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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 |
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I like that you said it didn't feel as bouncy. Would I be able to get an XL Twin Dunlop in medium around 2" thick? Or does it have to be a lot thicker? I remember laying on a Dunlopillo mattress that my mattress guy had on the floor. It definitely felt firmer...almost like a "thud" when I laid on it, compared to a "boing" of the talalay. Maybe this is what I need to put over my springs to have the best of both worlds. mattressmom wrote: You might have had better luck with some firm Dunlop. It feels denser and firmer overall than Talalay - and less bouncy. It is hard to describe the difference. I've heard the difference described as Talalay is more like Angel Food cake while Dunlop is more like Pound cake. I'm not sure you can compare their ILDs directly.<BR><BR>36 over 40 over 44 sounds really hard to me - but it sounds like it works for you. The woman at Savvy Rest said she had back problems (slipped disk, I think) and she used medium over medium over firm (35/35/40) and wouldn't recommend anything much firmer than that - and only if you had serious back problems. She steered us toward the Soft/Medium/Firm combo instead of M/M/F I had originally decided on. My husband needed something firmer than I liked. He could have put the firmer layers toward the top if he had needed to. In the end, he found the soft/medium/Firm combo firm enough and still very comfortable.<BR><BR>Our only complaint is that it's hard to get up in the morning. We're too comfy... |
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BeddyBye wrote: I like that you said it didn't feel as bouncy. Would I be able to get an XL Twin Dunlop in medium around 2" thick? Or does it have to be a lot thicker? I remember laying on a Dunlopillo mattress that my mattress guy had on the floor. It definitely felt firmer...almost like a "thud" when I laid on it, compared to a "boing" of the talalay. Maybe this is what I need to put over my springs to have the best of both worlds. The Dunlop definitely thuds rather than boings. I found there so much latex information tilted toward Talalay that I sought out places that specialized in Dunlop. I had good luck with this vendor. They told me they usually order medium in 32 ILD but they could order other ILDs for you. They do sell 2" and 3" Twin XL toppers. The prices for soft, medium and firm are somewhat different. Firmer latex costs a bit more. If you call their toll free number, be sure to ask for the person who is knowledgeable about latex - one of the owners. I think her name is Loni. This is a smallish business in Iowa but they drop ship their latex from California. Natural Selections & Organic Selections.com http://organicselections.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=127_41 1-888-216-9917 For the record, I am not a stickler about "organic" or "natural" products but I do appreciate the care taken in choosing components and product lines by the vendors who strive to sell more natural products. I appreciate the idea of "natural" products but I don't necessarily buy the hype. |
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mattressmom wrote: The Dunlop definitely thuds rather than boings. I found there so much latex information tilted toward Talalay that I sought out places that specialized in Dunlop. I had good luck with this vendor. They told me they usually order medium in 32 ILD but they could order other ILDs for you. They do sell 2" and 3" Twin XL toppers. The prices for soft, medium and firm are somewhat different. Firmer latex costs a bit more. If you call their toll free number, be sure to ask for the person who is knowledgeable about latex - one of the owners. I think her name is Loni. This is a smallish business in Iowa but they drop ship their latex from California. Natural Selections & Organic Selections.com http://organicselections.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=127_41 1-888-216-9917 For the record, I am not a stickler about "organic" or "natural" products but I do appreciate the care taken in choosing components and product lines by the vendors who strive to sell more natural products. I appreciate the idea of "natural" products but I don't necessarily buy the hype.
