We are in the market for a new mattress and I have read a ton of information on the Mattress Underground (maybe too much! ). My husband and I both like the feel of latex, and due to allergies and smell, we think 100% latex is a good choice. I’ve looked at several of the members’ websites and have found several companies that seem to offer good prices and high quality products. I do have a couple questions:
One place we are looking at offers a build your own mattress with only a cotton cover, so no padding like wool in between the top and the latex. I don’t think I have found anything that’s like that in a store to compare it to. (We do have a 9 month old and a 24 month old that help us shop, so our ability to keep track of everything and them isn’t easy.) I realize that may just be personal preference, but is there anything else to consider with that other than feel?
The buckling column gel sounds very interesting to me, but I don’t think I have come across it in a store. Are there any mattresses that we might find in a store that would allow us to try it out? Since it is such a unique feel, I’d like to test it in person to see if it is an option for us.
You are correct that the layers closest to your skin can have the most dramatic impact upon your comfort. Depending upon the thickness and the weave and the blending of other materials, a cover using cotton can be stiff or barely noticeable. Thicker cotton covers can have a feel much like a canvas and not flex much at all, while others can have cotton blended with more elastic fibers to form a stretch-knit that is very flexible. Quilting wool into the covering will give it a bit more rigidity and some extra comfort, but it will tend to be on the slightly firmer end of the spectrum, especially as time goes on, as wool does tend to compress. This would of course depend upon the amount of wool used and how tightly it is quilted to the material. There could also be some benefits for temperature/moisture regulation with the wool, and a thicker cover quilted with wool can also provide a bit more protection in the long run versus oxidation/UV exposure for the latex.
There is more about buckling column gel in this article and in post #2 here and the posts it links to. A forum search on “buckling column gel” (you can just click the link) will also bring up more comments and feedback about it as well. Unfortunately it isn’t possible for me to keep a listing of all of the mattresses mentioned here on the forum and their componentry, as that is ever-changing and too detailed of a task for anyone to be able to accomplish. Purple is probably the best known of the “simplified choice” mattresses using buckling column gel. All of the layers of a mattress work in unison to provide the overall feel, so the deeper the layer of buckling column gel is located in a mattress, the less noticeable it will be in your overall comfort.
). My husband and I both like the feel of latex, and due to allergies and smell, we think 100% latex is a good choice. I’ve looked at several of the members’ websites and have found several companies that seem to offer good prices and high quality products. I do have a couple questions: