite expensive these are cheaper than zone sleep, dont have any of the negatives of memory foam but have the benefits of wool. Comfort issues have been resolved and during a recent 2week trip to France I didnt get too hot. The only issue is my OH felt the need to make covers for the toppers.

we leave them in place during a stay and only pack away the upstairs cover in its own bag when moving on. The lower folds up with the vw comfort mattress

I am not stating that these are the answer for everyone as they do not solve every issue with toppers but I think they are worth considering depending on individual priorities.

 

[JohnnyP]

I missed this from my Cali order, which would have been £234, now the configurator says £258 and yet from the dealer as an after-market item, its quoted at £474+VAT = £570!

We used one on ahire and it was fine. The standard doesnt cover the seatbelts/seats when folded flat, so would be very uncomfortable...

Its not unusual for a dealer to charge approx double the factory fit price when retro fitting factory options. The Ormister roll out awning is another example that my dealer doubles the cost of.

 

[Erbster]

I don't know if it's a dealer thing or a VW thing. When we ordered our Ocean (without comfort mattress) he said to be sure because it was much more expensive if bought later as an accessory


Charles

 

[Photo Nan]

Hi, not a mattress answer but we are using 2 single duvets, with pillows, put them in the vacuum storage bags and they disappear in to inch thick parcels. We have the ones that you can roll to squeeze the air out for the homeward journey. Hope that's helpful.

I notice this post was a while ago but what did you get and why? Was it worth the money and did it do the job?

 

[AnneMarie]

I notice this post was a while ago but what did you get and why? Was it worth the money and did it do the job?

Hi there, if you asking about the vacuum bags, then yes we still use them. They were from Amazon, but as it was so long ago the purchase history isn’t there. They can be used with a vacuum at home, or rolled to squeeze the air out when away. Space is at a premium for us as I’m a softee and also use foam mattress toppers. They do take up space, but I’m not willing to compromise.in summary, it wasn’t much money, and for us worth it!