Mattress Forum

foambymail latex - who owns it?
Sep 30, 2007 2:44 PM
jiffy524
Joined: Sep 28, 2007
Points: 28
I am hoping to order a latex mattress in the near future and am strongly leaning towards foambymail as their prices fit my budget best.  I know about the ongoing debate over where foambymail gets their latex from, but I'm willing to accept that. 

Any feedback from users who have ordered a latex mattress or topper from foambymail would be much appreciated.
This message was modified Sep 30, 2007 by jiffy524
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Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #29 Oct 25, 2007 4:42 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
I have now received three toppers from them. The most recent were received yesterday, supposedly 1" of 20 and 1" of 32. They feel exactly the same to me. I have no issue with the quality. A step below LI, but nowhere near the difference in price, which is huge. Inside a cover you will never ever know.

The question about the foundation is harder to answer. Adjustability was the main reason I bought mine, but I do not believe I have even tried sleeping without the plastic doo-hickeys to see if I even feel any difference. In fact, I question that I would since I feel the "strongback" down the middle only remotely. I suspect if your mattress is more than a single core in thickness (5.6"), you may not even notice.

Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #30 Oct 25, 2007 5:52 PM
MequonJim
Location: Mequon, WI
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 363
I ordered 1" of ILD 20 today, and I can give my review after it arrives.  It is hard to argue with their pricing.  I hope they ship me 20 ILD like I ordered.
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #31 Oct 27, 2007 8:27 AM
jiffy524
Joined: Sep 28, 2007
Points: 28
Update:  I went to Ikea last night, and turns out they DID have the adjustable flex slat foundation I wanted.  I snagged that along with a full bed frame and some other stuff.  FYI: Ikea does sell queen and king frames, though perhaps not in every model.  My next step is to sell my current bedroom furniture so that I can make room for the new stuff.  I will be ordering a 6" base of 36ILD foambymail latex mid next week and hope to get it sometime the week of Nov 12th.

I too will post a review of it once it is received.
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #32 Oct 27, 2007 9:32 AM
MequonJim
Location: Mequon, WI
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 363
I am curious to hear if your 6" of 36 ILD is supportive enough.  Are you primarily a back, side, or stomach sleeper?
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #33 Oct 27, 2007 11:51 AM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
jiffy524 wrote:
I will be ordering a 6" base of 36ILD foambymail latex mid next week and hope to get it sometime the week of Nov 12th.

Can you post a link to this product? What I see is a 6" mattress with an ILD between 32 and 38. Based on my limited experience, this could very easily mean a 32, as two of two samples I have are both at the very bottom of their ILD ranges. Perhaps this isn't typical, I can't say.
  • My LI core is nominally a 40 but was tested as a 38. LI only says the ILD will be between 38 and 42.
  • An ILD 44 core (technically a quarter core) I ordered from FloBeds  felt the same as my 38, and the calculated density was exactly the same, at least hinting that the ILD's are the same. With Talalay latex, ILD varies directly with density, according to some information I have from Latex International, so equal density should mean equal ILD. Note this is NOT true for any other foam.
But...
  • FoamByMail does offer a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, AND
  • It's not like you have an abundance of choices. One would be Mattresses.net. They are a couple hundred dollars more expensive, but they offer a range of ILD's and will do a split left and right if that's of value to you.

I will also add this, just to further muddy the waters...
  • I have 1" layers of  ILD 20 and ILD 32, and I really have to use my imagination to feel the difference in firmness. I thought they must both be the same so I called to confirm my order. They insist they sent one 20 and one 32, and the reason they feel so similar is because they are only 1" thick. I really don't know what to make of this. One possibility is the 32 is more like a 30 or even a 28, and maybe the 20 is closer to a 22 or 24. A second possibility is that the difference between a 20 and a 32 is simply not as great as I imagined it would be. Or maybe they really did send me two of the same thing. I just don't know. [Something I have not done is weigh the two. This may or may not shed some light on the situation.]
I believe this helps explain why a company might offer only a 20 and a 32 (and no 24 or 28), or only a 44 and a 36 (and no 40), because, number one, the ILD will vary so much sample to sample that a 44 and a 40 or a 40 and a 36 might actually be the same ILD, or so close as makes no difference. And second, even if the ILDs were bang on accurate, most people might not be able to even detect a difference in ILD's of only 4?

