Savvy Rest report
Jan 10, 2008 3:46 PM
Location: Wisconsin
Joined: Dec 28, 2007
Points: 83
After lurking here and other places and doing lots of research - I finally recieved my latex mattress today. I'd like to add to the discussion by sharing my experiences with a company I haven't read about on this forum and about Dunlop latex. We went with a three layer 100% DUNLOP (yes, Dunlop, not Talalay) mattress from Savvy Rest via The Natural Sleep Store. We got a queen size with split firm (ILD 40), medium (ILD 35) and soft (ILD 30) layers. The cover is made of organic cotton quilted to organic wool. The total was $1849 including shipping - more than SleepEZ or some of the other online retailers but less than other organic latex mattresses.We got free UPS shipping through The Natural Sleep Store (which would have been $219 from Savvy Rest directly) plus a gift certificate for $160.00 that could be used toward bedding at their store.

So far, I really like the mattress. It is just the right firmness. I don't think we would want anything softer than this configuration. We went with Dunlop even though there is so much more information about Talalay because we were more concerned about getting something too soft rather than too firm. I'll report on how we like the mattress in a few weeks. We went from years of futons that needed to be replaced every few years so this seems extremely comfy. Our latest futon had gotten really hard so we started researching other options and finally settled on the Savvy Rest.

I can't really write a full review until sleeping on the mattress for a while - but I can review the customer service. There is a huge amount of information on the Savvy Rest web site and on the Natural Sleep Store web site as well as organicmattressreviews.com. I considered SleepEZ, FloBeds, Foam Sweet Foam, Foam Source and a couple of other places and finally settled on Savvy Rest. I would have considered FloBeds if they carried Dunlop latex. My concern with SleepEZ and some of the other places was that while they described their latex in great detail, they were a little sketchy about the covers and what they used for flame retardants. I decided to narrow my search to stores that described their covers and/or had options for different covers. FloBeds had several cover choices and reasonable prices, but I really wanted natural Dunlop rather than Talalay. Both FloBeds and Savvy Rest made it clear that they didn't use chemicals in addition to the wool for fire retardant material.

First, I looked at the web sites, read reviews and got samples from Savvy Rest. They seemed professional and informative. I spoke directly to a woman at Savvy Rest (can't remember her name right now) and she was very knowledgeable and told me some things that made me buy a softer mattress than I had intended to. I'm glad I took her advice. She said most of their exchanges were for softer layers and that she couldn't recommend anything firmer than medium, medium, firm - and that would be quite firm in Dunlop. She also said that the Dunlop is a bit firmer on one side than the other so you could further customize by turning one or more layer over. The side with the larger holes is firmer than the side with the smaller holes. I haven't experimented with it yet so I can't confirm if the difference is noticeable but I thought it was interesting.

The mattress came in three 2x2x3 boxes which the UPS guy hauled into the house for me. They were immaculate and clearly labled on the outside with computer printed stickers and magic marker. The first box as the heaviest at 60 pounds and contained the cotton and wool cover along with the soft layer and the assembly instructions which were in a zip lock bag taped to the top of the box. The other two layers were around 53 pounds each and clearly labled in the other two boxes. Each of the half layers were in separate plastic bags and were NOT vacuum packed. They were just kind of loosely rolled and very easy to remove from the boxes. Every half layer was labled with an F, M or S.I was really impressed with the attention to detail.

I called my husband to come home early to hoist the boxes up into the bedroom and help me put the bed together. It probably took us less than half an hour to put it together. I really think the split layers were easier to handle than the full layers would have been. The top of the case is thick enough that we don't feel the split - even without a mattress pad.

That's enough to bore you for now. I am really happy with this purchase. It is one of the best experiences I've had buying something online. We just didn't find anything comparable locally.

Cheers,
Marie
Re: Savvy Rest report
Reply #62 Oct 27, 2009 6:00 PM
Joined: Sep 27, 2009
Points: 51
eagle2 wrote:
Good job catlover. That makes a nice size. I believe the reason that pictures do not show up, nor links become hot when posted, has something to do with the security of this website. But I have no problem opening another browser window and pasting in the link.

It would be good to go ahead and post the other photographs at your Flickr site with the same resolution then everyone could have a better picture of what your Savvy Rest bed looks like.

