14 ILD Talalay seems to be rare - why ? Considering Talalay’s support factor and resiliency the 14 ILD Talalay should be firmer than pretty much all memory foam out there, so how come virtually all Talalay toppers out there are 19 ILD or higher ?
Is 14 ILD Talalay more difficult / expensive to produce ? Or are they unable to produce a firmer memory foam ? In other words why is there no overlap between firmness of commonly used memory foam and Talalay ?
Hi g1881c,
Memory foam and latex is really an apples to oranges comparison. ILD in memory foam is also very misleading because it can change and compress differently based on many factors including pressure, temperature, humidity, length of time it is compressed, and speed of compression (just like the difference between slapping honey and slowly pressing into honey). Latex is an “instant” foam and only responds to pressure. They may be somewhat similar if there is no movement after they have been compressed for a minute or so but they won’t feel anything like each other in the meantime (or as soon as you move).
I think that the only way to really know the difference would be to compare them yourself. If you go to a store that sells Pure Latex Bliss (there is a retailer locator here) … they will have 2" or 3" latex toppers in the 14 to 15 ILD range which you can try.
While PLB and a few others have them fairly widely available … I also think a lot of smaller manufacturers don’t completely trust latex that soft because it would be less durable or sometimes more “risky” (depending on the thickness of the layer) than firmer latex.
Phoenix
I’m afraid their store locator isn’t doing it for me. It gave me 4 stores within about an hour drive ( and i am in New York City, not Alaska LOL ) but the first 3 stores aren’t there any more and the 4th one doesn’t seem to carry it. i might call PLB in case they have better information on dealers than their website does.
Seems a latex mattress outlet is almost as hard to track down as a waterbed one 
Hi g1981c,
There may be some options available to you for latex toppers in the New York list in post #2 here although I don’t know if any of these sell 14 - 15 ILD Talalay.
14 ILD is available online from at least 3 online sources I know of that you can see in post #6 here.
Phoenix
thanks Phoenix - but it now appears i looked up wrong “sleepworks” on google and actually it seems i might get a chance to try out the Pure Latex Bliss after all !
this place:
is 35 miles drive from me, which is not too far i think.
i’ll let you know if i get to try it out !
OK so i went there this morning - it was supposed to be open from 11 AM but of course it was closed. Totally forgot about the holidays. I spent 2.5 hours driving there and back LOL.
But the place looks promising ! It’s 2 floors high and it says “LATEX” right on the outside of the building - so i will be coming back there, but only after they confirm over the phone that they’re open.