Bummed out…spent a long time explaining issue, and it disappeared! Do users get timed out when composing?
Anyway…I am about to return a too-firm Beautyrest Black (nonhybrid) at a big $ loss, due to fees. I previously had a sleep number bed, and kept the platform parts and cover. I have decided to give a talalay organic latex mattress a try, from FloBeds or SleepEZ. Can I use the molded plastic-like sleep number platform, which has a 4-part slab, and lock-together sides and cross-supports, and a non-skid cover? Maybe with one of those bed rugs? Secondly, is there any advised thickness for a latex mattress? They sell both three and four layers, although more ILD options at the more expensive FloBeds. I am currently about 172 lbs and 5’4" although dieting, of course! I am a side to stomach sleeper, due to sleep apnea, and am afemale more apple than pear shaped, not much of a waistline at all. 
If a less expensive 10 inch works as well as a more expensive 12 or 13 inch, seems that would be the way to go, unless there is a benefit for the taller one. Please advise, planning to order this weekend if I can figure it all out! Thanks.
Hi jleining,
It’s not normally an issue if you are in a reply window but it can happen occasionally with any forum software when there are a combination of factors that can cause your current forum session to time out (see post #3 here).
You can see some comments about solid surface support systems in post #10 here. It would certainly be supportive enough and if you don’t have any additional risk factors it should be fine. With a bed rug to provide some additional airflow and breathability under the mattress it would certainly be fine in any normal conditions.
The thickness of a mattress or the number of layers or the thickness of any individual layers inside it is really just a side effect of the design and the design goals of a mattress and the thickness of any individual layers or the complete mattress is also only one of many variables that can affect the feel and performance of a mattress relative to any particular person (see post #2 here) and by itself isn’t particularly meaningful (see post #2 here). In some cases people that are in higher weight ranges (or a higher BMI) will sometimes do better with a mattress that is thicker than lower weight ranges or a lower BMI (see post #14 here for more about the effect of thickness) but even this depends more on the specific design and combination of materials in the mattress and on how well your testing or personal experience indicates the mattress “as a whole” matches your specific needs and preferences in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP than it does on just the thickness itself.
When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart (and isn’t just interested in “selling you” any mattress they can convince you to buy) and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.
Both of the manufacturers you are considering are members here which means that I think highly of them and that I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency so you are certainly looking two great quality/value choices.
Once you have narrowed down your options to a list of finalists that are all choices between “good and good” (which you have) and you have confirmed that none of them have any lower quality materials or “weak links” in their design (which they don’t) and if at this point there are no clear winners between them (which is usually a good indication that you have done some good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your more detailed conversations with each of them, your personal preferences, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress (or individual layers in some cases) and any costs involved, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Phoenix
Thanks, Phoenix, for getting back to me so promptly, and elaborating on topic! Will check out your links for more info, and contact someone in person at the two places.
Hi jleining,
I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding 
Phoenix
Not done reading your links yet, but will let you know. Still have to decide about platform versus slatted foundation, as well. The platform I already have would definitely save me some money, but if there is a compelling reason to shell out what seems like a lot for wooden slat foundation, I may do that.,and possibly stick with a thinner mattress to offset the additional cost. As a retiree, and one who has to let the dept store keep $450 to take back my Beautyrest, it pains me a bit to spend more than necessary on the replacement.
One more question…what is your opinion of the “convoluted” toppers or layers in natural, unblended talalay? It would seem to me that the process of removing so much of the latex would significantly weaken it, and make it less durable than a solid piece.
Hi jleining,
As I mentioned in my previous reply … it will probably be fine unless you have a combination of risk factors that would clearly indicate otherwise.
You can read more about the pros and cons of convoluted layers in post #2 here but with very high quality and durable materials such as latex it wouldn’t be a durability issue.
Phoenix
Happened again to me, bumped me out before I could finish my post…is it something I am doing wrong, or IE?
Anyway, have been reading the link you mentioned regarding risks of platforms under latex mattresses.
My platform, being plastic, has no cellulose, as in the plywood platforms, and does not absorb moisture from the room air…would this not make it less likely to support mold growth than a plywood platform?
Also…it seems to me that a 1 inch coir mat, as in the savvy rest bed rug, placed on a plastic foundation would give better air flow than a slat foundation, where most of the mattress is resting directly on wood, which absorbs moisture. The mat would actually keep the mattress completely off any wood or plastic substrate.
