Mattress Forum

or this place has good prices:

http://www.latexmattresscompany.com/

I wouldn't go with foam by mail.  I've seen some pictures of some of the latex they sell and that stuff looks disgusting.

I have another question about foam density & firmness. I have some 3" thick samples of some latex, each are approx 4 or 5" square. Except for the soft, they all feel pretty much the same to me when I squeeze them. Hard to judge if I need extra firm or just firm, because they all feel fairly soft and squishy to me.  It occurs to me that maybe these samples are really too small to judge that, as the weight my body would apply would be distributed over a larger area, making it less squishy overall. Is that right?

Do you live near a big city? The City I live near (L.A.) has a foam warehouse (distributor) who sells foam to the public and sometimes they have latex. So you might try that route for cheaper latex.

One person here bought foambymail latex and was very happy with it. Another person posted photos that made it look like they had sold "seconds". So hard to tell if it's worth it or not. If you're on a budget and want latex, it might be okay. Look for the thread(s) about foambymail or FBM.

Another option - though quite possibly not as good - is to get the core without the memory foam attached at overnightmattress.com, just the M-Grade core, then add a couple layers of 1" latex on top... maybe one soft and one medium natural latex... Then, some day when you can afford it, you can buy a latex core to replace the M-Grade core when it starts to wear out. I think they say it lasts 10 years (?) but I would expect 3 or so years would be more likely... but I could be wrong on that, it might last 5-10 years...
 

I needed a new bed, and after doing research and reading this forum I thought I might want latex, but had never tried it before. I was also on a budget and did some price comparisons. I found if you want to put something together relatively economical on your own, go with RockyMountainMattress.com and FoamSweetFoam.com.

Here's what I did: I bought a 2" medium plush (24 ILD) Queen size topper from RMM (enter a discount code of "thanks" when you check out for a 5% discount) @ $199. I put this on top of my old saggy S bed and tried it for a week. I loved the feel of latex and decided to go ahead and order another topper.

The next piece was a 3" extra firm topper (35-42 ILD) from FSF (I didn't order this from RMM because they only carry medium plush and medium firm). This cost $400. At this point I liked sleeping on latex so much I threw out my S mattress, but kept the box spring, which was in good shape.

I next ordered another 3" medium firm topper (32 ILD) from RMM as my middle piece. This cost $304.

I purchased a terry cloth (feels more like velour) zippered case from FoamByMail.com @ $65, and zipped the whole thing up so it now looks like a traditional mattress.

So I was able to put together an extremely comfortable 8" thick Queen size mattress for under $1,000. I might end up purchasing another 2" extra firm topper, but I'm not sure I need to add to this as it is now.

I also ordered some latex pillows, which I love. JC Penney has them on sale for about $35 in Queen size.

Hope this helps!

Glad it worked out for you, Narnia. I think starting out with just a latex topper is a good way to find out if you like the feel of latex or not. I do think, however, that some people may like the feel of it as a topper, but not as an entire bed. Us, for example: We like toppers of latex but only over springs, not 100% latex or any foam.

Too bad someone doesn't sell toppers or latex component layers with a return or exchange policy...

I guess that's one good thing about Flobeds - you can try it and see if you like it and get your money back if you don't. (Though if you do like it, it's going to cost a lot more than your DIY model!) Certainly buying a topper though, is not too expensive and there's a good chance if you like the feel of it, you might like an all-latex mattress.

That is what I bought and i love it, $1500 for a ca king and that included the foundation...

I picked up a couple of these pillows at JC Penney today, they had them BOGO (so about $30 each). I will try one out for a couple days & see if I like it. I don't know what firmness rating they are, or if I'll get an idea of how a mattress would feel.

While I was there I tried out a couple beds for feel. I always thought I preferred a firmer mattress, but the super plush tops felt awfully wonderful on my back, filling in the gaps in my body. On the other hand, a firmer mattress seemed to support me better when I lay on my side. As I tend to sleep both on my back and on both sides, I am now extra indecisive! Also now wishing I'd gotten the king size pillows.