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I would like to know what some of the pros & cons are of sleeping on a latex mattress, especially in the kit form from a company like Flobeds (I have samples of the different latex cores from Flobeds). I understand that issues with comfort of latex depend on ILDs, a person's body type & weight, personal preferences, etc. The only type of mattress I've slept has been an innerspring (with no latex). It's hard to tell by laying on a latex mattress in a store what the mattress will feel like to actually sleep on. What is the difference in feel between sleeping on an all latex mattress and on an innerspring mattress? Does a latex mattress provide enough support for the lower back and hips, or is a latex mattress not a good choice for providing good back support? Does a latex mattress provide a good seating surface if you want to sit up in bed to read, or does your butt sink down too much for it to be comfortable enough to sit up in bed? With kits such as Flobeds that don't have a firmer edge support around the mattress to support sitting on, do you just sink in when you sit on the side of the bed? Can a latex mattress feel like you are sleeping on a piece of "dead" foam, "dead" meaning no cushiness, no springiness to the foam? Thank you very much for help and opinions. I've been reading this site (and old one) for over a year now, and I'm still learning. |
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centralpark wrote: I would like to know what some of the pros & cons are of sleeping on a latex mattress . . . It's hard to tell by laying on a latex mattress in a store what the mattress will feel like to actually sleep on. . . . I've been reading this site (and old one) for over a year now Based on your reserach, your query seems very illogical . . only YOU can determine if latex is suitable. Are you seeking someone to blame if latex does not work out for you, as compared to taking personal responsibility? This message was modified Feb 1, 2008 by sager66
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Most people on this forum who have had good experience with latex have a layered configuration: firm on the bottom softer on top. We bought a basic latex mattress (Englander) that was just a single medium density slab with some quilting and that did not work at all. It was not firm enough to be supportive nor soft enough to relieve pressure points. We ended up returning it. Our other issue with it, was that it did not provide a good surface for sitting up in bed — we found that we sank into it too much. I like to read in bed and we also watch movies from bed, and on the latex it was a back-breaking experience. But maybe someone else here who has a firmer latex configuration will have another opinion about this... |
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centralpark wrote: Can a latex mattress feel like you are sleeping on a piece of "dead" foam, "dead" meaning no cushiness, no springiness to the foam? You might want to do some more reading here and on some of the sites mentioned here. Some people find Talalay a bit too springy, some people like it and feel it is a better choice. Some people like Dunlop latex because it is a bit less springy than Talalay but it is still resiliant and cushy and supportive. People have problems with materials like polyurethane foam layered on top of the latex more than the latex itself. Some people seem to like firmer layers under softer or medium layers of latex. You don't mention what you are looking for or what you have now so it is hard for people to help you. I happen to prefer Dunlop latex and find it very comfy and supportive. We knew we did not want a spring mattress so we tried Talalay mattresses locally. My husband did not like the feeling of Talalay so we took a chance on ordering a Dunlop mattress over the internet - but we knew what we liked and what we didn't like and asked a lot of questions and did a lot of reading various sources. Good luck! |
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Pros of sleeping on a latex mattress: If the layers are adjusted properly, there is not much turning back and forth between both sides to get off the pressure points like I used to do on a conventional spring mattess. The ability to adjust the layers to get just the right comfort level. The ability to readjust the layers if one has an future injury rather than buy a new bed. Sleepign without allergies and waking up without allergies. Spring mattesses have coils soon sink in like my old super firm Posteupedic mattress that it became unusable. I think latex will last more years if covered. Another pro is if there is two people sleeping on the bed, one may like a very soft bed and the other may like a very firm bed or just a bed not as soft. With a flexible bed that can be unzipped with latex cores moved around that are split (mine are split from FloBeds on a split pine box spring over 10" legs to give extra height and to be able to put things under my bed) so each person can have the right comfort level for them. Negatives: Taking time to get the layers right but better than buying a conventional mattress that you have to live with for so many years that you find after a week or two that it is not that comfortable. OK now more details: If most of the bed is made up of very firm latex layers, it is comfortable for me to sit on the bed with a headboard and pillows to watch TV. It is comfortable to sit on the edge like I do to put my shoes on. The only problem is how time consuming it is for some people to move the latex layers around to get the right comfort level but to me it is so worth it than to live with a bed too firm or too soft that is not adjustable like I did for over 14.5 years. I dislike mattresses with springs since most are made of polyurethane and fire retardant chemicals that I have lately a chemical sensitivity to. Also I like a very firm bed but do not like coils digging into me. There are so many beds out there since each of us has different needs. I need firmness with a tiny bit of give and a small comfort layer on top that is not lumpy since I sleep on my side. I like latex pillows since I slept on them all my life. This past May 2007 is the first time I tried an all latex bed from FloBeds.com out of desperation being that I was allergic to a bed with polyurethane on top that was also way to lumpy an soft despite the name Simons Roosevelt Luxury Firm. Also bedding needs vary as one ages and after car accidents or other injuries. Before my car accident in August, I finally had my bed set up perfectly. Now after my car accident, I would like my bed to be a little firmer (so I moved the layers around) and have a tiny bit more cushion than the 1" topper I have on it but not be as firm as the 1.5" topper Dave sent me trying to help me that averages around a 24 ILD. Dave from FloBeds has been so accomodating to me and helpful and this is the third topper he has sent me trying to get me a perfect bed. He said he would give me more time now that I had a car accident and to me this is wonderful customer service. I love my