Thanks for taking the trouble and the time. I hope your bed works out wonderful for you. I'm sure it will. Savvy Rest is a good company with a good reputation, and I believe you will find, with a good product.
Hi eagle!

When I went back into this forum to check the flicker link, all of my mattress photos were available for viewing, so I didn't do links for all 6 photos.
Now I wonder whether I saw all of them because Flicker somehow knew it was me, and not someone else looking at them.
Are you sure you only had the ability to see just 1 photo?

Tks for ALL your help! I learned a lot about posting photos....but I still wonder how I embedded the first photos I posted. Seems now I can only provide a link...I'll keep trying though!
5 photos of our Savvy Rest dunlop mattress
Reply #63 Oct 27, 2009 6:28 PM
Joined: Sep 27, 2009
Points: 51
Ok, now that I figured out how to post high quality photos, I have given link to my Flicker account of 5 photos of our new dunlop Savvy Rest split king. Just copy and paste into your address area - you might want to open a new browser page...




link deleted - look further as I figured out how to insert photos!






This message was modified Oct 27, 2009 by catlover
Re: Savvy Rest report
Reply #64 Oct 27, 2009 7:07 PM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
sorry it doesn't work. You just need to copy the URL at the top of the page and post it here. The links you provided took me to the sign in page for registered users.

Unless of course you have canceled your pictures.

What you may have does is set Flickr up for private viewing. In which case we would need a pass word...I think. I have never used this approach as I just use the public viewing standard procedure. If you will give us the flicker URL for your home page we can see all the pictures you have for public viewing.

If you do not want to publicly allow people to see your bed room then we will need the info to get into your private area.

It would be so nice if this web site would not require all this process. But make it much easier to post pictures and hot links in our posts.
This message was modified Oct 27, 2009 by eagle2
Re: 6 photos of our Savvy Rest dunlop mattress
Reply #65 Oct 27, 2009 7:45 PM
Joined: Sep 27, 2009
Points: 51
I think you might have had trouble as I was re-doing everything so maybe not available at the time you tried to access them??

let me know
Re: 6 photos of our Savvy Rest dunlop mattress
Reply #66 Oct 27, 2009 8:21 PM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
catlover wrote:
I think you might have had trouble as I was re-doing everything so maybe not available at the time you tried to access them??

let me know

Yes, they work fine now. Good looking Bed!
Re: 6 photos of our Savvy Rest dunlop mattress
Reply #67 Oct 27, 2009 8:49 PM
Joined: Sep 27, 2009
Points: 51
eagle2 wrote:
Yes, they work fine now. Good looking Bed!

phew....that was some learning curve!  

Thank you for all your help & I'm also happy to hear that all re-configurations of your layers feel good!  Let us know what your final set-up is when you think you have it!
Re: Savvy Rest report
Reply #68 Oct 27, 2009 9:29 PM
Joined: Sep 7, 2009
Points: 22
Trying something... Hope this works for your link...
<img src="www.flickr.com/photos/44106409@N08/4050058875/">

hmmm... guess not. I'll fiddle around with it some more later on. Sorry I couldn't get it working for you!
This message was modified Oct 27, 2009 by mattressnewbie
Re: Savvy Rest report
Reply #69 Oct 27, 2009 10:08 PM
Joined: Sep 27, 2009
Points: 51
I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No more need to copy/paste and open new browser!!! Here's how I did it:

Open a Flickr account (free) and upload your photos. Then....
1. go to the Flickr photo you want to post  and click on that photo
2. then click on "all sizes" that appears above that photo
3. now, go to below the photo, where you'll see 2 boxes of "url/http" stuff....CLICK/COPY the SECOND BOX of jargon
4. to back to the forum and click on the envelope icon above the comment box (run your mouse over it - it says "insert/edit image"....
5. now just paste into the box that comes up and voila!  Your photo should appear!
I hate to admit that it took me all day to finally figure this out, but at least I feel a little bit smarter than I did a few hrs ago!...


The finished product!  (with photo editing to eliminate bedside table and some clutter....)

Middle layer on left side of bed. Check out the "zoning" of the holes! Unless I counted wrong, there are 5 zones. The zoned side with smaller holes is meant to face up (the other side has large holes and no zoning.)  The head of the bed is to your left...One has the additional option of flipping each layer to large holes which gives a bit more firmness, so many more possibilities!


note that both medium layers on right side of bed are "upside down"...we did this deliberately as we read that this side, on dunlop, is a bit firmer.....we are now testing both top layers with smaller holes up

when I changed the sheets, I decided to flip both top layers. They were configured with larger holes facing up. Now they are both with smaller holes up. This is hubby's side with his med layer rolled and about to be flipped.  It was so easy, I did it myself.  (that's the cover off to the right....)

