Memory Foam Mattress Topper

[Kevin Henderson]

The Admiral and I have been spending more time on weekends and any other chance we get to stay the night on the boat.  We're really getting hooked with the comfort of the V Berth and amazingly relaxing general feel of the boat "on the hook and off the grid" (Wow!! I should trade Mark that last little line  )

However, the standard cushions have a tendency to become a bit too stiff in the night.  I had read the thread about cutting a memory foam topper to cut to fit and place under the cushions.  Costco had a great deal and we purchased a NovaFoam 3" Memory Gel (California King size  .  Unfortunately we do not have an electric knife as was mentioned to cut the memory foam to size.  

Has anyone had any success with another method?  Or am I resigned to get an electric knife.  

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Kevin,
That was my post you are referring to and the electric knife I was refering to is a common electric knife for carving turkey or roast but I'm sure you could use any knife thats sharp enough to cut through it as long as there isn't actually a liquid gel involved. We also put our memory foam on top of the original mattress but you could do it either way depending on how you like it. You sink into the memory foam more than the original.  Hope that helps somewhat.

Mike

[Brad Young]

We bought the same memory foam from Costco.. We used a bread knife (manual) no problem.
1)We place the foam on the dock..
2)placed the cushions on top.
3)Traced the outline with a sharpie.
4)then used the bread knife..
5) worked great..
6) we have placed the foam on top of the cushion.
7) we have slept on it every night since jan. We are live aboards

[Fred Koehlmann]

We added the foam topper last year as well, and did almost to the letter as Brad described. I was also able to cut the hull edges on a light angle to better it up against the edges.

I our case it provided the extra padding that your hip or shoulders didn't make it through to feel the hard below, but we did not find that it provided enough support. Maybe we needed a "stiffer" memory foam, but we might be looking at a custom mattress. Maybe next season. We're not live-aboards, so maybe we're too use to the mattress a home 

[Gary]

Foam cuts very nicely on a wood cutting band saw. Added advantage is to tilt the table for an angle cut to accommodate V berth hull shape angle. The mattress is best if a tight fit at the port and starboard side.

Gary

[Indian Falls]

We did the 2'' memory foam last season in the V berth and this season in the aft cabin.  Best arrangement in my opinion is memory foam on top of the original cushions.  Our guests raved about how comfortable the aft cabin was.  An electric carving knife is all you need..   cuts like butter at any angle...   So much for the 1000$ custom mattress idea!

[DarthOccam]

We added a memory foam topper from Target.  To cut it, placed it on top of the original innerspring mattress, marked it, snapped a chalk line so I would cut straight, and used a large pair of tin snips.  (Would have used an electric carving knife if we had had one.)

Michael

[Terry Forshier]

we used memory foam for a few years and it was comfortable but deteriorated over time. Maybe because of the hot climate in SW Florida. So we ordered a tufted topper. It is ok but the memory foam was softer and more like our bed at home. we cut ours (ordered on line from overstock.com) with scissors.

[ghebbns]

Was in Walmart and they had 1.25 inch memory foam toppers on sale for $29 (all sizes).  I didn't expect much from these but for this price I figured I couldn't go wrong.  I bought a king for the v-berth and a queen for the aft-cabin.  Didn't need to cut the queen as the excess easily folded under the cushions.  The v-berth one cut easily with scissors.  Haven't slept on them yet but initial impression is that they do help.  For $60 total, I am very happy.

G

[Kevin Henderson]

So I took the California King Nova Foam Mattress topper to the boat today.  WOW!! this thing was packed tight and alot heavier than I thought it would be.  The Catalina 34 V Berth measurements are very very large and comfortable ... and we already know that.  The trick is to cut the foam mattress into as few of pieces as neccessary.  The mattress itself is not a huge investment but at $130  Its also not a small one.  The Admiral wants me to be certain that the cuts are exact!.  
This is how I've come out so far.  Taking Mike's advice, I laid out the cushions on the dock on top of the memory foam mattress.  I then took a sharpie to mark where I'm going to cut.  
I have not actually cut the mattress yet since I need to go out and buy an electric knife.  (I really want a smooth edge).  
I'll let everyone know how it comes out after the cutting.

Boy what a guy will do for a good nights sleep.  

[Fred Koehlmann]

Kevin, we did it just like that... laying it out on the dock and then outlining it. But we did not bother with an electric knife. A sharp carving knife worked for us. Just don't force it... let the knife do the cutting while you saw it back and forth.

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Kevin,
I must have somehow got a bigger mattress than yours because I remember being able to cut it in one piece, including the filler piece. Wish I could loan you my electric knife but I don't get to SD as much as I used to. If you have access to a recipricating saw(sawzall)I believe they have a knife blade available for them but you would need a helper to handle both the matress and saw together.

Mike

[patrice]

Hi,
We also did the memory foam topping.
We bough the 3 in. at a walmart.
But I cut mine in just one big v shape.  Not the 3 pieces separately.
So no issue of having the hole in between the matress and getting stuck

And since i did not an electric knife, i just brough a good bread knife, the toot are long and smooth and make a nice cut.  As mentioned earlier, let the knife work it's way.   And once you put the sheets on top, voila, you won't see the cut anyway.   

[Kevin Henderson]

Made the final cut to the memory foam over the weekend.  The Admiral had final oversight and shot down my idea of the 3 separate pieces as the previous pictures indicated.  However, by having the layout done in a single large cut with only 2 small pieces to the side the results were amazing. 
We immediately put a fitted sheet to it and now it seems are bed in the boat is giving our bed at home some serious competition for comfort. 
The next project is customizing a fitted cover over the memory foam.  Awesome!!    

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Kevin, before you buy or make fitted sheets, you may want to try just buying king size flat sheets and tuck in the excess around the sides, even if its just temporary. Of course the final test is to be able to bounce a quarter off it. One more idea.

Mike