For now I have no answers, only questions.
This message was modified Oct 27, 2007 by haysdb
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #34 Oct 27, 2007 12:43 PM
jiffy524
Joined: Sep 28, 2007
Points: 28
Jim - I am primarily a side sleeper, but also sleep on my stomach on occasion.  I plan on trying out the 6" first, with the adjustable slat foundation.  If I feel like it isn't substantial enough, I will get a 1" 32ILD topper, and if that isn't good enough still, another 1" 32 ILD topper.

haysdb - you are correct, it is actually a 32-38ILD mattress.  Keeping in mind target ILD is different than actual ILD, I think this is a representation of the range.  LI says a 40 will be a 38-42 and while FBM gives only the range of 32-38, backwards engineering says the "target ILD" will be 36 ILD (since there is no 35 ILD).   While both your FBM samples are at the bottom of the ILD range, so is you LI...

I'm not worried about it at this point. Anything will be better than what I currently have, and while FBM is not LI, FBM has been reported to be good quality.  The adjustable slat foundation will offer me some extra customization, to make up for small shortcomings of the mattress itself...should there be any.
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #35 Oct 27, 2007 12:49 PM
jiffy524
Joined: Sep 28, 2007
Points: 28
Other other questions I wanted to throw out there:

Should I get the terry zip cover ($20) offered by foambymail with my mattress, or go for the one kapowlicious recommended on ebay for $32?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ZIPPERED-VELOUR-COVER-for-8-FULL-MEMORY-FOAM-MATTRESS_W0QQitemZ120175101876QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20479QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #36 Oct 27, 2007 4:17 PM
sager66
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 464
jiffy524 wrote:
Should I get the terry zip cover ($20) offered by foambymail with my mattress, or go for the one kapowlicious recommended on ebay for $32?

For what it's worth . .

Memory Foam Products covers have a 360 degree zipper.

Foam By Mail covers are only zippered at one end.  Installation is more difficult  . . the cover needs to be turned inside out and pulled back over from one end of the mattress.

Since you may supplement your configuration with additional layers, also consider a wool fleece pad with stretch sides.
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #37 Oct 27, 2007 5:06 PM
haysdb
Foam Nerd
Location: USA
Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Points: 605
jiffy524 wrote:
haysdb - you are correct, it is actually a 32-38ILD mattress.  Keeping in mind target ILD is different than actual ILD, I think this is a representation of the range.  LI says a 40 will be a 38-42 and while FBM gives only the range of 32-38, backwards engineering says the "target ILD" will be 36 ILD (since there is no 35 ILD).   While both your FBM samples are at the bottom of the ILD range, so is you LI...

Actually I have no idea what the actual ILD's of the FBM latex are.
Re: foambymail latex - who owns it?
Reply #38 Oct 29, 2007 12:40 AM
schippec
Joined: Oct 1, 2007
Points: 10
sager66 wrote:
For what it's worth . .

Memory Foam Products covers have a 360 degree zipper.

Foam By Mail covers are only zippered at one end.  Installation is more difficult  . . the cover needs to be turned inside out and pulled back over from one end of the mattress.


Actually I have Foambymail's terry cloth cover and the top completely unzips from the bottom.  My advice is to unzip the top from the bottom, open your new latex mattress on top of the cover's bottom and try and align it as you go.  It is easier than trying to drag/lift your mattress on top of the cover's bottom.  The terry cloth cover is extremely comfortable and easy to use, I highly recommend it.  I squeezed nine inches of latex into it without much of a struggle, I probably would not attempt to do any more than that.
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