Mattress Forum

I've spoken, at length to both above-named dealers.  Sean, at SleepEZ (owner's son) answered almost everything, but referred some questions to his dunlop distributor, JR at Sleep Comp, who has been in this business forever, & supplies almost all dealers with both Talalay and Dunlop, blended, unblended & natural & he represents many latex manufacturers. He is also the only person who agrees that my husband's back needs a dunlop XF/F/M. (JR has back issues & that's what he sleeps on) He also told me that there will be inconsistencies with natural dunlop - said it's like buying an apple - not every apple is perfect. I'm ok with that and know that my dunlop won't look as pretty as blended Talalay...

 Michael Penny , Savvy's owner & his son Gopal, and sales rep, Gretchen, have all been informative and very nice.

So both companies have good customer service - at least at point of pre-sale. I'm sure I'm driving both nuts, but at approx $3K, I want to cover every base to avoid problems/misunderstandings. (I have trust issues implanted firmly in my brain from previous experiences at Sleepy's  & car dealerships....so now everyone suffers)

I'm stuck as to whether there is a quality difference between the 2 mfr plants that produce the dunlop latex for these 2 companies. And I don't think I'll find the answer anytime soon either, so it might come down to tossing a dart...

This latest concern about quality came after yet another dealer (unnamed) told me that "their" 100% organic dunlop is better than Savvy's & is mfr'd by Latex Green in Sri Lanka. (They said it's more pure yada...yada...and they knocked Savvy's Coco Latex ( from Kerala, India) dunlop, saying it's inferior to Latex Green) I called this unnamed dealer because their comparable zip mattress is $1200 more than Savvy Rest, & I wanted to know why. I will pay more if quality is better. However, somehow this person (owner) must have thought price was an issue (it wasn't) and proceeded to offer a better deal than Savvy...however, it would not be Latex Green dunlop, but "lesser quality rubber from Thailand, but better quality than Savvy's Coco Latex"....hmmmm, now I'm scared to buy from Savvy....maybe, but wasn't that the point? What they aren't counting on is that I'm not stupid..or a sucker.

When I asked this dealer if they've heard of SleepEZ, they hadn't, but looked at the SleepEZ site & quickly determined that SleepEZ also buys Latex Green dunlop. Now they offered to reduce their comparable mattress from $4200, to match SleepEZ's price. What???. This owner also said I "still had the option to go even cheaper  if I went with their lesser quality latex mattress from Thailand" as per above....so this dealer never made my list the other nite when I found them online...

What I learned is that one pays a premium for same product, from same latex plant...with maybe a better cotton/wool cover(with cheap nylon zipper!) but that's it!  I hadn't called them to barter price; I just wanted to justify their price in case there was a better quality dunlop out there. Once I found out that their latex was same as SleepEZ latex from Latex Green, I had my answer. So beware of high-priced, self-professed 100% organic latex dealers! 

Covers:  Savvy has 100% organic cotton/wool. SleepEZ's has both organic and not. (Sean  assured me that both covers are 100% chemical-free - no boric acid or anything. Just cotton & wool.) He also told me the only difference is the sheep - organic is fed/grown organically. But organic will smell more! Either save $200 and go non-organic cotton/wool, or for those who want/need organic, I think you can trust Sean - even without the certification - he's just not pushing or selling "organic", but it's offered if you want it.

We drove an hour to test a Savvy dunlop bed & really liked the feel. The cover is nice and tight which I prefer over damask to keep those layers nice and snug inside.  Also  liked the large, brass zipper that totally unzips off.

Can't test a SleepEZ but a reviewer said their metal zipper is small and a bit flimsy, which makes me wonder about quality of their cover which only zips off 3 sides. Problematic for cleaning, but I use a good mattress pad so maybe moot...

Savvy has no return policy, so if latex proves to be wrong choice  we're stuck for over $3K. Savvy also has just 3 firmness levels: S, M, F & no choice of ILD (but said they can hand select for firmness)

SleepEZ allows returns/exchanges, and offers ILD from 16 to 45. That's extra soft to extra firm and anywhere in-between.

I  wish I could find out which plant produces the better quality dunlop.  Is there really a difference? Going with the firmer support of dunlop is scary enough. However, if one plant produces only rock-hard dunlop, I'd like to know that because exchanges won't help.  I don't expect perfection, but I do want consistency in quality & a difference in feeling of firmness levels.

That's my dilemma & if anyone can give the answer, you get a big gold star!

UPDATE: Ordered a Savvy Rest king split dunlop today and will check back in a few weeks to update..(also edited down the above, too-long post)