bed but I am trying to make it perfect. :) I love my 1" topper but it is not going to last from Overstock since it has a few rips in it. All the queen toppers Dave sent me have been very sturdy and fit the mattress while the Overstock Topper is a little short and not wide enough but otherwise is comfortable. I am comfortable with the overstock topper but wanted a new topper that would last a long time along with my latex bed so if there is no 1.25" soft topper available, maybe I should just stay with what I have since it is comfortable. I want to sink down into the firmness and be very level with just a tiny bit of give but not much due to the 5 herniated disks that I now have from my car accident. After the car accident, I moved my layers around and I was so happy I could just unzip my organic cotton/wool cover and do this since I would have had problems if my bed was not adjustable. I am now sleeping on a 1" very soft latex topper from Overstock (bought it a few months before I decided to order my latex bed) over a 36 ILD over a 39 ILD (the 36 ILD averaged out to a 39 ILD so I moved that second.. it used to be on the other side of the bed) over a 44 ILD. I am thinking if I had a 1.25" softer latex topper (17 ILD maybe?) that I would like a 36 ILD over a 44 ILD over a 44 ILD but maybe I am wrong. My other side of the bed right now has the same 1" latex topper with a 36 ILD over a 44 ILD over a 36 ILD and I have been switching back and forth on different nights. I used to turn a lot but I do not move that much when I am sleeping now. I guess used to go from side to side to get off the pressure points. Since the car accident, on some nights I like my bed firmer and other nights I like it a little softer. I wish I had the 1" topper on my hips and a 1.25" very soft topper on my shoulders. II never knew I had this choice when I had a conventional bed and just lived with too many pressure points and turning so I guess I am way ahead of the game now and I just am aiming for perfection since I can. :) am not quite 100 lbs and not quite 5 feet so I would like some cushion for my pressure points that I never knew I could have a little cushion and still have support. I do love my bed and if I changed nothing else right now, I can easily live with the combination I have that is better than any spring mattress have slept on in the past. I wake up without allergies and no longer cough from post nasal drips when I am sleeping |
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There you go again, Sagar. What possesses you to be so MEAN to people? You tried that with me, too. This person is here asking LOGICAL questions and I don't feel it's your prerogative to chastise him or her. Why don't you take a chill pill? sager66 wrote: Based on your reserach, your query seems very illogical . . only YOU can determine if latex is suitable. Are you seeking someone to blame if latex does not work out for you, as compared to taking personal responsibility? |
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Hey Sager, lighten up! People join this forum to ask questions of those who have had experience with something they are considering. Mattresses are big investments these days. Centralpark just wants to hear the pros and cons to help make a decision. BeddyBye, I have noticed that some people on this forum really seem to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed! I've had a couple of people tear into me for dissing Talalay and for liking memory foam. Geez! Centralpark, I'm going to try and be completely objective here with your latex question. I don't think it's possible to really get a comfortable Talalay mattress with a single core like the Englander Kim returned. Overall you will have a much better shot at getting comfortable on Talalay with a mattress kit. You have to build it up from a firm support layer to a softer comfort layer. And as Lynn pointed out this can take work to get it right, It can also take time and money to pack up foam layers and ship them back for exchange. Some people love Talalay and have never slept better. Other people can't sleep on it at all. This is something I feel strongly prospective buyers should be aware of. Talalay has properties that do not make it a good fit for many people with lower back issues. The Talalay process whips a lot of air into the foam and creates an extremely resilient material. At firmer ILDs this resilency can exert so much pressure against the body that although it doesn't register as pressure points like you would get on an innerspring mattress, it can make you sore all over. This is why you need a softer comfort layer on top. However, softer Talalay doesn't provide enough back support and some people find their back muscles tensing after a few hours in reaction to this. Another characteristic of soft Talalay is that despite the marketing angle that claims Talalay supports the body evenly, it doesn't. Your hips will sink much more deeply into soft Talalay than the rest of your body, throwing your spine out of alignment. This is where the middle layer becomes critical striking the balance between the soft comfort layer and the firm support layer, and it can be tricky finding the correct combination of ILDs to provide proper support and comfort. Talalay is very springy and has a jiggly feeling when you lay on it. Some people find this distracting. Unless your mattress is on the firm side overall, it won't provide a comfortable surface for sitting up and reading or watching TV either. Like Mattressmom I prefer Dunlop latex. Unlike Talalay that blends more air into the foam the softer it gets, all Dunlop latex is the same density. Softness is determined by the size of the pinholes in the mold. It is possible to get a supportive mattress at a softer ILD in a single core with Dunlop. I know because I slept on one for 20 years and Talalay was a huge (and painful) disappointment by comparison. Dunlop has all of Talalay's durability and none of its negative characteristics. It is a passive foam that does not exert pressure against the body. Although it does have spring to it (unlike memory foam) it isn't jiggly. It supports the body evenly and comfortably and takes no getting used to. I recommend looking into it. One other thing you might want to consider is a hybrid mattress. Some people just need the rigid support of an innerspring no matter how much they would like to sleep on an all foam mattress. Which is not to say you can't have the best of both worlds. A hybrid mattress has an innerspring support unit and has several thin layers of latex, HR foam or memory foam on top. The foam completely insulates the body from the pressure points associated with old fashioned innerspring mattresses, and the spring unit provides the back with the support structure it needs. Sometimes its not that you can't sleep on latex. It's just that you can't sleep on a mattress that's all latex. The best hybrids come with a zippered cover like a latex mattress kit so you can shift the layers around for customized comfort. BeddyBye has this kind of mattress and I'm jealous! The choices are out there, Explore them.
