It does go under the fitted sheet... It might be a stretch, but it normally works.

I had a featherbed topper and hated it. It made my back ache! It definitely didn't feel "luxurious."

I now have a memory foam topper (from Costco.)

The memory foam piece made it so I could sleep on my back for the first time in my life. It definitely felt "luxurious" and relaxing.

So, from my experience..... get the memory foam one......

(As a bonus, that should help DH's allergy problems. I also have allergies, but after the topper aired out a bit, it hasn't bothered me.)

We have a synthetic topper in my sons room and I LOVE it. It is like sleeping in a cloud. My husband likes it too. I tried to get one for our bed and the King size version of the same topper was skimpy and didn't cover the entire mattress so it had to go back. I put the fitted sheet over it and I even put the mattress pad over it to protect it. It covers NO problem. I recommend a topper. Buy one from QVC. You can sleep on it for up to 30 days and still send it back with no questions asked.

I have the one linked below although it's not on our bed at the moment. There are things I love about it and other things not so much.

I love the feeling of getting into this luxurious feeling bed.
It's not too hot even in summer which surprised me.
It is far less money than a whole new mattress set so can be an *upgrade* for less $$
I don't have allergies, my DH has pollen type allergies and we never had issues with it

Here's how my bed is set up: Mattress covered with mattress pad and fitted sheet which does not get changed weekly because it's not slept on but is for looks only. Featherbed goes on top of that mattress, in it's own cover (useful for keeping it clean) and another fitted sheet get wrapped over the featherbed ONLY, not around the mattresss. It's helpful to have sheets that have elastic all around for this. I do it this way so that I can easily *fluff* the featherbed each day - otherwise I'd have to unmake the sheet that held it to to the mattress to fluff it. Hope you can picture that. If it's not fluffed daily, in my mind, what;s the point of having it?

It does take me longer to make the bed each day with the *fluffing*.
The *fluffing* creates some dust which REALLY shows on DH's black nightstand!
The added height can make blankets short looking on the sides - purely cosmetic because once we're in bed it's fine but i do like my bed to look nice so it bugged me.
I never figured out how to clean it - it doesn't look or smell dirty but sometimes things just need to be washed, you know?
After 4 years I wanted to clean it but couldn't so it's bagged and stored. So now what? What the heck do I do with it from here if we're not going to use it again? Won't landfill it, can't donate it, although I'm sure if we dropped it on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago some homeless person would love to have it this winter!! (That's a joke - please don't flame me)
I may put it back on our bed this winter with some new flannel sheets because it's a little bit of pampering every night.

Here is a link that might be useful: Company Store Featherbed

I had a terrible old mattress that needed to be replaced. Three or four years ago, I purchased a topper that had one layer of memory foam topped with a separate down-alternative layer. I covered it with a quilted mattress cover. My bed is so comfortable as a result that I've never replaced the mattress. I bought mine on QVC and it cost around $100 for a queen-sized.

Having the topper does require a little extra effort. I put one of those waffle weave, slightly sticky rug pads between the topper and the mattress and that does keep it from moving around as much as it did without the pad, but it still needs to be adjusted slightly when I make the bed in the morning. Also, when I take the sheets off weekly for laundering, I fluff the down-alternative layer. I also rotate the whole topper once a month when I wash the mattress cover.

I don't worry about washing the down-alternative part of the topper because it is covered with both a mattress pad and a fitted sheet when in use, both of which are laundered regularly.

I have a down alternative topper that I use on a sofabed. I'm sure you've seen the Seinfeld sofabed episode. Well, the topper makes the sofabed actually comfortable to sleep on. I suspect that it would make a regular bed even more luxurious. (We don't use it on our regular bed because we have a pillowtop mattress.)

I used to have one and it just got to be a pain to lug it from place to place, back in my 20s when I moved a lot.

Not all of them go under the fitted sheet. Even if you get extra deep sheets, you can end up compressing some of the toppers in ways they're not meant to be compressed. I guess it depends on the particular topper, and the thickness of your mattress. On top of the sheet, they do move around a lot, though, so you have to do some straightening. It was kind of a pain to do that because I also had a comforter in a duvet cover, and so the comforter would sometimes get bunched up, and I'd have to try to straighten that through cover, and keep the topper in place... too many things moving around. I have since seen some which elastic "rings" of sorts on the bottom, which slide under the corners of the mattress and hold it in place. (That would have to go under the sheet, I imagine.)

Some of them come in thick hypoallergenic zip-off cases, and you can wash that. You MIGHT be able to launder the whole thing in a commercial washer... it depends. That could also end up stinking like crazy or damaging it. Generally you can follow whatever process you might use for a down comforter - which might be dry cleaning or washing in a commercial washer, depending on the product.

It really WAS like sleeping on a cloud... like crazy comfortable. I recently stayed in a hotel which had one and it was soooooo comfy I didn't want to get out of bed.

