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I had been given this site along with SleepEZ, FloBeds and SleepLikeaBear as recommendations to purchase a new latex mattress. I am a side sleeper that suffers from upper (shoulder neck) pain but more lower back pain from our current crappy old as heck spring mattress w/memory foam topper. My boyfriend says he is just fine on our mattress and is leaving it up to me (he's a snorer, side or back sleeper and about 200 lbs where i'm about 140), and if we are going to spend this much money i want to get him the appropriate ILD as well.
Flobeds says i should have M/M or M/F and him F/XF but i've also heard their ILD is off from SleepEZ and that i should go F/F for me and XF/XF for him? Does this sound about right? (or correct me b/c i'm getting more overwhelmed the more i read)
BUT since i'm a side sleeper i've started to read about this zoning and now am even more confused. is a 6" core good to start and then add toppers as needed? or should i really consider a topper to start as well? |
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Spoke to Sean at Sleep EZ just today to order a 3" talalay topper (they are on sale). They order on Tuesdays, so my timing was good. The softest they had in stock today (Monday) was a 20, but was able to order a 19 for me. They can special order all the way down to a 16, although Sean told me that the lower the ILD, the less actual latex, so they likely won't hold up as long. One nice thing about dealing with them is you can buy a topper and later finish the whole bed and not lose any money. I intend to later get custom his/her medium and firm layers (2 3" layers) giving me a 10" mattress, including the topper I ordered today (which comes with a decent cotton cover). I can later either get a 7000 series (7") with the 7000 cover and keep the 19 topper as a "pillow top" or they'll give me a 10000 (10") cover if I want to then put my 19 within the cover. Sean said some people prefer the first way, as it is slightly softer. Anyway, Sleep EZ has good prices on them now (around $520 for a King, $570 in 100" natural), and they are a reputable dealer. The point I'm trying to make is that they can provide any ILD you want. |
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Sall wrote: You are right about the ILD's being different and Sleepez does not have a convoluted layer on top as far as I know. Here are their ILDs: http://www.sleepez.com/mattresscomponents.htm My feeling is that 22 ILD is not soft enough for a side sleeper with my weight (or yours) unless your dimensions for the hip and shoulders (and waist?) are fairly close to being the same. I believe I have seen complaints about this on this forum in the past about Sleepez being too hard for side sleepers and I don't think they offer a softer "topper" if it is. I found 22-24 ILD from them to be too "hard" for me but I'm old and more sensitive to the feel....believe me, I've tried many combinations using different products from Flobeds and Sleepez and SLAB. I believe that I have also seen on this forum many who got the same recommendation from Sleepez (F/M/S) and rarely anything different. This is where Flobeds might have an advantage in that they have more variation in their recommendations and they have the Vzone. Along with that I don't like the wider range of ILDs from Sleepez ---22-24 for soft then, next 32 ILD for Medium---where Flobeds' range between ILDs is closer---22 to 28 ILD (for Medium). That being the case, Flobeds also offers the 2" of 19 ILD comfort layer (convoluted) on top of most of their mattresses (at least the vzone) which I think side sleepers can appreciate more. If you are going the Sleepez route, you could build your own probably cheaper with handpicked ILDs from SLAB, Sleepez, or Arizona Mattresses. If you go the DIY route, you could just get a zipper cover for your mattress and save even more money. I personally think that Custom Sleep Design has the best zoned mattress model but their cost when I called to check, was way beyond my budget. Flobeds is next best, IMHO. When I bought mine from Flobeds, the price was comparable to what I would have paid for a DIY mattress so I couldn't pass it up. I think you have to start with their recommendation and work from there. Ok now i'm more confused, b/c part of me felt that Flobeds wasn't "firm" enough for me (being a side sleeper and preferring a firmer vs softer mattress support), once seeing the ILD that SleepEZ was recommending (and for the record they were S/F/F for my BF! LOL). i am not sure my shoulder dimensions but i'm hippier than my waist but don't have a super huge difference b/w them either. Also, I was considering a DIY from SLAB, but how would you customize the sides ? i couldn't figure out which sizes to buy to have M/F on my side and F/F or F/XF on my boyfriends AND be cheaper .. i think at this point i am not going to do the zoning..possibly in the future but Flobeds said their cover for the posture select won't fit and i'm awaiting his response on how much a larger cover would cost in the future if i decide to add a layer
asotuba wrote: Spoke to Sean at Sleep EZ just today to order a 3" talalay topper (they are on sale). They order on Tuesdays, so my timing was good. The softest they had in stock today (Monday) was a 20, but was able to order a 19 for me. They can special order all the way down to a 16, although Sean told me that the lower the ILD, the less actual latex, so they likely won't hold up as long.
