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Hello gals and guys, I'm shopping for a new mattress and even though I think I read a ton, I decided to consult with the community before making final decision. I always trust actual folks lot more than I trust companies pushing their product. We currently have spring mattress that was pretty expensive at the time we bought it (it was about 12 years ago I believe and we paid around $800 for it). It was good I suppose and it could still go for a while but I think it's time to make a change. It's become very heavy from all the dust accumlated in it (and who knows what else). I also have an upper back problem and I don't feel it's helping. I don't sleep well at all. I'm not sure if I should ttribute this to the mattress or it's just me getting older or it's something else. After doing some research, I decided to go with memory foam mattress. I first looked at TempurPedic of course but then I read reviews about how many chemicals they use and how bad it smells and how it's not really all that comfortable and I sumbled upon latex mattresses, which I didn't know existed before (yeah, I kind of live in a cave I guess). First thing I came across was Essentia. The web site is awesome and they have tons of material to read. They even have a store in NYC where I can visit (I plan to in about a week). But what alarms me a bit is their lack of accreditation and recognition. I also read they make some false claims about quality of their latex. Not sure if it's true or false or can at all be proven, but some of the things I read about them (couldn't find too much info which is also a bit alarming) has my red flags go up. But I will give them a fair shot nevertheless. I'm now looking at Zleep-EZ, Flobeds, SavvyRest, Natura in addition to Essentia. I think these are the major manufacturors? I want to be an equal opportunity shopper, so I hope I'm not missing anyone else. I like rather firmer mattress, but I don't want to sleep on a rock either. My wife prefers a softer one but she doesn't want to sleep in a puddle either. I'm looking at the budget of around $3,000 (give or take couple of hundreds). I think I'm looking for at least 10" thickness which would probably make for 4 layers of latex? I see that most of the companies have 90 days layer replacement policies, but I would like to avoid making a mistake and then having 1 shot to correct it. I sleep mostly on my stomach and my wife sleeps mostly on her side. I'm not sure what layers (as far as firmness is concerned) should be in what order though. I'm also not positive I understand if I need a pillow top. I understand it takes at least couple of weeks to get used to latex especially that we slept on spings all of our lives, but I would really hate to come away being dissapointed with the matterss after shelling out 3 grands. Any advice/help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated.
Regards, -Tony. |
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sleepswithcats wrote: .....I think the base you use can make a difference in the feel of a mattress.
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Just an update. I went to Essentia factory store in the city today. They had all of their mattresses on display of course. I tried all of them and quiet frankly, I felt no difference whatsoever. I'm not sure why and it could be me of course. I tried their firmest mattress and their softest and they all felt the same to me. I went to Macys the other day to get a feel for Tempurpedic mattresses and Essentia reminded me somewhat of TP. But while trying different type of TP mattresses in Macys, I could feel the difference as far as softness goes. Yes, it feels like Essentia has a faster responding foam (it is more springy than TD IMO) just like they advertise. Other than that the feeling is about the same. Essentia of course claims that their memory foam (note, they dont call their mattress "Organic Latex" even though they say it is made out of entirely organic latex but the process they use is different from making organic latex mattresses) is not harmful at all and contains no chemicals.They had a Columbus Day sale and $4,100 mattress was selling for $3,500...something. They told me I could return the mattress any time within 60 days period and I will only be on the hook for 9% of what I paid (so roughly $320). Their mattress has no layers, it's 8" solid block, so you cannot exchange layers for free. You can exchange the entire mattress, but...you're still on the hook for 9%. I found a store that has SavvyRest mattresses, so I wanted to check them out too, but I was stupid enough not to call ahead so they were closed for the Columbus Days (yeah, weird). I just want to lay down on a natural latex mattress and see what it feels like before I order something off the internet. Macys didn't have any of those. They did however have a mattress with inteligel which felt nice. May be I should try Sleepys? They have Dr. Breus, Sleep Options, and Pure Latex Bliss. I'm not sure I heard about any of these though. |
| FWIW, DH and I just bought a split king SleepEZ Select Sleep 10000 in the natural dunlop 2 weeks ago and are very happy. He is 5'8" 180 and I'm 5'5" 145. Although he prefers firm and I like cush, both of our layers are SMF. We used to have a 10-year old queen Serta Perfect Sleeper with pillowtop, but went with a larger mattress because he started twitching a few months ago. It got old really quick taking turns on the sofa. We definitely wanted motion isolation and as natural as possible. TP out of the question because of the chemicals and off-gassing. We are in LA and Foam Sweet Foam was too far to drive. Was slightly apprehensive purchasing a mattress online, but reading the rave reviews between SleepEZ and FloBeds, plus the return policy swayed us. Went with SleepEZ because they were less expensive and because we also shelled out extra $$$ for an adjustable base. Originally wanted 100% natural Talalay, but after "testing" an Aireloom Magenta and Chiffon at Sit & Sleep (yes I know no comparison) and talking with Shawn at SleepEZ, decided dunlop instead of blended or Talalay. If we had gone with Talalay, our layers probably would have been MMF. Since dunlop is firmer, SMF turned out to be just fine. Lucky for us we won't be swapping layers. |
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no company should ever label latex foam as organic. even if it is organically grown it does not exist as foam in nature, they have to add sulfur and zinc oxide to it (natural ingredients) to turn it into foam. The organic certification the USDA does on latex is on the hevea milk itself, not on the finished product. Tony; thank you for your comparo of the Essentia beds to the Tempur-Pedic. |
