What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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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. |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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BeddyBye wrote: I noticed that this site talks about the Talalay process, though. <;---? My mattress guy uses Talatech talalay from Latex International for his layers he uses inside the custom mattresses. But, he said this other all-latex mattress came from this company, Dunlopillo. Now I'm confused. I assumed it meant that it was from the Dunlop process. Yes, Dunlopillo's name is rather misleading. I asked Sean at SleepEZ when I was talking to him about a latex topper and he said that the Dunlopillo latex is Talalay. Confusing, no? |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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SleepEZ's supplier page does a nice job of listing the major suppliers of latex. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a chart. IIRC, SleepEZ gets their blended Talalay from LI and their natural Talalay from Dunlopillo. http://www.sleepez.com/suppliers.htm |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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"IIRC, SleepEZ gets their blended Talalay from LI and their natural Talalay from Dunlopillo." IIRC, SleepEZ doesn't say anywhere on its website specifically where foam from the named suppliers is used, and does not list an email address. In other words, nowhere can you determine in writing specifically where any given piece of latex ordered will be from. |
Re: BeddyBye- Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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Dave sounds like a great guy, Lynn. All about customer servoce! I'll give him a call, for sure. Lynn2006 wrote: BeddyBye, I asked Dave to look for me and he did and sent it to me to replace the 2" convoluted topper my bed came with that was too soft for me. I would have loved the soft topper if it was thinner. You can always call Dave at FloBeds since he is amazing at finding things for customers. He aims to please. I am amazed he found me a 1.5" topper recently but it is a shame when he asked me what ILD I wanted, I did not realize I wanted very soft so he sent me a medium soft. He even sliced a pillow for me to make it more low profile. |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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I honestly don't think I could just sleep on latex alone. Or any type of foam. When I laid on the all-latex mattress at my mattress shop, it just felt like it had no give. Or maybe it just needed a wee bit more bounce. That's the one with the thick core and laminated comfort layers. I'm thinking the core is Dunlop process. I just prefer the feel of a good coil system as my primary base. From there I prefer it to be firm, medium firm and "luxury firm" or a firmer plush. Not so hard that my hips feel pressure points. Just plush enough so I feel some "cush", but not so much that my back sinks in. Of course, isn't that what everyone is looking for? Not always easy finding that combination, though! I'm hoping that the firmer Talalay latex and one thin layer of HR PU foam will be the magic long term match for me. I'm curious about what Cloud9 said, though, re; Talalay pushing back. I'm still going to attempt to see what a 2" layer of Dunlop would feel like, though. Maybe take off the PU foam and put the Dunlop in its place and one inch of Talalay over that. The trouble with coils is I can only have about 3 inches MAX of foam or latex layers. So, I don't have much to play with. I still wouldn't trade my coils, though. mccldwll wrote: "After sleeping on a firm Talalay mattress (32/38/44 ILD) for four days not only was I sore all over, I woke up feeling like someone had been sitting on my ribcage all night."<BR><BR>It's the 32/38/44 build. 32 is not very conforming. And as I said, I don't disagree with the subjective description, but was only theorizing why it feels like that, and how it might be endrun. We now seem to have a near consensus on this forum that a properly reconstructed coil mattress can be a great sleep experience. It's how the coil system is "finished" which makes the difference. My point is that the same is true of a talalay mattress. The original post referred to latex mattresses. There have been many posts about dunlop v. talalay. I've seen Serta talalay mattresses advertised recently with 28 core w/ 32 racetrack (and through the subtleties of advertising, I'm sure core also means there are PU comfort layers over that). My point was that how a latex mattress feels depends entirely on how constructed (and for me, and some others with back/shoulder issues, standard layering talalay or uniform dunlop just won't work. BUT, zoning will, whether as a complete dunlop, talalay, or topper over coil). |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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Without looking at LI's site, I'm assuming that their blended Talalay is Talatech. That's what I believe my 1" layers are. Maybe the thick natural Talalay cores my mattress guy buys from Dunlopillo mimic Dunlop. It sure felt firn and "thud-like" when I laid on it. mattressmom wrote: SleepEZ's supplier page does a nice job of listing the major suppliers of latex. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a chart. IIRC, SleepEZ gets their blended Talalay from LI and their natural Talalay from Dunlopillo.<BR><BR>http://www.sleepez.com/suppliers.htm |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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mccldwll wrote: "After sleeping on a firm Talalay mattress (32/38/44 ILD) for four days not only was I sore all over, I woke up feeling like someone had been sitting on my ribcage all night." It's the 32/38/44 build. 32 is not very conforming. And as I said, I don't disagree with the subjective description, but was only theorizing why it feels like that, and how it might be endrun. We now seem to have a near consensus on this forum that a properly reconstructed coil mattress can be a great sleep experience. It's how the coil system is "finished" which makes the difference. My point is that the same is true of a talalay mattress. The original post referred to latex mattresses. There have been many posts about dunlop v. talalay. I've seen Serta talalay mattresses advertised recently with 28 core w/ 32 racetrack (and through the subtleties of advertising, I'm sure core also means there are PU comfort layers over that). My point was that how a latex mattress feels depends entirely on how constructed (and for me, and some others with back/shoulder issues, standard layering talalay or uniform dunlop just won't work. BUT, zoning will, whether as a complete dunlop, talalay, or topper over coil).