Original configuration. Top layers have larger holes facing up.  We have now flipped them over to smaller holes which is also the side with zoning. We are happy with both configurations so far.
This message was modified Oct 27, 2009 by catlover
Re: Savvy Rest report
Reply #70 Oct 28, 2009 12:10 AM
Joined: Sep 7, 2009
Points: 22
catlover wrote:
I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No more need to copy/paste and open new browser!!!
Woohoo!! Looks great! (Both the bed and the pix) ;) Don't feel bad re: how long it took you to figure it out - I'm a software engineer and I was having difficulties making it work! LOL! Now that I'm looking at the "code" when I quoted you, think some of it might have had to do with the url actually being different than the link that we were copying/pasting into the browser...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44106409@N08/4050058875/
vs
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4051508938_5e3421104e_o.jpg

I'm going to try something just because I wanna test my theory - sorry for "re-posting" your pic if this works... I'll edit and remove if you want! No worries! Just let me know...

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4051508938_5e3421104e_o.jpg"/>

Coolbeans - looks like it worked. If anyone is interested in how to post a photo just by typing in the "code", just let me know and I'll do my best to explain! Found some places where Sager66 mentions it, but he might've used some unfamiliar terms maybe?

Thanks for posting all the info and pix on your experience with Savvy Rest, Catlover! I'm actually thinking of taking the plunge and getting a "made" bed from here or Flobeds vs. just buying layers and trying to put it together myself just because seems like one can be a little more comfortable with exactly what he/she is getting. Word of "caution" however - I made the mistake of emailing Flobeds and saying I had heard they started offering dunlop-processed latex, but couldn't find any prices on their site, and asked a few other questions about it, and got a somewhat condescending email in return... Here's part of the reply:
"We are NOT offering dunlop. We have said to customers, if you
buy our bed and do not like or cannot get the desired firmness with
our wide range of Talalay latex, we will order you Dunlop, with no
exchange or return of it. In my 7 years nobody has taken us up on
that. Talalay in my opinion Is better in every way shape and form.
The myth that Dunlop is firmer is funny. Latex is measured in ild
"indention load deflection" so a 32 ild talalay vs a 32 ild dunlop,
should be the same firmness, right? Well a dunlop processed piece
of foam is not as supple, and has inconsistency's making it often
feel firmer to the touch etc...In short, i would highly recommend
Talalay over Dunlop. And i have a feeling if you keep researching
you will agree."

Apparently they don't feel too kindly towards dunlop! LOL! I think I must've gotten confused with someone saying that Latex International now offers Dunlop (checked LI's site and while they don't manufacture dunlop, they are a distributor from someone they think highly of), and since Flobeds uses LI for their latex, I had gotten mixed up and made the error. Doh! But I have been trying to decide between dunlop or talalay, or perhaps mixing layers of the two, so it was great to read your post, Catlover! Ahhh decisions, decisions! Ok - enough rambling. Thanks again to all for the wonderful advice and opinions!!
This message was modified Oct 28, 2009 by mattressnewbie
Re: Savvy Rest report
Reply #71 Oct 28, 2009 2:39 PM
Joined: Sep 27, 2009
Points: 51
mattressnewbie wrote:
Woohoo!! Looks great! (Both the bed and the pix) ;) Don't feel bad re: how long it took you to figure it out - I'm a software engineer and I was having difficulties making it work! LOL! Now that I'm looking at the "code" when I quoted you, think some of it might have had to do with the url actually being different than the link that we were copying/pasting into the browser...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44106409@N08/4050058875/
vs
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4051508938_5e3421104e_o.jpg

I'm going to try something just because I wanna test my theory - sorry for "re-posting" your pic if this works... I'll edit and remove if you want! No worries! Just let me know...

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4051508938_5e3421104e_o.jpg"/>

Coolbeans - looks like it worked. If anyone is interested in how to post a photo just by typing in the "code", just let me know and I'll do my best to explain! Found some places where Sager66 mentions it, but he might've used some unfamiliar terms maybe?