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sager66 wrote: Based on your reserach, your query seems very illogical . . only YOU can determine if latex is suitable. Are you seeking someone to blame if latex does not work out for you, as compared to taking personal responsibility? Thanks for coming to my defense, Beddybye & Cloud9...I appreciate it. What sager66 wrote is rediculous, and his comments don't foster an environment where people can feel free to ask for advice and information on this forum. I don't know how sager came up with the question about me seeking someone to blame if latex doesn't work out for me. Everyone, thank you so very much for providing in-depth answers to my questions. I have a much better understanding of the pros and cons of latex mattresses, and I know that your answers will help other people searching for answers about latex, too. I personally don't know anyone who sleeps on a latex mattress, so it's wonderful to have the knowledge and opinions of people like you who have slept on those types of mattresses. Thanks again! |
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"At firmer ILDs this resilency can exert so much pressure against the body that although it doesn't register as pressure points like you would get on an innerspring mattress, it can make you sore all over. " While this may be a good shortcut way to describe the effect of firm talalay, it's not really accurate. Gravity is constant. Period. Your weight is a force (F=MA). ANY surface you contact exerts a force equal and opposite to your weight. Here's my hunch: Its well known that the more conforming the surface, the more the force is spread out over a greater surface area. That's why waterbeds are so unbelievably comfortable to lie on (but not necessarily sleep on since insufficient support for heavier areas). Visco foam also conforming, but with its own set of problems. A nonconforming surface (floor) concentrates weight on the contact points. Same with firm mattresses. Softer mattresses use various foam layering to dissipate the force. Dunlop probably should be considered a more conforming foam, with the areas of greatest weight/pressure collapsing more easily, thus transferring some of the adjacent body load to the adjacent foam surface. Higher ILD (weight required to compress 9" plate 25%) talalay does not conform nearly as much, thus weight more concentrated. When you move, weight is re-concentrated in new area. And so on. Thus, if you lie perfectly still, all mattress surfaces will feel the same if weight is equivalently distributed. Layering from firm base to softer top counters this propensity of talalay by (as advertised) using a top comfort layer to conform/dissipate forces, and lower layers to further dissipate them, until reach base. Further (and this is just a hunch) a talalay layered mattress may simply be an attempt to create the feel which results from the settling during the dunlop manufacturing process. Dunlop generally doesn't use ILD. A dunlop mattress effectively may become progressively firmer as you go deeper in the bun--if you sliced one in 1" layers, the top layer might have something comparable to a 24 "ILD", while the bottom closer to a 36. Since it's a single-slab, the whole may be firmer than the sum of its parts (ILDs of its layers). In comparison, a talalay with a uniform ILD throughout would either be too soft for support, or too firm for comfort. This would also suggest that possibly one could build a talalay mattress which would feel identical to a dunlop mattress, by sandwiching and gluing layers of multiple ILDs. And this essentially is what the online kits are doing, though with thicker pieces for durability and simplicity, and not glued. Dunlop has its proponents, but what has always been considered a big advantage of talalay is consistency in product, since much more is under the control of the manufacturer, and more durability (though would disagree). However, a major advantage of talalay from the top manufacturers is warranty. It's much easier/cheaper to make dunlop so there are more players. Unless you know the manufacturer, or have past experience with its product, it may not be around a few years down the line when a problem surfaces. |
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"and more durability (though would disagree)." Correction: "and more durability (though some would disagree)." |
| Dave at FloBeds.com did send me a 1.5" Dunlap Topper and it was too firm for me and I did not like the feel at all. I prefer Talalay Latex so for. I can see that a bottom base of Dunalap latex may be good but my 44 ILD solves that problem. I have not tried layers of Dunlap latex under a a softer talalay topper so I can't comment there but the Dunlap latex topper exerted more pressure points for me and I just preferred my 1" soft Overstock Talalay Latex Topper that gave just a tiny bit of cushion. I still wish my bed was zoned but so far this is the best for me and each person is so different. |