If you can sleep on anything configuring a Talalay mattress is easy. For the rest of us it's just way too much work and sometimes way too much pain. Mccldwll, even you have been trying to construct the perfect Talalay mattress for about a year now. And poor Lynn spent so much time getting hers just right and now that she's had a car accident she has to start tweaking it all over again. Like BeddyBye I don't think I can sleep on an all foam mattress any longer. My back just feels happier with a rigid innerspring support beneath it. I do like latex and memory foam, but I'm most comfortable with these materials layered in small, comfortable increments over the innerspring. Sometimes what we want and what we really need are not in a agreement. I really didn't want an innerspring mattress, but that's just what works the best for me. P.S. BeddyBye, Dunlopillo is a European latex manufacturerer. Europe's equivilent of L.I. But you're right, it is confusing! |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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BeddyBye wrote: I honestly don't think I could just sleep on latex alone. Or any type of foam. When I laid on the all-latex mattress at my mattress shop, it just felt like it had no give. Or maybe it just needed a wee bit more bounce. That's the one with the thick core and laminated comfort layers. I'm thinking the core is Dunlop process. I just prefer the feel of a good coil system as my primary base. From there I prefer it to be firm, medium firm and "luxury firm" or a firmer plush. Not so hard that my hips feel pressure points. Just plush enough so I feel some "cush", but not so much that my back sinks in. Of course, isn't that what everyone is looking for? Not always easy finding that combination, though! I'm hoping that the firmer Talalay latex and one thin layer of HR PU foam will be the magic long term match for me. I'm curious about what Cloud9 said, though, re; Talalay pushing back. I'm still going to attempt to see what a 2" layer of Dunlop would feel like, though. Maybe take off the PU foam and put the Dunlop in its place and one inch of Talalay over that. The trouble with coils is I can only have about 3 inches MAX of foam or latex layers. So, I don't have much to play with. I still wouldn't trade my coils, though. I'm kind of guessing that the Dunlop mattress I slept on was about 28 ILD. It definintely didn't thud! Although it was on a boxspring, and that will change the feeling. I'm not really sure why you would want to swap out the firm HR foam for the Dunlop. Firm HR foam has much more of a thud factor than latex. I think it provides a nice stablizing base over the springs for the bouncier materials on top. Remember, Dunlop is still rubber. It's bouncy. Just not jiggly. I'd be concerned that 2" of firm Dunlop would compromise the ridigity of the innerspring unit and you might be back to having too much foam on the mattress. I guess if you can return or exchange it for another ILD it would be okay. It might take a some experiementation. |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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" Mccldwll, even you have been trying to construct the perfect Talalay mattress for about a year now." Yes and no. Started a year ago but took 10 months off. Revisited recently due to neck/shoulder and back issues. Bought 3 Brylanes and the 36 ILD twin topper. I have nothing against dunlop (and even have a 35 yr. old twin mattress in cabin--originally modified for s sleep system in '70 FJ40 Land Cruiser, and subsequently used for toddlers bed) but ILD is so inconsistent, even throughout a single slab. Sellers really can't list an ILD with dunlop, and have to say "it's medium" or "it feels like 28 ILD latex." I don't think my experience would be any different with dunlop since it involves relative weight/displacement of hips vs. shoulders. So I need to zone. And since I haven't been able to find material locally, need to order. And that's where another dunlop problem arises for me. Shipping. It's heavy. Repacking a 3" twin size piece of talalay is rough enough. Try it with a relatively dense piece of dunlop which has been vacuum packed by the manufacturer. Some of these sites peddling dunlop with seemingly generous return policies obfuscate the fact that you have to repack it in original shipping materials, and return shipping costs are high (even where it seems to say that there is a minimal "return shipping fee", which often is a "handling fee"). One site stated if you lost the original boxes, they would sell you replacement boxes for $59. BOTTOM LINE: Enter all transactions fully informed. Whatever you buy, make sure everything is in writing. Read and reread the fine print and make sure you fully understand the terms and conditions. Ask your questions and get the responses IN WRITING. |
Re: What are the pros & cons of sleeping on a latex mattress? What does a latex mattress feel like?
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I agree with all of the above. You are taking a chance with latex - Dunlop in particular - because it is so heavy to ship it back and forth. We were determined not to have to return layers so we tried very hard to get it right the first time. I wouldn't recommend ordering Dunlop unless you are very sure you know what you want and/or aren't extremely fussy and/or have special needs - unless you are willing to pay for shipping. I also think it takes some time to adjust to a new bed. I'm not terribly fussy and I don't have back problems but my husband does - it took him at least a night or two to adjust every time we reconfigured our Savvy Rest bed. Even his pillow position felt different with different mattress firmnesses. But we knew that we wanted to err in the direction of going too firm because we could soften it with toppers if we needed to. It is harder to correct if things are too soft. We knew that we could reconfigure the three firmnesses split into six pieces of latex until we got it right. We knew we didn't like the feel of spring coils or Talalay and what we read about Talalay. We knew that Dunlop sounded like what we were looking for. But it took a bit of a leap of faith and a willingness to work at it if we weren't completely happy. In a way, we got lucky that we happened to choose the right thing for us - but we had made a very informed "guess" based on lots of reading, talking to some of the mattress suppliers and thinking about our preferences and past experiences. We didn't just order the first bed we found. It took my mother almost 6 weeks to completely adjust to her new adjustable memory foam bed. Now she says she couldn't live without it. She has had back problems for years that are finally getting better. It took a while to get the bed recommended by her chiropractor to work for her but it did eventually. She also had to train herself not to flop over on her stomach - which was probably a big part of the problem. |