Apples to Oranges - Latex vs Pocketed Coil

Hi Dirk,

Thanks for letting me know about both of these as well. I’ve edited the locations on the list for Healthy Back and removed Bedding Barn from the list.

I would be very cautious about any store that has the word “liquidator” in it because you may be buying a used mattress that someone has returned for “unknown” reasons (such as a comfort return or warranty return) and doesn’t have a manufacturers warranty. I would need a very compelling reason to visit them and if they are selling mattresses without a warranty I would consider it to be a “buyer beware” purchase (see post #8 here).

One of the most important (and time saving) parts of local research is calling the stores you wish to visit and asking some questions before you visit them (see this article).

As sad as it is … most of the members here that have spent a couple of hours or more on this site and reading the tutorial will know more about mattresses and mattress materials than most of the salespeople in the mainstream industry.

Testing their mattresses would at least give you a good sense of what latex mattresses can feel like and the difference between Talalay and Dunlop latex as well but if you are talking about Savvy Rest then they are certainly in a higher budget range than many other similar component latex mattresses that are sold online.

Most mattresses in the industry are one sided and it’s fairly uncommon to see two sided mattresses that can be flipped.

Density isn’t cumulative … it only applies to individual layers. With polyfoam and memory foam you need to know the density but with latex it’s the type and blend of the latex that you need to know … although again any latex is a durable material and knowing the type and blend just allows you to make more meaningful comparisons with other mattresses. You need the specific information about of each layer.

If the limited specs you listed are correct then because there is 4" of latex above the polyfoam layers it’s less likely that the mattress has a weak link in the design (the top layers are where the durability of the materials is most important) but I would still want to know the specifics of all the layers.

Again you need to know whether each layer is memory foam or polyfoam and the density of each layer. What he told you has very little meaning because a mattress itself doesn’t have a density … only the individual layers.

In many cases a manufacturer’s rep will provide these specs to a retailer (who in turn can tell you) but the manufacturer themselves may not provide them directly to a consumer. It’s the retailer’s job to track down any specs their customers need but if for some reason a retailer or manufacturer either isn’t willing or able to provide you with all the information that you need to make an informed choice then I would pass the mattress by because it would be a risky purchase.

@dsw61,

This sounds like OMF and the polyfoam that they use in their two sided latex mattress is a high quality and durable material and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in their Serenity latex mattress but they also aren’t available in the Baltimore area.

You are right that there are some very good quality/value latex mattresses available online. The mattress shopping tutorial includes this link to a list of the members here that sell mattresses online (in the optional online step) and many of them sell latex and latex hybrid mattresses that use different types and blends of latex that have a wide range of different designs (including component latex mattress kits), options, features, return and exchange policies, and prices that would be well worth considering.

Post #3 here also includes a list of many of the online manufacturers that sell component latex mattress kits as well (with some overlap with the members list).

In most cases that would certainly be true although it would depend to some degree on the amount of latex above the polyfoam. There is also a very wide range of different “feels” between different all latex mattresses as well. There is more about the pros and cons of latex/polyfoam hybrids vs an all latex mattress in post #2 here.

i would stick with the very basics about fire retardants because this can take you down the rabbit hole of some confusing, conflicting, and misleading information that is more than most consumers really want or need to know. In most cases it’s enough to confirm that a mattress uses either wool or an inherent fire resistant barrier to pass the fire regulations rather than getting into the more detailed specifics of all the many variations.

I certainly agree that it’s important to know the basic differences between the three different types of foam (polyfoam, memory foam, and latex foam) and making sure that the foam in a mattress has a reliable safety certification (all latex will have a reliable certification and the most common certification for memory foam and polyfoam would be CertiPUR) but beyond that knowing the more detailed specifics of how different types of foam are made or formulated is a long term study that isn’t particularly important and wouldn’t be very helpful anyway.

Phoenix