Just bought a new Flobeds
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I just purchased a new FloBeds. It is the 100% natural Talalay 4 layer mattresses. The top most layer being a soft egg crate 2" piece of Talalay. I purchased the following configuration. On the left side of the bed I have a median top layer, firm middle layer, and extra firm bottom layer. On the right side the top layer is firm, the second layer is extra firm, and the bottom layer is extra firm. I felt that this should give me an opportunity to switch the layers around and come up with the configuration that will work the best for my 6' 2" 210 pound frame. It has been quite a wrestling match, reading all the different descriptions that various people like, when it comes to firmness layers. You also run into this with some of the websites. No two people seem to consider this the same way. So I'm just going to have to experiment. This is one of the main reasons that I went with FloBeds. They have the most liberal exchange policy coupled with a generous return policy. They definitely get more money than some of the other sites. But when you're purchasing something this expensive from the Internet, and cannot lay on it, feel it, look at it, and even smell it, it's good to have a situation where you can make corrections at a nominal expense. Given the fact that FloBeds has an excellent reputation with the BBB, and Dave and Dewey Turner are excellent people to do business with, it just seemed to make good sense to me to consider the extra cost as an insurance policy. One last point I would like to make. I just realize that I have been misspelling FloBeds name. I had been misspelling it "FlowBeds." Wrong! It is spelled FloBeds.com. I hope I have not misdirected anyone. It will probably take about a week to get this bed in my home, set up, and slept on. When I have had an opportunity to do this I will be sure to post back and let you know what my experiences are, as I know how confusing this kind of a purchase can be. This message was modified Sep 22, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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diamonwater wrote: I'm new here & have really appreciated all of the info on this site. We are looking into purchasing a latex mattress in the very near future. My husband has MS and sleeps very uncomfortably on our regular mattress. As for myself, I gave up trying to sleep in a regular bed at least a year ago. Instead, I sleep on our couch which is comfortable as far as no pressure points for me. We went to a store yesterday that sells the Land & Sky mattresses which are Dunlop latex. Overall the 3 models in the store were nice quality with the latex layers individually covered which seems like a good idea. However I am looking for a more cushiony feel, and I found them to be too firm for me, almost as if they were pushing back too much. We did try one combination of medium, soft, soft, that was okay for me, but not great. My husband found it too soft though. He is 6 ft, and 245 lbs. I am 5'5" and 145 lbs. We are both side sleepers most of the time. I plan on contacting FloBeds soon to check out their latex. Seems like they have a good product & customer service. From what I have gathered on this forum it seems like the Talaylay is not as dense and firm as the Dunlop. I'm hoping that will work better for us as I was not really sold on the Dunlop, but I love the idea of the latex. It's still a scary thing to buy a bed without trying it out first. I look forward to hearing how your new FloBeds is working out for you. Greetings Diamonwater: Welcome aboard our little corner of the Internet. Since I just purchased a FloBeds, and am so far quite satisfied, I am quite high on their product. I understand your reluctance to spend this much money on the Internet for a product that is not only unseen, but is not felt, and most important of all, cannot be slept on until you receive it at your home. But this is one of the reasons that I am impressed with FloBeds. As far as I know FloBeds has the best exchange and return policy for latex mattresses on the Internet. You have 90 days for unlimited exchanges. You also have 90 days to try out the mattress and if you don't like it you can return it for a full refund, no restocking fees, only the cost for return shipping. Another feature that I like about FloBeds is that on their exchange of layers policy they pay shipping to you and you only have to pay, what I am assuming, is their costs for return shipping. For instance I have two cores that should be arriving tomorrow. When I talked to the son of the owner, Dewey Turner, and placed my order he charged me $35 for return shipping, the return shipping labels will be coming with the new layers. They normally also charge a deposit on the cores you're ordering, which gets refunded when you return the cores you don't need.They are very good about this and very helpful. since this is a father-son company, and the father, David, has been in business for 30 years and is something of an inventor himself, they do everything they can to make sure you're satisfied. They have an excellent BBB rating. So I highly recommend them (and no, I do not work for them or receive any commission from them) because I believe they are a throwback to the way business used to be done in this country, many, many, years ago. You need to go to their website and check out their pricing and use their, "Firmness Advisor" I am finding that it is quite accurate. http://flobeds.com/ You of course can email them or call them personally. Usually one or the other will answer the phone. You get to deal directly with the people who own the business. I understand your confusion about Dunlop versus Talalay. I went through the same experience