I recently drove 120 miles round trip to visit AZ premium mattresses. Their website is very nice and has a ton of info, and it focuses a lot on organic, but when I got there in person I was very disappointed. I asked the man to see the 100% organic mattress and he kept pointing me to the “100% natural” I had to tell him 3 times, no… natural is not what. Anyhow, the Certified Organic Dunlop mattress was in the corner with a bunch of stuff on it, almost like it was being hidden. The man told me he didn’t know why Id waste my money on that mattress. He didn’t really care to find me a price for the mattress w/ a topper, since according to him they don’t really make Organic Dunlop toppers. The floor model was a bit too firm for me. He told me if I ordered the certified organic mattress and I wasn’t happy happy with the feeling of it I would quote “be stuck with it” (that wasnt the case if I wanted natural) I also asked him about the statement on the website comparing their organic mattress to the savvy rest, he said “I don’t know what’s on there or why we would say that” Needless to say major disappointment. Also, It was not the cleanest showroom.
I then went to a local dealer to test out the Saavy Rest & OMI Terra. The salesman there seemed to be very knowledgeable and he didn’t treat me like an idiot for wanting an organic mattress. Showroom was clean, although they are more expensive.
I plan on making a trip to SleepEz also, but haven’t done so yet.
My choices so far are
Saavy Rest 14" total with topper all certified organic Dunlop - $3200
OMI Terra 13" certified organic Dunlop - $4400
Sleep Ez 13000 - $2300
I am so torn I don’t know what to do. It’s a hefty investment and I hate to make the wrong choice.
I am likely not going to get the OMI since I am a bit upset at their advertising practices and their bull “purity” statement. Unless someone here says it’s a great mattress and worth the $$. I searched and didn’t find much about them review wise.
I liked the Savvy Rest but have read some reviews that say the mattress sags after use. Any opinions? The dealer also runs an air purifier through each mattress piece for 3 days to air it out (I was concerned about smell) he also delivers, sets up & hauls away. I can also exchange layers for 90 days and wont be “stuck with it” But he is $900 more than SleepEz
Ive spoken with SleepEz by phone and the man was very nice and knowledgeable.
Your experience at Arizona Mattress is certainly unusual and they are normally very informative about their mattresses and do a great job educating their customers about different materials and types of latex and of course they have great value. It’s unfortunate that you had such a negative experience and this is certainly not the “norm” with people who deal with them.
As you are mentioning both of these are great quality (like any mattress that uses the same materials) but I would make sure that you make some careful value comparisons based on your personal value equation because there are certainly other options available to you that use similar materials at lower prices.
SleepEz is one of the three members of this site that are in the area and would be well worth a visit. Their mattresses are very similar to the Savvy Rest although they offer more options in terms of design and materials and the cost is lower.
I would first narrow down your options to the finalists (including SleepEz) and then make your final choice between them. Without visiting SleepEz you probably aren’t in the best place yet to decide what to do. One step at a time
Latex is the most durable of all the foam materials but even latex in softer versions will soften and impress slightly over time (although more slowly and less than other types of foam materials). 100% natural Talalay in lower ILD’s is also not as durable as blended Talalay so this may also be part of why you have heard these types of comments on occasion (you can read more about the factors that affect durability in post #4 here). I would also keep in mind that there is no organic Talalay … only Dunlop (and organic Dunlop doesn’t really have any meaningful differences compared to 100% natural Dunlop except of course it’s certified). You can read more about the different types of latex (including organic) in post #6 here.
You are going in a good direction but I would finish your local research first and then decide which mattress is the best match for your personal value equation. If you are only considering organic latex then that limits you to 100% Dunlop layers that have an organic certification.
I think I will plan a trip to SleepEz on Saturday.
Im sure you are right that the SleepEz will be very comparable to Savvy Rest. The mattresses look similar. The OMI on other hand just looks so much nicer! (I know who is gonna see my mattress right?) But it costs almost twice as much than SleepEz. And again I wasn’t happy that their “purity” statement say they use “certified organic latex” when that is only true if you specifically order it that way. I just felt its very misleading.