Glad to hear you say that. That is exactly how I would describe it as well, so that really verifies for me that although we did not like the Talalay mattress we tried from flo-beds a few years ago, we might still like latex in the Dunlop variety. Actually the first latex I ever layed on was Dunlop and it felt good, but then everyone said how greaet Talalay was so I bought into the hype. I'm not saying it isn't good, I'm just saying maybe Dunlop is better for ME. Thanks for the report and for the link. I'm going to check this company out. |
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mattressmom wrote: 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. Mattressmom, I'm intrigued by your report on Savvy Rest. It's now been a couple months, are you just as happy now with your new mattress? I see you got soft | medium | firm. I'm looking to buy a ("Full/Std" size) Dunlop mattress for my Mom. She's 80, a side sleeper, and weighs only about 105 lbs. Based on the Savvy Rest mattress questionaire (http://www.savvyrest.com/helpful-info/mattress-questionnaire/index.php) and what the women at http://www.tinybirdsorganics.com/northstarbeds/organic-mattress-latexrubber.html write ("My sister and I both like the soft-soft-medium layering best for ourselves (we are in the 100-150 lb range and suffered from back-aches in the past when we used innerspring mattresses") I was thinking maybe soft | soft | medium might be right for my Mom, considering that soft Dunlop is firmer than soft Talalay. My other choice would be a SleepEz mattress, which is less expensive. Like you, though, I'm a bit concerned at the lack of info about their cover. Plus, although they offer Dunlop during the checkout process, they clearly favor Talalay, whereas I'm leaning towards Dunlop. The Savvy Rest emphasis on organic is nice, btw, but my Mom is not allergic nor (as far as I know) hypersensitive to chemicals. Are you totally satisfied after two months? Do you think the Savvy Rest was worth the extra expense? Philly888 This message was modified Mar 27, 2008 by Philly888
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| Having gone down that road myself I can't stress enough the importance of buying from a merchant that allows more than one comfort exchange and no restocking fee, neither of which SleepEZ does. They have a very nice product at a very attractive price but it's a crap shoot and if it doesn't work out after the first comfort exchange you are out a lot of money. Be very sure of exchange and return policies before you order. |
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cloud9 wrote: Having gone down that road myself I can't stress enough the importance of buying from a merchant that allows more than one comfort exchange and no restocking fee, neither of which SleepEZ does. They have a very nice product at a very attractive price but it's a crap shoot and if it doesn't work out after the first comfort exchange you are out a lot of money. Be very sure of exchange and return policies before you order.
Mattressmom in this thread was very persuasive about Dunlop and Savvy Rest, but Lynn2006 was ultimately more persuasive towards Flobeds. I really don't think my Mom will want to do any exchanges, but I like having the assurance that I could if I wanted to at low cost. Lynn2006 is probably closer to my Mom in height and weight than most of the other posters, and she (Lynn2006) prefers Talalay. I'm still not sure what I want for myself, and I've spent more than I've planned on my Mom's mattress, so I'm going to try to get by with a $65 topper. One crap shoot at a time. Philly888 This message was modified Mar 31, 2008 by Philly888
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Since your mom prefers Talalay she should really enjoy her Flobeds mattress. And it's reassuring that she can get those comfort exchanges if she needs them--or even return the bed for a full refund if it does come to that. I visited the Savvy Rest site and it seems like they give you one comfort exchange and do not accept returns at all! I would never buy something as expensive and personal as a mattress without having test driven it first if I knew I couldn't return it if it wasn't right for me. I think that's a terrible policy for any online mattress merchant to have. Mattressmom was really lucky it worked out for her. |
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cloud9 wrote: Since your mom prefers Talalay she should really enjoy her Flobeds mattress. And it's reassuring that she can get those comfort exchanges if she needs them--or even return the bed for a full refund if it does come to that. I visited the Savvy Rest site and it seems like they give you one comfort exchange and do not accept returns at all! I would never buy something as expensive and personal as a mattress without having test driven it first if I knew I couldn't return it if it wasn't right for me. I think that's a terrible policy for any online mattress merchant to have. Mattressmom was really lucky it worked out for her.
