Hi moolee,
I would be thinking about testing specifically and as objectively as possible for PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) as you can (using the testing guidelines in post #1 here). Everything else is secondary when you are testing two materials that are closely equivalent in terms of durability and quality (which is the case with Talalay and Dunlop. Dunlop and Talalay have a different “feel” and the choice between them is strictly a personal preference and there is no “better and worse”. You can read a little more about the differences between them in terms of “feel” in post #7 here but your own testing will be more accurate than anyone else’s descriptions of “subjective” feel.
Both materials come in a wide range of firmness levels and how a mattress feels and performs for any specific person depends on their body type, sleeping positions, and subjective perceptions. There are also many other “specs” besides just ILD that can change the way a mattress feels and performs or the softness/firmness of a mattress (including compression modulus, layer thickness, and point elasticity) because every layer in a mattress has an effect on the feel and performance of every other layer. You can cut through all the technical stuff though by trusting your own careful and objective testing and what your body tells you.
It is true that for most people Dunlop in the same ILD will feel firmer than Talalay because Dunlop gets firmer faster as you compress it and that it’s easier to find Talalay in softer versions than Dunlop but this means very little if a mattress uses layers that are “perfect” for you regardless of whether softer or firmer versions of latex may be available.
Yes they state this on their site and I have also confirmed it in my conversations with them.
Once you are down to your finalist at each retailer or manufacturer then final choices based on all the factors that are most important to you are all that’s left 9as difficult as that may be when you are making choices that are already better quality/value than 90% of consumers make in the mainstream market :))
I’m looking forward to hearing about what you end up choosing and of course if you have more questions that come up don’t hesitate to post them here. All the options you are considering so far are good ones IMO.
Phoenix