foambymail latex - who owns it?

[jiffy524]

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.

 

[JCturboT]

I know haysdb just ordered a topper and I am waiting to hear his review once it arrives.

Jeff

 

[schippec]

I own latex from Foambymail. I received my mattress last week, it consists of a 6" firm (33-38ILD) and a 3" medium topper (26-32ILD) . Like most here have mentioned, I have no idea where the foam originated from (I asked and was told "international", so I asked if they meant Latex International and she said "yes"). I know that the foam is not from Latex Internatinal (no serial or form number, no ILD rating) but that was not terribly important to me, they have a 30 day guarantee and the price was right. I would definately recommend the terry cloth cover, very soft and you can get up to 9" in it (not a pleasant experience, but it can be done.) Supporting myself on one hand, I can feel the floor (I have it laying on the floor at this time, until I am sure that I am going to keep it, I am not going to buy a platform bed.)
I am experiencing the same issues that haysdb is experiencing, it seems that my butt is settling lower than it ought to and it is starting to cause some back pain after a week of sleeping on it. I am not sure what is going to prevent that, sending it back would be extremely cumbersome, I am only a couple of hours away from the store, so I may drive out there and see what I can do. I am a big guy, so maybe I will order another 2 inches of firm and lay it on top of the medium. Unfortunately the firm is the highest density that they have.

 

[haysdb]

You aren't going to want to hear this schippec, but a flexible slat foundation will address both the sinking hips and bottoming out issues, or rather let me say it did for me. Unfortunately, they cost an arm and a leg.

Foam By Mail. Evade, inveigle, and obfuscate.

What does "Made in USA" mean? What does "international" mean? I think they know darn well that these terms are misleading, but there is just enough gray that they can't be accused of outright lying. In the lexicon of Foam By Mail, if the latex is shipped here from another country but sliced into layers and cut to size here, they feel entitled to claim that the topper is "made" in the USA. International could mean Latex International, but it could also mean "another country." What a great example of how some words and phrases can mean nothing.

What I am curious to see is what possible alternate meaning the word talalay could have. Their toppers are specifically said to be "High Quality Talalay Latex Foam". There are only three companies in the world who manufacture foam with the talalay process.

They also claim 5.6 lb density. Latex International Talatech tops out at about 4.8 lb density according to materials from Latex International. I believe a 5.6 lb density is not unusual for a dunlop process latex.

I think I will be able to tell whether the latex they send me is a talalay latex, because I have samples of both and there are some distinguishing characteristics.[FONT=Verdana,New Font Name,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][/FONT]

 

[jiffy524]

haysdb wrote:
You aren't going to want to hear this schippec, but a flexible slat foundation will address both the sinking hips and bottoming out issues, or rather let me say it did for me. Unfortunately, they cost an arm and a leg.[FONT=Verdana,New Font Name,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][/FONT]

I was planing on getting a bed and bed base from Ikea, but am not sure which base to get.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/rooms/bedroom/10635/

I was thinking I should get the Sultan Lade, as it says to offer "firm posture support" whereas the Sultan Lien and Liared say they offer "17 slats of layer-glued birch adjust to your body weight and increase the suppleness of the mattress".

Do you agree the Lade would be an good match?

schippec - when you say "big guy" can you give us a range? I'm average, 145lbs, but am concerned about sinking with just a 6" 36 ILD.

 

[haysdb]

How about the SULTAN LILLÅKER ? This offers the adjustable support that I think is the secret to the flexible slat foundation.

These prices are amazing. Literally a FRACTION of anything else I have seen.

 

[kbell]

haysdb - This looks like a great find. Too bad more or all of the slats aren't adjustable. Note that we are getting off topic here.

 

[haysdb]

kbell wrote:
haysdb - This looks like a great find. Too bad more or all of the slats aren't adjustable. Note that we are getting off topic here.
Agreed. There is a thread on adjustable slat foundations. This topic would fit in perfectly there.
Since this foundation is user-assembled, I wonder if the positions of the adjustable slats are fixed? On mine I firmed up the three pairs of slats in my hips area and that's all.

 

[schippec]

haysbd, I agree with you on Foambymail's ability to be very hazy in their answers as to the manufacturer of their foam. It really seems to serve no purpose, if you are looking to buy LI latex, then you probably have done your research and are going know that you are not getting LI latex. Let me know what you determine when you receive your topper. Thanks for the information about slat foundations, I will have to look into it. I am thinking that I might have to add a couple more inches of latex just that there is no way possible that I am getting through all of the layers.

Jiffy524, I am 250lbs, so at 100lbs lighter, I think that you should be ok with 6", if you start with the 6" and are happy then you saved money, if not, you can easily add layers to it.

WOW, look at those slatted bed prices, does this thing just lay on the floor or do you need a foundation for it?

 

[haysdb]

schippec wrote:
WOW, look at those slatted bed prices, does this thing just lay on the floor or do you need a foundation for it?

They wouldn't work properly without some space below the slats because under load the slats can flex downward by a couple of inches. But I honestly don't know what the frame requirements are. Anything suitable for conventional slats I suppose.

 

[schippec]

That is what I was thinking, but thought that it was odd that they would sell the wood slats but not the frame that it would go into. I wonder if it is meant to fit into a metal mattress frame. I would rather have a in a platform type bed frame, but I have never seen those being sold with the ability to mount a wood slat insert in it. If anyone has any ides, let me know.

 

[jiffy524]

Ikea sells bed frames, that are meant for their slatted bases. I'm not sure who else makes a bed that requires a separate slatted base, so you could purchase their frame and Ikea's base.

 

[haysdb]

Wouldn't most frames accommodate slats? As long as it has rails along the side?

 

[jiffy524]

In theory, yes, the only issue I am aware of is that with most IKEA frame comes a HAMAR (their name) midbeam, which runs from the headboard to the footboard to provide center support. I am only familiar with them in name, as I haven't bought my bed yet. Metal frames, I do know, offer their support width wise, from left to right, not headboard to footboard. I think that could interfere with the flexible slat foundation. I believe I have also seen metal full bed frames which do not have any width-wise supports, but I don't know if that HAMAR midbeam would work with that.

 

[haysdb]

You would actually need midbeam support for a king, since those foundations are split, but I don't think the Queen slat foundations are split (?), so it would cause a problem there.

 

[schippec]

The only problem that I see with ordering the frame from Ikea is that they don't sell a king or even queen frame. I wonder how well the slatted base would work with a regular metal mattress frame. I don't know if it would be able to flex properly.

 

[haysdb]

Why would it not be able to flex properly? What about a metal frame would interfere with the operation of the slats?

 

[schippec]

Not having seen a platform bed frame without the mattress, I assumed that they do not have any center supports. If I went with a metal frame such a this frame. It has a center support that runs the length of the mattress down the center, would this interfere with the slats? I guess it does seem that a king bed's width would necessitate some sort of support as it would be a wide span for it to cover.

 

[haysdb]

Any slatted foundation for a king would be constructed as two foundations and would need either a center support or enough cross beams to adequately support the two foundations. I don't know how queen size slatted foundations are constructed, but if they are a single full-width foundation, then you would NOT want a frame with a center support. This applies only to these zero-height slatted foundations, not to the more common "box" foundation.

 

[haysdb]

kbell wrote:
Note that we are getting off topic here.

Did we ever.