I am definitely wanting the certified Dunlop. Its my understanding that the reason Talalay isnt or cant be certified is because Ammonia or other chemicals are added when mixing it. (Im not an expert so I could be way off)
Ammonia is added to the raw latex that is gathered from the tree for all natural latex (including organic) regardless of which manufacturing process is used to make the foamed latex core (Talalay or Dunlop). Without this the latex would not be useable because bacteria would coagulate the raw latex before it reached the factory. Organic latex can also have 5% of the materials used in the compounding formula that are not organic (soaps, gelling agents, foaming agents, stabilization agents, curing agents, antioxidants, accelerators, and other additives) that are necessary to make the foamed latex.
Interesting… so really the only difference between natural and organic is the label? I’m assuming they did this just to satisfy people like me that are wanting the organic label.
The intent of the NOP (USDA National Organic Program) certified organic label is to identify agricultural materials that followed organic farming practices and this includes a set of standards both about how the materials are produced, farming practices, and the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers among other things.
Raw natural latex is an agricultural crop so it can be USDA certified and what this means is that the consumer has a degree of assurance about the farming practices that were followed. In most cases … latex plantations don’t use pesticides anyway (or at least past the first few years in some cases) and the mature trees that are tapped for latex generally haven’t had any pesticides applied for years before they are old enough to be tapped. In either case … the raw latex comes either from a plantation that is certified or isn’t but in most cases the latex itself is the same. With some products (such as wool for example) … non organic farms may use more “organic” farming methods than “organic” farms but the producers don’t want to add the cost of certification to their final product just for the sake of a label.
The “second stage” of organic certification involves the production of final manufactured products from the raw material (in this case latex) and since these final products are not an agricultural crop they are not certified as being organic by the USDA. This is where GOTS comes into play (or GOLS in the case of latex) and they certify the production of products as organic even though these final products can’t be labeled as “certified organic” … only as “organic” in the US. Once again this involves certification that the factory that produces this product uses certain methods and labor practices to make their product and that it isn’t made in a way that other non organic products can be introduced into the production environment. Once again this may not mean that organic is any different in terms of the material or in terms of performance or even safety … only that what is being made is certified. The certification itself adds to the cost of the product.
Beyond this … if this product is in turn used to make another product (such as a layer of latex foam used in a mattress) … then the final product that uses GOTS or GOLS certified materials also needs to be certified along the production line as an organic product before the product itself can be organic … regardless of whether the materials themselves are organic.
So you could have a latex core that used organic latex but the core itself isn’t organic.
You could have a latex core that is certified as being organic but the mattress itself isn’t organic.
Outside of agricultural crops where a USDA certification can have some assurance that what you put in your mouth or the agricultural materials that are used in a final product wasn’t grown or farmed using pesticides or artificial feeds or fertilizers or other harmful farming methods … an “organic” certification is more about providing consumers with some assurance that the manufacturing of a product is more in line with their belief system and supports agricultural and manufacturing methods that are important to them for personal reasons. In the case of latex … both organic and non organic natural latex can only be made with additional substances that are needed to make the foam so the organic certification only covers 95% of what is in the latex core. In many cases the biggest difference between “organic” latex and “100% natural” latex isn’t even the safety, quality, or performance of the material itself … but only the fact that it has been certified which adds to the cost of the material. These types of “organic” certifications are mostly targeted towards consumers that have personal beliefs about methods of farming or manufacturing and production that are important to them and who are willing to pay higher prices for some assurance that how a product was produced and the raw materials that it uses are in line with what is important to them … regardless of whether they may be any “safer” or “more pure” than similar products that don’t have the organic certification.
Like so many things that involve mattresses or even many other purchases … an organic certification can add “value” based on the personal beliefs of each person and what (and who) they choose to trust and support and pay for regardless of whether the certification itself has any benefit in terms of the safety, quality, or performance of the product itself.