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No matter how you look at it Latex is organic. With the high end latex mattress over 95% of the finished product is organic. Blending it with bonding agents does not change the fact that latex is organic. Thats kind of like saying Only whole pataotes is organic and Mashed Patatoes is not organic because they added salts, other seasons and perservitives to it and it doesnt exsists in nature that way. It is misleading to say latex pushes back against you more then the tempurpedic does. The push back against you equaly. It is a battle between weight and gravity. If you apply 100lbs of weight to either foam you will sink until the foam provides 100lbs of resistance. Latex does recover to its original shape much faster then memory foam. Tempurpedic is designed to conform and recover very slowly. They are 2 different types of foam that have 2 compleletly different comfort levels. Some people do like the feeling of the mattress slowly comfoming around them and other dont like that feeling. Both Tempurpedic and Latex Mattresses are great products with excellent durabilty. Tempurpedic still hasnt been around quite long enough to say they last as long as latex mattress, but so far they are making a good showing. I have seen an 18yr old Tempurpedic that looked in very good shape for the age and was still a supportive mattress and I have seen a 30 yr old latex bed that was in just as good of shape as the 18yr old tempurpedic. Both beds were primary beds for 2 adults. Mixing Polyurethane foams with latex will typically shorten the life of latex, but will bring the price down considerably. One more thing is buying a mattress without a matching boxspring does not void the warranty. The warranty states "If it is not on a supportive foundation it will void your warranty." With that said if you do not buy a matching foundation most comapines (or atleast all that I know) will not offer a comfort exchange. So if you are not comfortable with the mattress they will not take it back, because it most likely will feel different on your platform bed or a different type of box spring. This affects only the comfort and not the warranty. |
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DaveStro wrote:
1) No matter how you look at it Latex is organic. With the high end latex mattress over 95% of the finished product is organic. Blending it with bonding agents does not change the fact that latex is organic. Thats kind of like saying Only whole pataotes is organic and Mashed Patatoes is not organic because they added salts, other seasons and perservitives to it and it doesnt exsists in nature that way.
2) It is misleading to say latex pushes back against you more then the tempurpedic does. The push back against you equaly. It is a battle between weight and gravity. If you apply 100lbs of weight to either foam you will sink until the foam provides 100lbs of resistance. Latex does recover to its original shape much faster then memory foam. Tempurpedic is designed to conform and recover very slowly. They are 2 different types of foam that have 2 compleletly different comfort levels. Some people do like the feeling of the mattress slowly comfoming around them and other dont like that feeling. Both Tempurpedic and Latex Mattresses are great products with excellent durabilty. Tempurpedic still hasnt been around quite long enough to say they last as long as latex mattress, but so far they are making a good showing. I have seen an 18yr old Tempurpedic that looked in very good shape for the age and was still a supportive mattress and I have seen a 30 yr old latex bed that was in just as good of shape as the 18yr old tempurpedic. Both beds were primary beds for 2 adults. Mixing Polyurethane foams with latex will typically shorten the life of latex, but will bring the price down considerably. 3) One more thing is buying a mattress without a matching boxspring does not void the warranty. The warranty states "If it is not on a supportive foundation it will void your warranty." With that said if you do not buy a matching foundation most comapines (or atleast all that I know) will not offer a comfort exchange. So if you are not comfortable with the mattress they will not take it back, because it most likely will feel different on your platform bed or a different type of box spring. This affects only the comfort and not the warranty. 3) Tempurpedic warranty - ' If the TP mattress is placed on anything other than a TP foundation, the burden of proof of structural capacity of foundation in the event of warranty claim is transferred to consumer and may place warranty in jeopardy'. It first states - 'TP mattresses are designed for use with solid surface, non -sprung foundations'. The only solid surface non TP foundations I've ever seen are adjustable base foundations. Then there's the plywood over box spring solution. The TP rep would deny any claim with that setup. 2) I was pretty bummed about how bad the all latex mattress performed on the de facto pine slat foundation. The pressure points were bad to where my right shoulder was aching badly after 3 nights. It was the bed for sure. Perhaps that would have been the time to switch to firm/soft/soft or another combo. I didn't like it on the box spring either. I wouldn't say the Cloud recovers really slowly. The Contours are slow. Compared to latex, they are slow recovery. I prefer the slow, conforming, solid feel. Some of the natural latex beds in Natural Mattress Store felt awfully good, but the no return policy didn't. 1) For #1 you'd have to look at what it takes to call a bed product organic, but a blended latex mattress that's 65% synthetic ingredients in the foam, I'm quite sure one cannot claim as 'organic'. However, my blended latex mattress didn't off gas. This message was modified Oct 13, 2011 by slpngoc
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A couple nit picks, although this is good discussion.
Your synthetic blend latex didn't offgas that you know of. Most of the chemicals in synthetic materials used in mattresses are completely odourless. Not all latex is even grown organically. The hevea milk itself would be organic if the land hasnt been treated with any agro chemicals of any kind. The finished product itself has no 3rd party certification, so the organizations that certify product organically would have to disagree with your opinion. Sulfur is natural but it is not biological, so no, latex foam even of 100% natural variety still shouldn't be called organic. Much for the same reason we would not label steel springs as organic. I am not saying natural rubber is bad, just trying to clarify what the industry labels as organic is actually the hevea milk, not the finished product. I hope I don't come off as abrupt, just that if you consider something that is 95% organic to be organic than it really is missing the whole point of what the definition is. Its like saying we have 100% cotton fabric that is 95% organically grown cotton, the rest of the cotton used is just normal 'natural' cotton. This is not an organic product. If that kind of product doesn't get certification than neither should latex foam. You can label it organically grown and 100% natural but you should not label it 'Organic'. This message was modified Oct 14, 2011 by budgy
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