We're at the same stage as you are now, it seems... the mattress has seen better days, but it's not in terrible shape. We're thinking of a memory foam topper.

I had one and got fed up with feathers poking me while I slept. We had it on the mattress with a no-poke cover, a mattress pad on top of it and then the fitted sheet. Feathers still made it through. And all the weight compressed the feathers.
Replaced it with an alternative topper.. Woolrich... purchased from Target. Love it... doesn't need fluffing in between sheet changing and no pokes in the night! :-)

I have a feather bed topper and I love it. My setup is similar to dlm2000. I have a fitted sheet on just the mattress; then the feather bed; then a mattress protector on top of the feather bed; then another fitted sheet is on the feather bed.

I had one and got fed up with feathers poking me while I slept. We had it on the mattress with a no-poke cover, a mattress pad on top of it and then the fitted sheet. Feathers still made it through. And all the weight compressed the feathers.
Replaced it with an alternative topper.. Woolrich... purchased from Target. Love it... doesn't need fluffing in between sheet changing and no pokes in the night! :-)

I wonder if the feather poking issue is related to feathers vs down. The one we have is a 2 part system and the top layer(divided from the bottom layer) is down. We've never had an issue with feathers poking us and down doesn't have enough of a quill to poke. Once in a while a fluff of down will escape when I'm changing the sheets but that's all.

I don't think this has ever been mentioned before. When I made a trip to NZ the use of sheep skin and down were primary. Bought a sheepskin topper for my bed and it is a dream. They are not like sheepskin rugs, a different process and wonderful to sleep on.

Also bought a down comforter and pillows that have been washed numerous times without a problem. They make top of the line at a far less price than the US. Shipping was very little.

The link is from the same company I bought mine from. Am sure there are many others. Perhaps in the US, haven't researched this option.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sheepskin mattress cover

Thanks for all the ideas. I am totally lazy when it comes to bed making, so I'd prefer to have it under the fitted sheet but not sure if, with my extra deep mattress (which I have trouble finding fitted sheets for as it is), that would work. I should buy one locally so I can return it easily, and try it out.

I forgot to mention... my memory foam topper (seriously, so much better.... no fluffing required)........ it comes with its own extra deep sheet. It fits my extra deep mattress and the topper perfectly.

The downside is you are stuck with using their sheet, unless you can also find one that fits over everything. I never tried ordering more online.

I had one and got fed up with feathers poking me while I slept. We had it on the mattress with a no-poke cover, a mattress pad on top of it and then the fitted sheet. Feathers still made it through. And all the weight compressed the feathers.
Replaced it with an alternative topper.. Woolrich... purchased from Target. Love it... doesn't need fluffing in between sheet changing and no pokes in the night! :-)

I have them on all our beds and they are great! Mine are down/feather and we have no issues with feathers poking us. I also have a fitted sheet on the mattress and another sheet on the feather bed to make it easier to fluff. I am lazy and don't fluff mine everyday, but it still feels great to sleep on it without doing it. I try to do it at least once a week and flip it over when I'm changing sheets.

When we first got them, the beds looked so funny with them on. Now, I think bed look like flat boards without them.

As far as cleaning...Mine have a cover on them that I remove and wash and about twice a year, on a good, hot, sunny day, I lay them out on the deck for the day.

I bought ours at http://www.dewoolfsondown.com/ They are a bit pricey, but have been well worth it. I've been in this particular place, so I new what I would be getting by ordering it from them.

My daughter's mattress is the pits and needed to be replaced, but with this on it, it has given it new life.

I have a sleep number bed and added a 2 inch memory foam topper and a 5 inch baffle feather bed (with cover). I bought the feather bed from Overstock. The fitted sheet goes over the feather bed/memory foam combo. I fluff the feather bed every few days - it's like a cloud. I've had the down alternative featherbed from Target - it was fine but clumped and settled after a couple years. I'd look at overstock - I think for a king size (and it was truly a king size when arrived) was around $129.

iona - Dewoolfson looks like a WONDERFUL place - I've bookmarked it and will be checking them out for pillow replacements. Honestly, there are some products where shopping by price is worth it, but not for down products. For quality products, their prices do not seem out of line to me. It may be a splurge but if my intention is to get something of value that will last then it's worth it.

We splurged awhile back and bought this 2 piece one at Kohl's. It was on sale plus I had my % off for using my Kohl's card. I can't believe how wonderful our bed feels now. When we travel, I can't wait to get home and back to my own bed. I recently moved and as I was going through the house, noticed the movers just tossed the memory foam part over to the side and left it. I made sure it got packed but I just couldn't believe they were just going to leave it there like it was nothing but a big piece of foam. It was the first thing I looked for once we got moved in. I couldn't find the top layer for a few days but even just having the memory foam on the bed was wonderful.

Here is a link that might be useful: mattress topper