Mattress Forum

One thing to keep in mind about latex mattresses.  Many of us (including me) love them, but many people also find that latex is not for them.

I was with you Pete untill you said this. You included Latex in your condemnation of bedding other than the Hastens. Surely you know, as a knowledgeable bedding person, that 100% all natural, botanically grown, latex does not behave as you have described above. you need to be more specific when you are describing foam, particularly latex, on this forum.

While Hastens makes a wonderful mattress that is all handmade, they also charge super high premium prices for their product. I have heard of prices in the $20-$40,000 range. And while they make some that are less expensive than this they are still for the very well-to-do. We have very few of those folks on this kind of a form.

"I checked into a McRosky mattress sometime ago. They have been in the San Francisco area since 1899 and make all their own parts. They are a traditional box spring and coil mattress manufacture. I called them and asked what it would cost to ship a mattress to the middle of the United States. They quoted me a very reasonable price of approximately $350. They have an excellent reputation and while they are not cheap or even anywhere near inexpensive, there are whole lot less expensive than that Swedish job. As I recall you can get there California King box spring and mattress for about $5000."

Dear Eagle2.

I agree McRoskey is a great, friendly and helpful company. I like them as an alternative to Hastens if Hastens is not for you. For your information, you can get a Hastens Marquis King or Cal-King for $5,750.

Not bad for "That Swedish Job"...

When it comes to foam, I will only use this forum to be helpful, and not combatible. My findings are based on years of research, and I stand by my findings. If you have found a special foam that does not react like all others, that is fantastic news.

Good luck to you.

I realize that all materials have their limitations. The natural fillings in a Hastens (or other brands similar to Hastens) would provide a more sumptuous feeling and would be more breathable than any variety of foam, however at the expense of not holding their shape as well (as latex) and for some requiring much more maintenance. 

I think at the end of the day...to the OP, you really have to convince this friend to actually let you use their Hastens bed for atleast a few nights to help you decide what is best. 

At the end of the day outside of something like a Hastens or Vi-Spring there really is not a lot of good soft mattresses you can buy that don't use foam of any variety....and if all other mattresses use foam...you are FAR better off sleeping on a latex mattress then any spring bed containing standard polyurethane foams.

It just seems that we have quite a few individuals who either praise or denigrate various products without being very specific. It is pretty difficult to help the uninformed person, who is searching for information on mattresses, when they do not get any specific information about the product that is being praised or condemned.

As bad as I hate to see the federal government have to step in all the time and make manufacturers do what they should do in the first place with a specific regulation, it seems to me we definitely need a good federal regulation governing the manufacture of latex foam so that the customer can see very specifically what it is they are purchasing. While the "Law Label" is good, ( very few people even know what a law label is or where it can be found) it still does not give you all the specifics you need in determining what is in a mattress. The big "S" brand mattresses are loath to tell you what is actually in their mattress. The niche market online retailers of latex foam tout their product extensively. And yet they're still is inadequate information sometimes between blended latex and 100% natural latex.

It just seems that if manufacturers have a crack they can squirm through, regarding what they're actually putting in their bedding, they will do so.

+ infinity

Dear Budgy,

Hastens Beds and Carpe Diem beds have only one thing in common....They are both manufactured in Sweden.

Other than that they have nothing in common, it is two completely different manufacturers, and yes Carpe Diem does use latex foam.

This is not the information I was given by the company that brings both of them over here for sale.  Or maybe I confused something....I was under the impression that they actually share some components such as the base of the boxsprings, and that the coil system used is nearly identical. In any event..... I still think it is relevant to say that not all foam "reacts" the exact same way.  Perhaps that could be explained more thoroughly.  Different types of foams (made from different materials no less) have very unique characteristics.

I'm glad that I found this blog as I may be able to shed some light on the subject.  Carpe Diem Beds of Sweden www.carpediembeds.com  and Hastens Beds www.hastens.com  are two separate companies that produce beds with a lot of similarities.

Many of the components used by both companies are actually built by the same vendors.  The pocket coil support system for example is made by Star Spring for both Hastens and Carpe Diem.  The hard wood base, cotton and wool are more examples of the similarities.

The biggest difference between the two brands is Carpe Diems choice to use a layer of Natural Latex Rubber (not foam) where Hastens uses a layer of horse hair. Both materials are natural, breathable and durable, but while the horse hair settles from day one causing the Hastens to slowly get thinner and firmer, the Carpe Diem does not settle.  It doesn't require the flipping and massaging that most Hastens mattresses  require and it does not get firmer with time as any horse hair bed will.

Carpe Diem was actually founded by a chiropractor who had a Hastens and liked it, but felt that he could design a bed that relieved pressure points even better. That is why the beds are so similar, he started with a Hastens and tweaked the design creating a bed that keeps the spine in more natural posture and one that eliminates pressure points better than any other bed that I am familiar with. 

Carpe Diem has even been rated the number one brand of bed in Sweden by the Swedish Furniture Industry Survey for each of the past six years.  Carpe Diem is rated higher than Hastens, Duxiana and every other brand of bed built in Sweden.

I have been importing the beds for the past four years and I am now getting involved in the distribution of the brand.

In addition, I have been retailing Hastens for over ten years as  I was the first to sell Hastens in the US, but I am discontinuing Hastens due to the fact that most of my clients prefer Carpe Diem when the two brands are displayed side by side.

Hastens is a wonderful bed and I have no complaints about the brand, but Carpe has some advantages that I prefer and my customers seem to prefer.

In the end it's all about comfort, so I suggest that anyone who is seriously trying to find the "best bed in the world" try beds from both brands and select the one that is most comfortable for them.

Thanks for letting me get my two cents in.

Jeff Klein

Svenska Beds