Mattress Forum

Budgy, thanks for sharing this. When it comes to the durability of natural vs. blended Talalay, I guess only time will tell. I wonder if contaminants have affected your sample pieces. I would imagine naturally occurring body oils on peoples' hands (as they handle the stuff), dirt/pollutants from the environment, the lack of steady compression from use as a mattress and even exposure to sunlight would affect any of your Talalay samples. I recently spoke with the owner of a latex mattress web site-- I called a lot of retailers-- and he said he expects the natural Talalay latex to last about 10 years before compressing too much. And yes, his site sold both natural and blended Talalay mattresses. I wish there were more data on this. 

Happy Easter everyone!

Budgy, am I correct that you have stated that you prefer Natural latex from Latex Green, for example, over LI's latex?

If so, that is interesting. I think many of us old timers here may have been influenced by LI's excellent marketing, in convincing us that they make the best latex. My guess is that they may make the best BLENDED latex, but whether or not they make the best natural latex is up for grabs. Can you give your opinion on this here? If you already have, I apologize but I can't recall and just wanted to get it straight from the horse's mouth so to speak.

So yesterday I removed everything (uggghh!) and put the fake Venus on the bottom and that was my only change (2" of latex on top of that followed by my wool topper). Well, it seemed to work better than anything I tried lately.

I keep saying I won't ever use memory foam again, and that's because even if I get it to work for me, it never seems to work for more than a few nights or a couple weeks at most and then it softens up too much and doesn't work any more. I want to replace it with some very soft latex but can't afford to buy any right now.

Do you folks think the above indicates that my springs are too firm for me?* If so, what should I do to permanently soften them? Soft latex on the bottom? Soft latex on the top layer? Or what? (Can't afford to buy new springs any time soon!)

*I know: it probably mostly indicates that I may be insane. I often think no matter what I do, I'll never find a mattress or DIY configuration that wil work for me!

I think that springs by themselves are pretty firm.  For me it seems they seem firmer than 6" of XF latex that I had from Flobeds.  More like superfirm.   So, I need a fair amount of foam on top.   Recently, I did something like you in that I stuck a 1" piece of Sensus I have on the bottom of the stack.   So, I am using 5" total:  1" 4Lb. MF on top, 1" 24 latex, 2" of 32 latex and 1" of 5lb. MF on bottom.   Putting the Sensus above the 32 and below everything else feels pretty good too.  A bit softer than the current.   I think it sleeps slightly warmer that way, since the Sensus seems to trap heat more than any of the other pieces I have.  That is why I am not willing to use it on the top of the stack.

I am sure you would say this is too foamy.  But, I prefer that over the too firm feel (hard on hips sidesleeping) of less foam.  I guess I have no strong need to feeel the springs.   I just like whatever feels comfortably cushiony enough without  feeling of sinking in too far or causing back pain.   I have less pain issues than you, so I have a wider variety of firmness that I can accept.

I probably would like to try to take out 1" of the memory foam and put 1" of softer (maybe around 18-20?) latex somewhere in the stack.   Not sure I want to spend the money on that just yet.   Not sure exactly what firmness either.

I think you might also benefit from 1" of soft latex.   You would be able to try at different places in the stack to fine tune your feel.  Possilby your 1" piece of softer (synthetic?) latex is not the best either?

I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with having more foam on the springs if it works for you. And heaven knows that I don't really know even what works for me, let alone what works for someone else. I just think I know some things, sometimes. I do think that for "most people" or at least "some people" too much foam on top of springs can negate the advantage of the springs, but maybe for us, the springs are slightly too firm.

Maybe I need softer springs. In any case, right now, the 1" of 5lb or whatever it is fake Venus foam on the bottom seems to be working better than anything else I've tried for awhile. I don't expect it to last, but maybe it will.

Yes, I absolutely do want to try a 1" layer of very soft latex in the mix. It's just a matter of time until I can afford it or feel I really really need it. I generally have been doing better since I stopped using the HR foam. (though actually for a little while I went back to the 1/2" very firm piece of HR on the bottom.) But I've had several decent night's sleep on the current configuration and waking up only slightly sore and stiff.