100% Natural Latex vs. 100% Natural Botanical Latex ???

Hi rvneedsleep,

I’m not sure which SleepEz mattress you purchased or whether it has a wool quilted cover or not but some of the suggestions in my previous reply may help to resolve temperature regulation issues … at least to some degree.

Both Talalay and Dunlop can be made in a wide range of firmness levels so either one may be firmer than the other depending on the ILD of the layer. If you have two layers that are the same thickness (layer thickness can affect how soft or firm a layer feels) and both of them are the same ILD (and the ILD was measured using the same criteria which often isn’t the case) then for most people the Dunlop would feel a little firmer because it has a higher compression modulus (the rate that a material becomes firmer as you compress it more deeply). Depending again on the specific ILD … medium Talalay would generally feel firmer than soft Dunlop although it will also have a different and more resilient and “springy” feel. Soft Dunlop in the same thickness and ILD as Talalay would likely feel firmer than the Talalay.

Thanks … that’s helpful as a “pointer”.

“Support” is often misunderstood because the goal of a “supportive” mattress is to keep the spine and joints in good alignment and this requires the type of contouring support that allows some parts of the body to sink in more (softer) and some parts of the body to sink in less (firmer) and this will vary on an individual basis based on body type and sleeping style. There is more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support/alignment” and “comfort/pressure relief” and “feel” and how they interact together.

It’s certainly possible that you may need both firmer deep support and softer or thicker comfort layers to solve or at least alleviate both the pressure relief issues on your side and the lower back pain on your back.

You could firm up the deep support by exchanging the firm bottom layer with the medium middle layer.

If this helps to reduce or solve the lower back issues when you sleep on your back then you may also be able to solve or at least help the pressure relief issue by adding a relatively thin topper to provide a little bit of extra thickness/softness and improve the pressure relief when you are lying on your side.

While I can certainly sympathize with the thought (on some days more than others :)) … it still may be possible to make some adjustments that help to bring you a little bit closer to your “ideal” to the degree that is possible with the layers that you have available.

Phoenix