One nice thing about dealing with them is you can buy a topper and later finish the whole bed and not lose any money. I intend to later get custom his/her medium and firm layers (2 3" layers) giving me a 10" mattress, including the topper I ordered today (which comes with a decent cotton cover). I can later either get a 7000 series (7") with the 7000 cover and keep the 19 topper as a "pillow top" or they'll give me a 10000 (10") cover if I want to then put my 19 within the cover. Sean said some people prefer the first way, as it is slightly softer. Anyway, Sleep EZ has good prices on them now (around $520 for a King, $570 in 100" natural), and they are a reputable dealer. The point I'm trying to make is that they can provide any ILD you want. good to know...maybe i'll inquire on this as well. thanks! i asked Kristina (the one whom i've been corresponding with) about ILDs and she had a very professional answer saying if the company has a very reputable foam sources, then they have chosen the ILD that they have had the best experience with and that it is all personal (i'm not doing her justice in her response) but i also asked her about adding layers (vs increasing/decreasing firmness) and covers in the future (as in ordering a larger one, etc like i asked Flobeds)
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FloBeds ILD scale appears to be similar to LI's as noted here. When I use the FloBed website configurator, I get the typical recommendation... xf-f-m. But I find this typical recommendation to be not quite firm enough... but being typical, it allows for switching layers around to try variations, which might be their intention... to give you more options at home. If their configurator recommended xf-xf-m or xf-f-f, I would have less options to try... but those builds are probably closer to what my height/weight requires. GK |
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Thanks GK,
I realize that a slight change in ILD "might" make a difference in my preference but I shouldn't worry about that right now. AS long as either company (flo or SleepEZ) can work with me if i'm not happy. As far as i understand it, SleepEZ allows for two switchouts and that would be $60 ($30 each for shipping), while Flobeds doesn't state a max switchout or a price..correct? Is there anything I"m missing or need to know about either company before I decide? or something I"m totally missing on a DIY (only really see where the price is cheaper when you buy one 6" core and thus prevents easily changing my side of the bed if i need an alteration)
OH and i slept on the couch last night and did not wake up with a sore lower back. i.e. firmer is better for me! however my shoulder still hurt This message was modified May 15, 2012 by OCJen
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| From what I can tell, they use the same LI latex, but Flobeds has the option of a convoluted layer (which you can also find in latex beds from the Original Mattress Factory BTW). If Flobeds has a more liberal exchange policy, it's reflected in their prices, which appear to be higher (up to $1000 higher) than Sleep EZ. I know how hard it is to compare apples to apples in doing research, however. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and/or your budget. |
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asotuba wrote: From what I can tell, they use the same LI latex, but Flobeds has the option of a convoluted layer (which you can also find in latex beds from the Original Mattress Factory BTW). If Flobeds has a more liberal exchange policy, it's reflected in their prices, which appear to be higher (up to $1000 higher) than Sleep EZ. I know how hard it is to compare apples to apples in doing research, however. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and/or your budget.
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asotuba wrote: From what I can tell, they use the same LI latex, but Flobeds has the option of a convoluted layer (which you can also find in latex beds from the Original Mattress Factory BTW). If Flobeds has a more liberal exchange policy, it's reflected in their prices, which appear to be higher (up to $1000 higher) than Sleep EZ. I know how hard it is to compare apples to apples in doing research, however. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and/or your budget. I do not think SleepEZ uses LI latex - its european sourced. thats why the ILD ratings are different. I've tried both and there is definitely a difference in feel between the two, even of similar ILDs. |
| SleepEZ indeed uses LI latex. They can offer the option of Sri Lankan latex if you perfer it or they don't have your ILD in stock and you don't want to wait a week. But most of their business according to Shawn is LI latex. |
| You should call to make sure, but Flobeds only charges one way shipping for layer exchanges in the first 90 days. The $75 per layer is for the first five years AFTER the first 90 days. |
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I, personally, have a latex mattress (2in topper soft and 6in core firm) that I bought from foambymail(dot)com that is certified to be safe by eco-INSTITUT, I have only had it a week so I cannot recommend it 100% but I did A LOT of research before I bought it. If I was going to buy a memory foam mattress I would buy it from bedinabox(dot)com as they are CertiPUR-US® certified.
If you are going to buy memory foam only buy one that is CertiPUR-US® or Oeko-Tex® certified. Why? because when you buy a CertiPUR-US® memory foam mattress you can know, for example, that it is free of or is below harmful levels of toxic poisons and cancer causing ingredients like:
Low emission (low VOCS) BPA-free Phthalates-free Made without ozone depleters PBDE-free Mercury, Lead and heavy metal free Made without formaldehyde BHT-free
Protection for you investment: Whether you get a latex mattress or a memory foam mattress make sure you get a really good mattress protector because latex and memory foam will break down quicker from sweat, urine, dirt, spills etc. Protect-a-bed makes good mattress protectors but they can be pricey for some people so shop around online.
Do a web search on CertiPUR-US®, Oeko-Tex®, & eco-INSTITUT for more information about their certifications.
Considering a spring mattress? Forget it! Almost all of them are made to FAIL. They are one sided so you cannot flip them to get more life out of them. Some say they put some special foam boarder around the bed so you can have more support when you sit on the edge of the bed BUT it is really to give you less springs which makes it less expensive for them to make the bed. If you sit on the edge of you bed too much and/or for to long it will FAIL. Even if they put some latex, High Resiliency foam a.k.a. HR foam, High Density foam a.k.a. HD Foam, or Memory foam a.k.a. visco-elastic polyurethane foam in the bed it is almost ALWAYS buried deep down in the mattress so they can sell you on it and with a higher price. Then they put JUNK polyurethane foam on top of it (that is why people do “mattress surgery” and cut their mattresses open and pull out all the junk foam and replace it with a latex or memory foam topper). Those polyurethane junk foam top layers will start to break down on day 1 and if you can stand it the mattress will only last you 4 years at best even though it has a 10 year warranty. During those 4 years the mattress will (pick your word) dip, crater, canoe, hammock. Your back will hurt and you will have wasted your money.
*Please note that there are some “brand” name mattress companies out there that sell latex and memory foam mattresses that ARE NOT 100% top to bottom end to end latex or memory foam. What they do is put an inch or 2 of latex or memory foam on top of a block/foundation of some “other” type of foam and call it a latex or memory foam mattress. This still may be better then having the latex or memory foam buried in the bed above the springs BUT when the block/foundation of that “other” type of foam under the latex/memory foam collapses you will need a new mattress. The only exception (there maybe others) is bedinabox which states that their, “mattresses use only HR support [base] foam with a rating of 24/32. That means a 2.4 lb density with a 32 IFD.” This appears to be the good quality foam base with high enough specs to work as a base support system to work under their memory foam.
Look for a company that is: Safe, Secure, & Accredited
1. They are Norton and/or McAfee secured to protect your information from hackers (click on their icons to verify their authenticity)
2. They have encrypted buying/purchasing like VeriSign (click on their icon to verify their authenticity)
3. Better Business Bureau Accredited OR some other internet company rating program (NOT ALWAYS A MUST)
If the company you want to buy from does not have at least points 1 and 2 above MOVE on and find another company online! |