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Unique situation: I live in Alaska in a city that you cannot drive in or out of, so local selections and 90 day trials are not much of an option. Most place with "free shipping" are continental US, so when it comes to a 90 day trial with "free shipping" and we pay return shipping, it would be more like $400 shipping here and $400 shipping back which is of course not financially feasble to try a mattress for $800.
I was super tempted to just go out and spend $2,100 on a tempur-pedic classic. My dad has a tempur-pedic that I have always enjoyed, and laying on a tempur pedic model at the store feels awesome. It is of course also name brand, 20 year warranty, and assured quality memory foam. Needless to say, finding this website has completely changed my perspective and I view mattress shopping with entirely new eyes. I'll give my wife and my specs, our preferences, and what I was thinking. Specs: I am 5'7" around 150-155. My wife is about 5'6" around 140. We're expecting a baby and the infant may co-sleep with us or at least be attached to the bed for easy nursing. My wife has concerns with a mattress that could possibly cover the baby's face when sleeping if the mattress is form fitting. I don't think the inch or so indent that a baby would have on a latex or memory foam mattress would be an issue in that regards, but any thoughts on that would be helpful. Also, with a baby and diapers that leak, having a cover to protect the mattress material is something that I am concerned about. Preferences: My wife prefers a softer feel for a mattress and I a more firm feel, but we're not so different that we couldn't compromise. Also, being so young and only having had terrible mattresses in the past, we're not set on our preferences either. We both preferred the firm feel of a tempur pedic classic on display at a local furniture store to the feel of a tempur pedic cloud. Because our preferences are relatively un-developed and they do differ slightly, I am torn between a king size DIY where I can split the top layer based on our preferences, or a smaller queen that would more easily accomodate the size of our master bedroom but we would be stuck with one feel. What I thought of trying: a 6' talalay latex firm 33-38ILD core from foambymail with a 2 inch and 1 inch 5lb sensus memory foam topper from O.stock. I would get the 2' and 1' instead of a 3' so we have much more flexibility for adjustment. Depending on what we liked we could go 3', 2', or 1' memory foam and possibly put another 2-3' of 32ild latex inbetween the mf and 6' core for a little more mattress. I don't know what I would or should use as a cover. I did read on a different thread something about a st. dormier mattress protector? Thoughts on this would be helpful I really wanted to get something like a 3' sensus with a 1' venus 8lb mf topper, and then find something for a core, but I found out that the 8lb 1' venus is no longer available.
Price is not a huge issue, but $2,000 is definitly the maximum I want to spend for mattress and foundation since I could go straight for a tempurpedic for $2,100. I believe the 6' latex core, 3' latex middle, with 1-3'mf on top would run about $1350 including a foundation before shipping. I'm just not sure I'd enjoy the tempurpedic, and I hate the idea of having to scrap the entire mattress after it wears out, rather then just replace the portions that are too worn for continued use like a DIY offers.
Thoughts? Unfortunately I don't have much of an option to go feel out latex or memory foam toppers or anything like that as we have no stores to go to... Edit: To add... shipping costs for a 2' sensus king topper and a 1' sensus king topper through o.stock would be $245... I'm asking for quotes on shipping from foambymail and sleepwarehouse as these shipping costs could completely kill the idea of doing anything other then buying a pre-designed mattress from the store... This message was modified Mar 14, 2011 by Slappo86
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| Also, does anyone have experience with selectfoams 10' memory foam mattress? I was thinking of just going with that as the price on a queen is only $800. If it is customizable rather then fused I could then make adjustments as needed. I got shipping estimates from selectfoam and a 3' queen sensus topper is $100 shipping, so if we can get the whole mattress for say $300 shipping then we're still a thousand under the tempurpedic classic we were looking at. |
I can appreciate your situation location wise. Does make it difficult to shop around when availibility is so limited. No expert here so take my comments as being worth half the price.  Think you will find if you read the fine print, all mfgrs will require a matress protector, i.e. water roof, to keep their warranty in place. I did make a few inquries when we purchased and was told even if there were no issues with the covering, no protector, no warranty coverage. Just make sure. IMO people and mattresses are so different that is it a real crap shoot to purchase without a so called test drive. I'm 5'8" 230# and wife is a litle shorter & 180#. We bought the softest latex mattress in this line of mattresses and it is more than firm enough for us. We sink in maybe a couple inches. Have had the matress for maybe 8 months and no regrets. We did buy from a local source and they had in stock all 3 firmness levels this product line came in. We did try out Tempurpedic and a couple other visco-elastic mattresses and were not that pleased regardless of the price. Looking at brand name lines, make sure the foam is edge to edge. Also spent a little time to the mattress cover. Was very unimpressed with what we saw on the Temperpedic. One of the newer covers being offered on some models is Bamboo. Very soft and breathable. The cover on the new Tempurpedic cloud line looks close to what we have and is much nicer looking than what comes on their lower lines. Good luck on your search. |
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I'm all over the place...