Another option…tell me what you think…is to do what you mentioned in your linked post: buy some 1x3’s (18, as you said?) and stick them to my plastic platform with outdoor mounting tape, in effect doing a platform- to- slat conversion for very low cost.
Which, of the options noted above…coir bed rug over plastic platform, or home-made conversion kit, would be least likely to promote mold? The homemade conversion kit is much cheaper than any other option I have seen. But the coir, if resistant to mold, might give the best air flow of ANY option, including the recommended slat foundation. Comments, please!
Hi jleining,
I wish I knew but it’s not something that normally happens (in any of the major browsers) so I don’t know why it’s happening to you outside of the comments that I made in my previous reply. I would probably suggest copying and pasting your reply before you hit “submit” because that’s the only time I know of where it could possibly happen and it wouldn’t happen while the reply window was open unless you clicked something that caused it to disappear or move to another page in the same tab.
Condensation can happen when warm, moist air comes into contact with cooler surfaces and the moisture in the air condenses. Warm moisture laden air can also move downwards from the top of a mattress. The risk of mold would be in the mattress not the support surface but as I mentioned in my earlier replies I think you would probably be fine unless there is an obvious combination of risk factors that would clearly indicate otherwise.
Either way there would be no risk so which one is “better or worse” wouldn’t really be relevant because both of them would provide plenty of airflow under the mattress.
I’m not sure where you read this but it’s not something that I’ve suggested. While it may help airflow to some degree … it wouldn’t be as effective as the slat conversion kit where the slats are raised by the side and middle supports because if you only use slats and the mattress sinks into the gaps to a depth of only 3/4" (which is the width of a finished 1x3 slat) then it would cut off the airflow and IMO it would probably be more effort than it’s worth.
While there is no way to know for sure … if I had to guess out of the two options that you mentioned (the coir rug or the 1x3 slats on top of the platform and fully secured) I would vote for the coir rug as being the one that would be the least likely to contribute to conditions that would allow for mold growth … although if it was me I probably wouldn’t use either one unless you were really at risk.
Just for reference … I live in the Pacific Northwest and have my mattress on an adjustable bed which also has a solid surface and I have never had any issues.
Phoenix
Thanks… Last night I was browsing the net, and read some horror story posts from people who say they bought the highest quality organic latex, and put it on the recommended slat foundation, and later found MOLD in it, even between layers!!! Two of the sites, if you haven’t heard of this, are diaperswappers.com and debralyndadd.com. Some had the mattresses on the floor, and some on slats.
I would be horrified to spend so much on latex and have to pitch it due to mold contamination. You really can’t get it out of deeper layers of anything, just solid surfaces where it hasn’t penetrated. The hyphae, or roots, continue to live even after the surface has been treated. I have to work to keep mold out of my basement, but never had a problem with my sleep number bed upstairs…although have seen a few reports about that occurring with sleep number beds.
Do you know anything about this problem with organic latex mattresses?
Hi jleining,
I spend a great deal of time on the internet with mattress research (my normal workday is 12 - 16 hours a day 7 days a week and 365 days a year) so I’ve seen examples of just about everything imagineable.
The example at diaperswappers was with a mattress on the floor so it certainly isn’t surprising (a mattress on the floor would be a significant risk factor for mold).
The example here at debralynndad was also with a mattress on the floor. She also mentioined that the replacement mattress that they put on slats has a smell but doesn’t mention anything about mold.
I (and I think most other people) would be as well.
It certainly wouldn’t be a problem with any latex mattress that was used on a suitable support system.
Phoenix
Some of the posts on Debralyndadd site did say they had it on the recommended slatted wood foundation, though. I think it was on that site, anyway. That’s what is scary, when they say they followed all recs and still got it. Anyway…the online retailers I have been checking “strongly” recommend the slatted wood foundation, but at the same time, sell adjustable beds with plywood platforms (with a fiber layer) for the latex mattresses, so go figure. It must not be that important to have the slatted wood foundation under the mattress. Other retailers I have spoken with says as long as there is enough support under the mattress, eg slats close enough together, or a continuous surface with a fiber mat, it should be okay.
This is so hard! My head hurts after awhile, as well as my tush from sitting so long in front of my laptop! Great way to spend a holiday, right?
I guess you don’t take holidays…hope you get some great remuneration!
Hi
You can probably find a “one in a million” exception about almost everything on the internet if you try hard enough but you will probably never know the whole story or all the circumstances that were involved because most people with these types of issues will only post “part of the story” anyway but outside of my previous comments it’s not something that would concern me in any way.
