Mattress Forum

No I am correct with Latex international. I worked with them for years and have spoke indepth with our account rep and others at LI many times. Currently we do not offer any products from Latex international and I havent for about 2 years, but I am still very up to date with them and play golf every few months with some LI emplyoees including my old account rep.

Good idea Dave. I have learned - unfortunately - that when it comes to people saying their latex is "100% natural" they sometimes either lie or don't really know. In any case I know that in the past one could call LI and ask and they would tell you if x vendor is indeed selling their latex and which type it is. MIght we worth actually giving them a call.

That said, while I think I do prefer 100% natural latex, the jury is still out on whether it really is any "better" and "better" is of course subjective especially when talking about comfort, not about durability. At least we know LI is a good company making a quality product, it's not like it's "jungle latex" with no consistency. But even that can be very comfortable, depending on the piece one happens to get! The problem with "jungle latex" (I mean latex from, say, Sri Lanka) is that you may find a great piece but then if you try to get another one exactly the same, it may be quite different.

http://www.greenmountainorganics.com/pdfs/savvy_rest/lilatex.pdf

Latex International (LI) certifies that the compound utilized to manufacture its Talatech® natural latex mattress cores and toppers includes only natural latex rubber harvested from the “Hevea Brasiliensis” rubber tree, as well as soaps and curing agents. We do NOT use any man-made or synthetic latex in our Talatech® natural latex formula.

The majority of 100% natural latex sleep products are produced via the Dunlop process, while our latex is produced via the Talalay process. LI’s proprietary compound mix required by the complex Talalay process includes raw materials such as natural rubber latex, zinc oxide, fatty acid soaps, and sulfur, which are needed for the vulcanization, foaming, and curing process.

You may want to share that with your golfing buddies, because I believe they're filling your head full of BS. Either that or the director of operations, Anthony Mancini is placing his job on the line and exposing LI to a massive class action suit.

Interesting. That letter is dated from 2007; it might be worthwhile to contact LI and find out if their terminology has changed since then (it's hard to tell from their website). My understanding is that Talatech is the trademarked name of their blended-latex product, in which case the phrase "Talatech natural latex" is a contradiction in terms and (obviously) a possible source of much confusion. If they're using "Talatech" to refer to both their blended and all-natural products, that's even more confusing.*

I don't doubt that tjstogner's new mattress is 100% natural latex (should be, for the price); I just think that name "Talatech," used the way it is there, is a bit problematic.

tjstogner -- I hope you love your mattress and sleep great on it.

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* And that might be the case -- see the LI-products comparison page on SLAB's website. "It is great that we offer more options but we also know that we have also made it much harder for someone to decide which topper is fit for them. To make it even more confusing ... the truth is that all these foams are Talatech® foams. The Talatech® that we originally knew is now a Classic Talatech® after the advent of Celsion™ and 100% Natural."  The Classic Talatech is described as "The original Talalay latex foam formula," which is "Blended Talalay latex foam made of botanical rubber and Styrene Butadine Rubber (SBR)."

(Shades of "Coke" and "Classic Coke" there -- not the best marketing strategy by LI, IMO; and I wouldn't use the "tech" suffix in the name of any all-natural product -- but hey, they don't ask me about these things.)

The best way to differentiate between the LI product lines is probably to go by the ILD designations, rather than by the names. ILDs of 14, 19, 24, 28, 32, 36 = blended. ILDs of N2, N3, N4, N5 = 100% natural. ILDs of 15, 21, 27 = Celsion (the blended stuff + phase-change material).

Thus endeth the Morning Geek-Out.

LI uses the term 'Talatech' for both products. They use Talatech Natural when referring to their 100% latex non blended version. If refering to their 30/70 blended product, they just call it Talatech.
 

I just noticed on that webpage the manufacturer's warranty on their Talatech Natural v.s. the Classic Talatech. They give a 20 year on their blended product, yet only a 10 year on their natural.

This leads me to believe budgy's theory even more about the LI making more money off their blended product vs. the all natural. They try to sway consumers and bedding manufacturers to buy their more profitable product by offering a much longer warranty which will almost certainly never be honored.
 

Well, I'm not sure it's fair to speculate on whether they'll honor warranties that long -- 20 years is a long way out, and companies can change a lot in that time.

If I had to guess, I'd say they might, just because of my own recent experience with LI Customer Service. The responsiveness and service from both SLAB and LI were outstanding. Just FYI.

I'm specualting that they won't receive products back with enough deterioration to meet the warranty requirements, not that they wouldn't honor it if there were.

I showed this to My one of the reps and he said that this is true for some of their products, but it is a small amount. The Talalay process is just a process and not a specific type of Latex. He informed me that 90% of their Talalay products sold is a blended and synthetic latex. The wording in this marketing add from this company is a little misleading and Talatech Natual Latex Formula is not the only Latex used with the Talalay process. He did say many compaines use this to make people think all Talalay Latex is 100% natural latex and not blended.

This is what is says on Latex Internationals Website:

http://latexfoam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=69

Latex is rubber, NOT plastic. There are 2 types of latex; NR or natural rubber latex and SBR (styrene butadiene rubber) or man-made latex. All latex is either a blend of the two or 100% natural latex. Natural latex is harvested from the rubber tree much like maple syrup is harvested.

All mattress components and pillows from Latex International are 100% latex. For the majority of our products, we use a proprietary blend of natural and man-made latex to provide the optimal balance of comfort and durability. Natural rubber latex is used to provide that great contouring feel. Man made latex (SBR) provides durability and helps in creating a product that is very resilient to body sets as it can be compressed over and over and will continue to provide showroom feel.