Now I'm thinking on getting a 100% latex mattress. I was thinking on going with talatech latex foam. 3" 36 ILD 3" 28 ILD 2" 24 ILD 1" 21 ILD Celsion Talalay Latex.
Wife and I are both side sleepers and between 140-155lbs. I have shoulder problems and she has lower back problems. She likes a soft mattress and I am thinking that I do too. I enjoy a firm mattress when I lay on my back but 90-95% of the time I am a side sleeper. I'm wondering if the 2nd 3" layer should be 32 ILD and if 6" all in the 20's range with a 3" 36 base would be super soft. One thing that I really love is that if we find this to be too soft, or if I change it and go for something firmer, I can just buy another 2-3" cut and switch it out, maybe even sell the cut that I am replacing to recoup some of the costs. I was originally thinking a 1" 15ILD Celsion topper. Maybe a 36/32/24/15 would work? I'll be reading up more but I'd love to have your thoughts
I don't think even our local mattress stores offer 30-90 day in home trials. No one wants to pay shipping to/from Alaska :). |
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Slappo86 wrote: I'm all over the place...
Now I'm thinking on getting a 100% latex mattress. I was thinking on going with talatech latex foam. 3" 36 ILD 3" 28 ILD 2" 24 ILD 1" 21 ILD Celsion Talalay Latex.
Wife and I are both side sleepers and between 140-155lbs. I have shoulder problems and she has lower back problems. She likes a soft mattress and I am thinking that I do too. I enjoy a firm mattress when I lay on my back but 90-95% of the time I am a side sleeper. I'm wondering if the 2nd 3" layer should be 32 ILD and if 6" all in the 20's range with a 3" 36 base would be super soft. One thing that I really love is that if we find this to be too soft, or if I change it and go for something firmer, I can just buy another 2-3" cut and switch it out, maybe even sell the cut that I am replacing to recoup some of the costs. I was originally thinking a 1" 15ILD Celsion topper. Maybe a 36/32/24/15 would work? I'll be reading up more but I'd love to have your thoughts
I don't think even our local mattress stores offer 30-90 day in home trials. No one wants to pay shipping to/from Alaska :). Good luck with your search. I would definitely stay with talatech latex though. Let us know how it turns out so others can learn from your experience. Thanks. This message was modified Mar 15, 2011 by Sall
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Thanks, Maybe I'll try 2" of 24 and 1" of 15 on top. Or go for 11" total and do 2" 24 2"15.
I love that I can just add another layer of softness or firmness if it is too soft. For where I live, it seems almost vital to be able to do such a thing. I have zero options of in home trials, and what do you really know by laying on a mattress for half an hour? :) |
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My wife wants to keep the mattress below $1,200 not including foundation. I really like the idea of high quality talatech latex, but can't afford 10" of it.
Does anyone have experience with foamdistributing latex? I was thinking about getting 6-8" from them for a base of their HD High quality 32-38ILD latex, and then getting 4 inches of Talatech latex for the top. My thoughts are that the base will not break down as fast as the top because it is not receiving nearly as much direct pressure being 4 inches below the surface. The 4 inches on the top will still be high quality soft latex. I figure as finances allow and as the base breaks down we can replace it with something higher quality. Anyone have any thoughts with a lower quality base material and a high quality top? It sounds like the foam distributing latex isn't horrible. It does have a decent density for the higher quality stuff. |
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Slappo86 wrote: My wife wants to keep the mattress below $1,200 not including foundation. I really like the idea of high quality talatech latex, but can't afford 10" of it.