that you're going through now. I was convinced in my mind, from all my reading and getting samples from two different companies, that Dunlop was going to prove the better material as a base. But I am finding that by using the extra firm Talalay that it is very supportive. And that's the beauty of having a four layer mattress. Their top layer is a single 2" sheet of soft convoluted Talalay.This comes on every mattress, and is not adjustable, as far as I know. But the other three layers can be any mix of, soft, medium, firm,or extra firm. If that isn't firm enough for you they can even sell you some blended Talalay that is even more firm. But I can not imagine why anybody would need that. The one side of my bed that I currently have structured ia a firm top piece, over and extra firm middle piece, over and extra firm bottom piece, this is quite firm it seems to me.I'm going to try some different configurations as soon as my new layers come in tomorrow. There are other good niche market manufacturers of mattresses besides FloBeds. Savvy Rest, SleepEZ, and Habitat, which is an entirely different approach to the same latex mattress idea (they have an excellent website with some very instructional videos by the way) are a few of the competitors. But none of them have the same degree of flexibility and low cost in the exchange and return policy area. I'm sure there are other companys besides these four. Many folks here like to do their own thing and purchase individual foam pieces from various companies and build her own mattress. This does not appeal to me as I just want a finished product with a company standing behind it that will take care of me for the reasons that I'm trying to address in this post. If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask and any number of people will try and answer them for you. Good luck in your quest. I know how frustrating and frightening it can be to spend $2-$3000 ( for a Cal King which is what I bought) sight unseen. I forgot to mention that my California King mattress is what is referred to as a split mattress. In other words one side of the bed that the one partner sleeps on, can be a different configuration than the side of the bed that the other partner sleeps on. So basically in my bed there or seven different pieces of latex. The top piece is a full California King size 2" piece of latex. The other six pieces are divided 3" pieces of latex that can be any firmness you wish. I hope this makes sense, and that I have clarified any confusion I may have created. This message was modified Oct 7, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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Thank you eagle2 for the nice welcome & clear descriptions you gave. I very much appreciate it. This mattress shopping is something we have put off for too long, probably because of our different ideas about what is comfortable. When we were mattress shopping a few days ago we did try out a new memory foam mattress that was made partially from bio fuels. It was so comfortable and about half the price of the latex, but again I am concerned about it breaking down prematurely expecially with my husbands height & weight. We both want something more for the long haul and not just a year or two before it becomes another problem bed. It sure was tempting though. FloBeds sounds like it would meet both of our comfort requirements and give us a lot of options for change, if needed. Will post back when we make our decision and share our experience. Hope your new Flobed is still working out for you. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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Eagle2, I forgot to ask what kind of foundation you have with your latex? I was looking at the european one on the Flobeds site. In theory it seems good, but I wonder about it making noise when you shift positions at night. That could be really irritating. Also I hate to spend extra for something that may not be necessary. Maybe a regular slat foundation would be just fine. Does anyone have experience with the european one? Thanks. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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diamonwater wrote: Eagle2, I forgot to ask what kind of foundation you have with your latex? I was looking at the european one on the Flobeds site. In theory it seems good, but I wonder about it making noise when you shift positions at night. That could be really irritating. Also I hate to spend extra for something that may not be necessary. Maybe a regular slat foundation would be just fine. Does anyone have experience with the european one? Thanks. I have been told so many differing things, regarding foundation for latex mattress, that it is hard to make any kind of recommendation. In my purchase of the latex bed we included a small slat riser that I can place on top of my old water bed foundation. Many people have told me, both on this forum, and other manufacturers of latex mattresses, that a slat foundation for ventilation is not necessary if you have a platform bed or mattress box such as I have from my old water bed, unless you live in a very humid area and your bedroom is not subject to air-conditioning and proper ventilation, then you need a slat type foundation. Unfortunately I cannot help you regarding the European foundation. It looks like a good idea and might prove quite beneficial. But it certainly isn't a necessary item for your latex mattress. Any of the slat foundations that FloBeds sells should work quite well. I checked the bottom of my old waterbed mattress when I removed it from the bedroom. After 10 years of usage I could find no mildew on the bottom of the mattress or the liner. Possibly some of the forum members who have a greater