ILD 26 latex
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Since a few of us have been frustrated at the lack of availability of latex between a "firm" ILD 32 and "soft" ILD 20, this note on the home page at SleepWarehouse may be of interest: We have expanded our Latex Topper line to include the new Medium-Firm 26 ILD 5.2 lb toppers in all standard bed sizes. I will also add a plug for SleepWarehouse' prices, which are very good. And for shipping me samples of various foams I was interested in. They charge for the samples, but I have absolutely no problem with that and they are very nice samples - 12"x12" by 1" for the memory foam, and 12"x12" by 2.5" for the Energia. Heck, the retail price of that much Venus foam is almost $8 bucks. They also offer a money-back guarantee on their toppers, which is a very rare thing. |
Re: ILD 26 latex
| So are they LI? |
Re: ILD 26 latex
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No. Sorry, I should have mentioned that. It's described only as "100% Natural Latex." It's most certainly a Dunlop latex, and could be from anywhere. I do not have a sample of it so I know nothing more. Correction: Their website states: "Our latex toppers are manufactured via the Talalay process resulting in the highest quality, most supportive and comfortable latex toppers available. No harmful additives, just 100% all natural latex." That means it's either LI or Dunlopillo. If it was Latex International they would say so, therefore the latex has to be made by Dunlopillo in the UK. BTW, there's nothing wrong with that. Dunlopillo is to Europe as Latex International is to the U.S., the premier supplier of latex on the continent. I should mention that I have an ILD 20 topper and an ILD 32 topper, and they feel virtually identical to me. FoamByMail insists that's just because they are only 1" layers, but even when I fold them to make thicker layers, it's still hard to tell which is which. One possible reason is that latex ILD's vary all over the map, and can be several points above or below the nominal (mid-point) value. This means an ILD 32 could be as many as 4 points less and the 20 could be closer to a 24, and thus may not differ by anywhere close to 12 points on the scale. Something else I believe is that a difference of 4 is like nothing. I think you need to jump at least 8 points to get something that is different enough in feel to even notice. This is why Energia jumps from 27 to 35, why PU foams jump from 26 to 34 to 45 or even 36 to 50, and why FloBeds offers choices of 44 and 36 for support layers and no 40. In fact I had one of their 44's and it felt absolutely no different to me than my ILD 40, which is actually only a 38. That's a lot of words to say I wouldn't oversell the availability of an ILD 26, but it IS nice to have that option. I really agonized over whether to do 2" of 32 or 20, which is why I ultimately ended up with 1" of each. 1" of foam is nothing, and it's somewhat delicate. Had I the option for an ILD 26, it would have been an easy decision. This message was modified Nov 16, 2007 by haysdb
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Re: ILD 26 latex
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I have a cheaper Overstock 1" latex layer which is around 20 ILD (give or take). And, my mattress guy gave me a 32 ILD latex layer, also 1 inch and they feel quite different. The 32 is definitely firmer. And, the 44 ILD even firmer still. haysdb wrote: I should mention that I have an ILD 20 topper and an ILD 32 topper, and they feel virtually identical to me. FoamByMail insists that's just because they are only 1" layers, but even when I fold them to make thicker layers, it's still hard to tell which is which. One possible reason is that latex ILD's vary all over the map, and can be several points above or below the nominal (mid-point) value. This means an ILD 32 could be as many as 4 points less and the 20 could be closer to a 24, and thus may not differ by anywhere close to 12 points on the scale. Something else I believe is that a difference of 4 is like nothing. I think you need to jump at least 8 points to get something that is different enough in feel to even notice. This is why Energia jumps from 27 to 35, why PU foams jump from 26 to 34 to 45 or even 36 to 50, and why FloBeds offers choices of 44 and 36 for support layers and no 40. In fact I had one of their 44's and it felt absolutely no different to me than my ILD 40, which is actually only a 38.<BR><BR>That's a lot of words to say I wouldn't oversell the availability of an ILD 26, but it IS nice to have that option. I really agonized over whether to do 2" of 32 or 20, which is why I ultimately ended up with 1" of each. 1" of foam is nothing, and it's somewhat delicate. Had I the option for an ILD 26, it would have been an easy decision.<BR></font> |
Re: ILD 26 latex
| It could be more of FBM fudging the numbers, or sending the wrong product - they're so shifty. |
Re: ILD 26 latex
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I truly believe they sent me two of the same thing. That's how similar they are. Note that my example could as easily go the other way, with a 32 that's on the firm side and a 20 that's on the soft side, and there could be a night and day difference. I would really like to know how much the ILD's of non-LI latex vary from batch to batch. LI tests every core so in theory should never be off by more than 2. What about companies that don't test every core, or test them only in one place? |
Re: ILD 26 latex
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LI tests their whole core which is either 6" or 5.6" thick. Now, if you slice off just 1" from that core, it might not test out. Maybe particles settled more in that 1", or there were more air bubbles, or whatever. Even with that the case, I would still rather have the fabricator mark each layer sliced from the core with the core ILD on it. That way the distributor or reseller is less likely to make a mistake. In some ways these companies are not very smart in how they do business. |