I think that what you are missing is that the answers to your questions aren’t black and white because risk always exists along a range of probability.
“Risk management” is part of any purchase decision and like anything else that involves risk there is no way to know or quantify what the specific risk would be with any specific choice without the benefit of hindsight. A good analogy would be playing poker where you ask someone “will I win” if you have AA in the hole and the answer would be “the odds are in your favor” and if you have 2-7 offsuit in the hole the answer would be “the odds are against you” but anyone that has ever played poker will know that even though the odds will always even out based on the “averages” of many hands over a long period of time … there will always be some especially frustrating hands that are exceptions and the final result may not always be what the odds “point to” for any specific hand.
Phoenix
You lost me with the poker references, but I get your point!
Saw that you were considering the SleepEZ and wanted to put my 2 cents in about my experience with them…
I had the traditional spring mattress and box spring base. I would wake up with sore shoulders and knew it was time to get something else. Looking through the plethora of information on the internet, I decided to change to latex. Sleep EZ came to the forefront due to the very good reviews it received, the variability it offered, and the more reasonable price as compared to the others.
I had originally decided to get the 13" for my queen bed. However, when I called to order it, I was encouraged to get the 10", being told it was really unnecessary to get the extra layer. I thought it unusual to be “down sold” instead of being told I needed something more. Jeremy was right. I got the medium Talalay top, medium Dunlop middle layer, and firm Dunlop bottom layer. They are great. After having the three layers I can’t really come up with a reason for having an extra one.
Jeremy also advised me to get the separate left and right sections instead of the solid layer. Again he was correct in stating I would not notice the split in the middle (I sleep alone) and I could tell it was much easier to assemble than having the bigger full layers.
The bed came in about a week in some big boxes. I took the base out of the box, carried it upstairs, and put it together. I laid the pieces crosswise over my bed frame, put the requisite bolts in place, and then placed it in the frame. No muss, no fuss. The latex layers were removed from the cardboard box and carried in their vacuum bags upstairs before taking them out of the bags. A good idea because once you cut the bag open it grows like an inflated life raft. Placing the pieces of latex in the cover was easy, made easier due to it being in two sections per layer.
So now all I have to do is sleep. I’m much happier with the latex than the previous traditional Serta I had. My wife sleeps on a Stearns and Foster with a pillow top. I would not trade her. A really big bonus is that I have more sleeping positions now. It used to be I could only sleep on my side in one direction or the other. I’ve discovered that I can now sleep on my stomach, a position for whatever reason that was just not there with the previous mattress.
I would whole heartedly recommend the SleepEZ.
Hi Highwheel,
Thanks for taking the time to share your comments and feedback … I appreciate it.
Congratulations on your new mattress as well
Phoenix
Thanks for your input! I still haven’t made my decision, but am stuck with this Beautyrest Black for another 2 weeks anyway, before they will take it back and charge me $450!
Thanks for the input, Highwheel! Glad you are happy with your new mattress!
I also highly recommend Sleep-EZ. I have back and neck issues, and this mattress has definitely helped. My bed is now my favorite spot in the house!
I have a Sleep-EZ 10" organic queen mattress. One side is soft talalay/medium dunlop/firm dunlop, the other side is medium talalay/medium dunlop/firm dunlop. You cannot feel the split.
I wasn’t able to try the mattresses before making a purchase, but by describing the positions we sleep in and my/my husband’s weight, height and build, the helpful people at Sleep-EZ (I was helped by Shawn and Jeremy) recommended what layers to start with. They offer terrific prices, and the mattress even came with 2 latex pillows and a decent set of cotton sheets.
If you do purchase from them, don’t forget to mention Mattress Underground for an extra 5% off in addition to any sales they may be running! And no, I am in no way affiliated with Sleep-EZ, just a happy customer.
Hi kittykatmax,
Thanks for letting us know what you ended up deciding (you hadn’t made your purchase yet in your other topic) and for sharing your comments and feedback as well.
You certainly made a great quality/value choice … and congratulations on your new mattress
Phoenix
Phoenix,
That post is actually for a second mattress for hubby (he snores/I have insomnia and sleep in separate rooms), and I still haven’t ordered anything, since he won’t really discuss it with me.
He needs a new mattress to replace the broken down one - and a real bed to replace that “free” frame and boxspring, but doesn’t want to spend the money.
Men! lol