Does anyone have experience with foamdistributing latex? I was thinking about getting 6-8" from them for a base of their HD High quality 32-38ILD latex, and then getting 4 inches of Talatech latex for the top. My thoughts are that the base will not break down as fast as the top because it is not receiving nearly as much direct pressure being 4 inches below the surface. The 4 inches on the top will still be high quality soft latex. I figure as finances allow and as the base breaks down we can replace it with something higher quality. Anyone have any thoughts with a lower quality base material and a high quality top? It sounds like the foam distributing latex isn't horrible. It does have a decent density for the higher quality stuff. This message was modified Mar 16, 2011 by Sall
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Based on your location and shipping challenges, you might consider looking at mattresses from Costco. Although their mattresses generally get somewhat mixed reviews on this forum, the major benefit is Costco's excellent return policy. They will provide you with full money-back if you become unsatisfied with their mattress for any reason, at any time. It's serious piece of mind if you're not sure whether you'll like a mattress that you're dropping big bucks on. We just returned an innerspring mattress of theirs, and they didn't charge for return shipping (lower 48) - not sure if that would be the same for Alaska, though, so worth checking with them. Unfortunately, Costco recently stopped selling their only all-latex mattress. They replaced it with a model that is a combination of 4" latex (probably dunlop) and 6" of polyurethane. Some folks on this forum recently purchased one, and hopefully they'll provide a review shortly. (See this thread: http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/new-costco-sleep-science-latex-reformulated/17983-0-1.html) Since you were considering foam anyway (ie: tempurpedic, at least initially), this might be a reasonable option for you, and it's close to your price range. My .02. Good luck with the search! |
Wife keeps changing the mattress budget on me... spending limit is up to 2k from 1.2k... lol... I better buy it while she's still in a good mood, otherwise she might drop me down to $800 or something!  I still want to be frugal though... FBM is willing to custom cut a 6" 36ILD talalay latex mattress into 2 3" pieces for me. 6" is too heavy and large to ship to Alaska... DOH! I'm just waiting on a price quote. I'm hoping they don't charge to custom split the 6" piece.
6" 36ILD for the base ($582 2x3" pieces) 3" 32ILD ($274) 2" 20 ILD ($177) Total shipping for all the 2" pieces at about $150 Total shipping for the 6" base at about $190 Total cost for latex = aprox $1,373 I'm not sure if this will be too firm though. I was thinking I could start with this 11" mattress but buy a 12" mattress cover? If this is too firm I can buy a 1" 15ILD Celsion latex for $206+shipping? I just don't know if 2" 20ILD and 1" 15ILD would provide enough support? I think I've almost made up my mind with the above setting. One thing that I am deathly afraid of is ordering this and then not liking a latex mattress. I'm going to shop around our local retail stores to see if any of them carry any sort of mattress with a latex top so I can at least get a feel for it... My wife and I are both pretty easy when it comes to sleeping though. Both early 20's and have slept on everything from dorm beds to a mattress my wife used to have where you literally sank in maybe 5-6 inches... I think the mattress is over 40 years old! |
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Sooooo I found one local retailer in town that does sell 1 100% latex mattress.
They have a NaturaWorld Eco Haven queen size mattress 100% 2" natural talalay latex 26ild top with 100% natural 6" dunlop latex 32ILD base. This particular retailer is no longer going to sell this mattress (usually marked at $3,100) and has it marked to $2000. Locally owned and operated business (which in a small community is always wonderful to support). The 2" topper and 6" base are not connected, so it is adjustable if we want to add inches or adjust firmness levels. Everything I have found on the mattress looks good.
I think my wife and I are going to go for it! We'll see if we can talk them down a bit as $1700 or $1800 would be nice. 20 yr limited warranty, and it comes with a 8.3lb density wool cover on the 2" topper. Not the highest density topper, but a pretty nice all around deal. The $2000 includes a foundation too. I'm not all about "going green" but I love the fact that it is a good deal, high quality, and local business. My wife and I were pretty sold on it at first sight.
Edit: We purchased this in store today. We won't be moving it into our new condo until next week at the earliest as we close on the sale of our new condo this Friday and want to get some painting done. I'll give a review on the first few nights sleep, and then a month or so in if I remember :). This message was modified Mar 20, 2011 by Slappo86
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| Slappo86, good luck with your move to your new Condo. Please update us on the bed's comfort when you are able to try it out. I hope the bed is comfortable. |
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Lynn2006 wrote: Slappo86, good luck with your move to your new Condo. Please update us on the bed's comfort when you are able to try it out. I hope the bed is comfortable. Well, I'm no mattress connesiur, but it seems to be working out really well for the two of us! The only thing i wish was that the top layer was a 3" soft layer rather then 2. I can easily add another inch of soft laytex either on top or inbetween the base 6 and the top 2, but there's no need for it right now as we both sleep very comfortable. |