degree of experience in this area may be able to help you, beyond my limited information. This message was modified Oct 8, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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I don't have the flobeds european slat foundation, but for a long time I used another type of Europena slat foundation with a completely different mattress set-up. Although it does have flexible beechwood slats, It's not the same design at all as flobeds so can't really be compared directly (I think the type of slat design I have are probably springier than flobeds. Anyway, ) I used it with a very firm thin piece of dunlap and wool pads, and liked it a lot. However, the bed was way too firm for my current needs. Ideally I would have liked to have kept using my European slats, but found it to be too springy with the 4-layer all natural talalay mattress (top layer being a thin piece of "egg-crate"). If I were using it with one less core and/or much firmer cores (I need a much softer bed than I used to), it might have worked. However, we already transfered the old bed set-up to the guest room and built a slat foundation (1 by 4's spaced 1 1/2 to 2" apart), and that feels more "solid" which I prefer. I'm still deciding on my bed and working on the layers. Will try to get back to this board and share more when the process is complete. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
| I'm using a traditional box foundation with my latex mattress. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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Today I received the other core samples from FloBeds. At my request, a week ago today, I ask FloBeds for another medium core and a soft core. I wanted to check out a theory I had based on what Habitat website had said about their #2 and #3 better quality beds. They use a six-inch medium Dunlop core with a 2” Talalay soft topper on the number 2 bed, and a 3 inch Talalay soft topper on the number 3 bed with the same six-inch medium Dunlop core. They claim that 80% of there customers prefer this arrangement. So I wanted to try a 3” soft Talalay core on top of my extra firm, over extra firm, right side of the bed. I then moved the firm core from the right side of the bed to the left side of the bed. On the left side I now have a firm core, over a firm core, over and extra firm core. This is the arrangement that FloBeds firmness calculator suggested as being the best for a person of my size. We shall see. The soft core is rated at 22 ILD.The medium cores are 28 ILD. The firm cores are rated at 32 ILD. The extra firm cores are rated at 36 ILD. All of Latex Internationals cores of botanically grown Talalay latex are right in the middle of the ILD range for the particular soft, medium, firm, extra firm ratings. I am looking forward to the next several nights sleep to see how these new arrangements work out. I will make a post letting you know. This message was modified Oct 8, 2009 by eagle2
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Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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I had another good nights sleep last night. To just reiterate, I have on the right side of my bed a soft layer, over and extra firm layer, over and extra firm layer. On the left side of my bed I have a firm layer, over a firm layer, over and extra firm layer. So the left side is more firm than the right side. And it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a determination as to which side I prefer as my body keeps adapting,(as it should) and therefore confusing my ability to make any kind of a determination. The one thing I’m experiencing that is consistent. We change how we feel regarding the sleep surface through the night. When I first go to bed one side or the other will feel better depending on how the day has gone. Once I get to sleep and have rested, my preference for firmer, or softer, may change. But even that is not consistent. Then towards morning, let’s say the last two or three hours that you spend in bed, it seems as if I change again as far as a preference goes for softer or firmer. It just is not some kind of simple mathematical scientific thing. It’s all tied up with physiology and psychology, and God only knows what else. And I am sure, that others, would have varying responses compared to mine, utilizing the very same mattress configuration as it currently exists. It’s understandable why Consumers Reports does not want to test mattresses anymore. Mattresses have become so expensive, and the mattress industry so loves to hide what they actually put into their mattress, to such an extent, that if they were exposed and criticized, Consumer Reports could very well get sued. Also, if their results did not match what their readers feel is the truth for them, they would have a lot of mad readers. So the frustration that we all feel trying to find the best mattress has a lot of foundation in fact. It’s no wonder we get so frustrated. |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
| What I want to know is, where is your wife in all this when you start on one side and decide you want to switch to the other side later in the night :p |
Re: Just bought a new Flobeds
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KimberlyH wrote: What I want to know is, where is your wife in all this when you start on one side and decide you want to switch to the other side later in the night :p My lovely wife has her own bedroom and a queen size bed. We have found that this makes life much less complicated. Our doors are always open, so there's no problem from that standpoint either. This message was modified Oct 10, 2009 by eagle2
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