The reason I was leaning towards Dunlop was because of all the comfort exchanges of Talalay I've seen being discussed here, and because Dunlop has been described as being less pushy, less bouncy, and more like polyurethane foam. And I was interested in a Savvy Rest Dunlop mattress because Mattressmom was so happy with hers. But their no return policy along with the premium price were a concern. SleepEZ has the best price by far and offers Dunlop. Novahelp's dissatisfaction with his SleepEZ 10000 worried me, although what he got was Talalay (another reason I wanted Dunlop) and at 6'5" he's built nothing like my 105lb mother. Novahelp's troubles repacking and returning layers also was a concern. Lastly, when I called SleepEZ, I got a salesman who seemed disinterested (he sounded sleepy). Flobeds' salesman was wide awake and spent a lot of time on the phone with me. Lynn2006 is a good advocate for Flobeds, and very importantly she's close in size and weight to my mother. On the other hand, the multiple multiple exchanges she's discussed was a double-edged sword: it convinced me of Flobeds' excellent customer service and layer exchange policy, but it made me worry all the more about Talalay ... and that's all Flobeds offers. And I know my Mom will not be keen on the idea of doing an exchange or return, no matter what, so it's important to get it right on the first throw of the dice. But Lynn2006's situation is different in that she had an accident that put her in a lot of pain and made her particularly sensitive. My Mom is 80, has a sore knee, and recently had sciatica but still is relatively happy sleeping on her 30-year-old polyurethane Sears mattress. So it was a difficult decision on what to get for my mother. As I've written elsewhere, learning that Flobeds offers split cores on a Full/Std, something others offer only on Queen and King size, was a big deal. And the clincher was the sale on the Flobeds "zone-on-point" that's recommended for side sleepers. Split cores, zone-on-point, free layer exchanges, no restocking fee for a total return (just shipping) ... these factors give me a lot of options for configuring my Mom's bed and made me give up the desire for Dunlop. Besides, maybe Talalay is the best for my Mom after all. Neither she nor I have tested them, so what do we know? Talalay has seemingly been dissed in this forum lately, but Lynn2006 isn't the only person here who's happy with it. Talalay is favored by many mattress makers, and not because it's any cheaper to make (I believe the opposite is true). If Dunlop was better, and cheaper to make than Talalay, Flobeds and SleepEZ and many others would be pushing Dunlop. And they're not. Philly888 This message was modified Mar 31, 2008 by Philly888
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I laid on two of the most comfortable 100% talalay mattresses by Serta the other day. They are a new line and if I didn't already have my zippered mattress I would highly consider one. There was an 8" talalay latex core and it felt very supportive without being pushy or bouncy. It had a nice quilted cover, too. Anyway, I liked the feel of it. Philly888 wrote: It's Lynn2006 who prefers Talalay - she has a Flobeds Talalay mattress, and she bought a Dunlop topper and returned it and got a Talalay topper. I don't know what my mother prefers. I know it's not inner spring, because it's been 50 years or more since she had an inner spring mattress and she's said she doesn't want inner spring. She's been sleeping on a Sears-o-pedic polyurethane mattress for the past 30 years, so I suspect she can sleep on anything.</p><p>The reason I was leaning towards Dunlop was because of all the comfort exchanges of Talalay I've seen being discussed here, and because Dunlop has been described as being less pushy, less bouncy, and more like polyurethane foam. And I was interested in a Savvy Rest Dunlop mattress because Mattressmom was so happy with hers. But the no return policy along with the premium price were a concern.</p><p>SleepEZ has the best price by far and offers Dunlop. Novahelp's dissatisfaction with his SleepEZ 10000 worried me, although what he got was Talalay (another reason I wanted Dunlop) and at 6'5" he's built nothing like my 105lb mother. Novahelp's troubles repacking and returning layers also was a concern. Lastly, when I called SleepEZ, I got a salesman who seemed disinterested (he sounded sleepy). Flobeds' salesman was wide awake and spent a lot of time on the phone with me.</p><p>Lynn2006 is a good advocate for Flobeds, and very importantly she's close in size and weight to my mother. On the other hand, the multiple multiple exchanges she's discussed was a double-edged sword: it convinced me of Flobeds' excellent customer service and layer exchange policy, but it made me worry all the more about Talalay ... and that's all Flobeds offers. And I know my Mom will not be keen on the idea of doing an exchange or return, no matter what, so it's important to get it right on the first throw of the dice. But Lynn2006's situation is different in that she had an accident that put her in a lot of pain and made her particularly sensitive. My Mom is 80, has a sore knee, and recently had sciatica but still is relatively happy sleeping on her 30-year-old polyurethane Sears mattress.</p><p>So it was a difficult decision on what to get for my mother. As I've written elsewhere, learning that Flobeds offers split cores on a Full/Std, something others offer only on Queen and King size, was a big deal. And the clincher was the sale on the Flobeds "zone-on-point" that's recommended for side sleepers. Split cores, zone-on-point, free layer exchanges, no restocking fee for a total return (just shipping) ... these factors give me a lot of options for configuring my Mom's bed and made me give up the desire for Dunlop. Besides, maybe Talalay is the best for my Mom after all. Neither she nor I have tested them, so what do we know? Talalay has seemingly been dissed in this forum lately, but Lynn2006 isn't the only person here who's happy with it. Talalay is favored by many mattress makers, and not because it's any cheaper to make (I believe the opposite is true). If Dunlop was better, and cheaper to make than Talalay, Flobeds and SleepEZ and many others would be pushing Dunlop. And they're not.</p><p>Philly888 |
| Hi Mattressmom--are you still out there? If so, I'd love to hear how you are doing with your mattress. I'm figuring you're probably still happy, because if you weren't, I'm sure you'd be posting! Either way, if you're still out there, please post an update. I'm considering a Savvyrest, but am also quite concerned about their return policy and warranty. |