Advice re buying Sleep EZ all latex 8" special

[phoenix]

Hi moolee,

1- EZ suggested covering my older box springs (which has actual springs and isn’t firm enough to use as is) with plywood and using that for the base. But the mattress store sales person said never put latex on a solid surface and that I would need to put the mattress on a slatted surface (covered with fabric or not). What do you think? Will the latex mattress be okay resting diredctly on a plywood-topped base?

It will probably be OK as long as there aren’t other risk factors which can add to the chance of moisture and humidity building up in the mattress (see post #10 here). My preference (and probably theirs as well) would be a slatted foundation such as the one that SleepEz sells or some of the others in the foundation post here but it would likely be fine in terms of supporting the mattress.

2- The 8" EZ special has a thin cotton/rayon cover with no quilting. The mattress store sales person said that you should always have a thicker cover on latex claiming that a thin cover will not protect the latex enough and that the mattress won’t last as long. Should we be concerned about that? I was planning to use some sort of thin wool pad for protection on the mattress. Should I be worried about the sides and bottom not being protected with just the thin cotton covering?

I wouldn’t be concerned at all no. SleepEz has decades of experience with latex mattresses and has more knowledge about latex and suitable covers than most of the manufacturers in the country. They won’t steer you wrong. While it’s true that a very thin cover is not a good idea because latex can degrade with exposure to ozone and ultraviolet light (see post #6 here for a link to a list of substances that can degrade latex) … the cover they use is thicker and high quality and will be fine. There are many people who prefer the feel of sleeping more directly on the latex which allows it to contour a little more effectively instead of a mattress with a quilted cover (such as wool or other fibers which can help with temperature regulation or polyfoam which can modify the surface “feel” of the mattress for those who prefer it).

Phoenix