Thanks for posting all the info and pix on your experience with Savvy Rest, Catlover! I'm actually thinking of taking the plunge and getting a "made" bed from here or Flobeds vs. just buying layers and trying to put it together myself just because seems like one can be a little more comfortable with exactly what he/she is getting. Word of "caution" however - I made the mistake of emailing Flobeds and saying I had heard they started offering dunlop-processed latex, but couldn't find any prices on their site, and asked a few other questions about it, and got a somewhat condescending email in return... Here's part of the reply:
"We are NOT offering dunlop. We have said to customers, if you
buy our bed and do not like or cannot get the desired firmness with
our wide range of Talalay latex, we will order you Dunlop, with no
exchange or return of it. In my 7 years nobody has taken us up on
that. Talalay in my opinion Is better in every way shape and form.
The myth that Dunlop is firmer is funny. Latex is measured in ild
"indention load deflection" so a 32 ild talalay vs a 32 ild dunlop,
should be the same firmness, right? Well a dunlop processed piece
of foam is not as supple, and has inconsistency's making it often
feel firmer to the touch etc...In short, i would highly recommend
Talalay over Dunlop. And i have a feeling if you keep researching
you will agree."

Apparently they don't feel too kindly towards dunlop! LOL! I think I must've gotten confused with someone saying that Latex International now offers Dunlop (checked LI's site and while they don't manufacture dunlop, they are a distributor from someone they think highly of), and since Flobeds uses LI for their latex, I had gotten mixed up and made the error. Doh! But I have been trying to decide between dunlop or talalay, or perhaps mixing layers of the two, so it was great to read your post, Catlover! Ahhh decisions, decisions! Ok - enough rambling. Thanks again to all for the wonderful advice and opinions!!
Welcome to the group!  Don't worry...once you make your decision, all the uncertainly will disappear. It appears that you can't go wrong with either Talalay or Dunlop. Flobeds & Savvy Rest are both top notch from what I've read here. SleepEZ should not be discounted either, as I think a couple of people here were satisfied with them as well.
As for Flobeds reply to you re dunlop. I too, read that they were offering dunlop again so I emailed them before I made my decision. Here's the reply I got from Dewey:
"Hello, Before Latex International came out with 100% Natural Talalay Latex we carried Natural Dunlop for our natural customers out there. We were getting "Latex Green" in from Sri Lanka.We can still get this dunlop if need be, however we do not stock it. I have often said to customers who are tentative in purchasing all talalay, "If you purchase our Natural talalay and just cant get the firmness or feel you were looking for, at that point we can order up the dunlop that you believe you want." In the last 5 yrs we haven't had to order any. We at Flobeds are very confident in both the blended and natural talalay that we carry, and offer such a wide range of firmnesses, more times than not, we can find that "just right" feel folks are looking for.If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to email back, or give us a call."

They seem to be saying the same thing, but slightly more negative re dunlop, in your reply. In my reply, I find one sentence interesting - the one that offers dunlop if you "just can't get the firmness or feel you were looking for". This seems to support my research that dunlop is indeed more supportive for those (like us) who need firm support. I also didn't like the Flobeds video of the smushed dunlop they once sold and magically "found" in storage after many years. It might be for real, but just stuck me as wrong to do...They are really pushing their the talalay.

Also worth noting is that Savvy buys their dunlop processed latex from Coco Latex in sw India. If you give Michael Penny, the owner of Savvy Rest, a call, he can tell you about his experience with Latex Green versus Coco Latex. It's interesting. I now believe that Cocoa Latex manufactures superior quality dunlop latex over Latex Green, so that's another point worth considering in the mix.

The fact that air in injected into the talalay-processed latex seems to suggest that it would be less supportive and more springy. That's great for those wanting that feel. No air is injected in the dunlop process. Our fear was that the dunlop might be too hard but it's just wonderful. Supportive, yet yielding to our body weight (170 lbs each side).  I would think that anyone over 200 lbs might want to go with dunlop process to ensure the proper support, and I've read that in many places too. The companies who offer both dunlop and talalay seem to make the most sense, as one can try both to get the support sought.

I am very interested to know how to post an image in a forum like this as per your method. Pls either post info here or private email me. I'm all ears! (but treat me like a 1st-grader, ok? I'm not savvy to computer jargon!)

And good luck in your decision process! 
This message was modified Oct 28, 2009 by catlover