Thank you again for such a great response. The organic labeling is important to me. But the finished product is much more important. From what I understand Latex is the healthiest bed you can buy?
I called SleepEz the day before I went and they were nice enough to put a 13" Organic Dunlop on the floor for me to test. I got there kind of late in the day so the normal sales guy was gone, but the receptionist was very nice. The configuration was a bit firm for me… Ex Firm – Firm – Med – Soft. I asked about Ex Soft but she said that if I wanted EX Soft it wouldn’t carry a warranty :dry: . Now my dilemma is figuring out type of layers I want.
I noticed they carry Latex Green from Sri Lanka. Is Latex Green known for good quality healthy Latex? The receptionist kept referring to it as natural not organic but I’m sure that was out of habit.
When I mentioned the MUG discount she was more than happy to factor that into my quote. A HUGE thanks for that. It makes my choice easier since it knocks off a good chunk of change. She may have even solved my issue of the way the mattress looks. My top layer can be encased separately giving it a “pillow top” look & feel, for an upcharge.
Overall the experience at SleepEZ was good and I’m going to make my decision Mon or Tues
All ultra soft materials including latex will be less durable than the soft or firmer versions and manufacturers like SleepEz tend to provide more accurate information to their customers and don’t put a warranty on their products that would create unrealistic expectations just to make a sale. You would still be able to replace a layer instead of the whole mattress if you chose to use softer latex than their “standard” soft version but it wouldn’t be covered by a warranty replacement because it wouldn’t be realistic to warranty ultra soft materials with the same warranty.
Latex Green is a high quality Dunlop latex manufacturer yes. All the latex you are likely to encounter whether it is synthetic, blended, 100% natural, or Organic has been certified to stringent standards (such as Oeko-Tex or Evo-Institut) for harmful substances and offgassing so I don’t think I would call any of them “less safe” or “more healthy” than any of the others. The choice of natural or organic would be based on personal considerations more than health considerations.
When Latex Green first certified their raw latex there were a lot of retailers and manufacturers that jumped the gun and started calling the finished cores “organic” which created some issues about the “legality” of calling it organic. Since that time Latex Green has certified the core and it can now be called “organic latex” but some manufacturers downplay the organic certification.
I believe that SleepEz carries both the organic Dunlop from Latex Green as well as their 100% natural Dunlop but I would confirm this with them just to be sure because they know more about the specifics of what they carry than I do.
I would call Shawn or Jeremy when they are open to confirm your questions because it’s always better to make sure you are getting accurate information right from the source. I would also keep in mind that if you prefer 100% natural Talalay (which tends to feel softer than Dunlop in the same ILD) that it won’t be organic because there is no organic Talalay latex … only 100% natural and blended.
I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding
I ended up going in a direction I wasn’t planning on … :silly:
I caught a sale and was able to work with the salesman and got an OMI DUO with a 3" wooly topper. For some reason the DUO never caught my attention, its a bed they always have a special on trying to compete with Saavy Rest. Originally OMI had upset me by saying that all their mattress were organic when they clearly are not because Talalay isn’t organic. But I put that aside and decided on them because I liked the quality of their mattress covers and it did mean a lot to me that they manufacture and carry only Greenguard certified beds and that the facility is certified too. This probably isn’t important to many people but it was to me.
So in the end I payed $600 more ($3200 with tax) than I would have for the bed I was looking to buy at SleepEz
I did get my foundation at SleepEz. Easy to put together and nice.
My bed took about a month to arrive (salesman ran an air purifier through it for a week per my request). I’ve been sleeping on it for about 4 days. It doesn’t feel as comfortable as my old innerspring with a memory foam and feather bed topper… but I am not waking up as much during the night and I wake up feeling more rested. I got Dunlop SOFT/SOFT/MED
Also wanted to share what I bought for the mattress.
I am cheap and couldn’t bring myself to pay $200 or more for a mattress pad. I found an organic flannel mattress protector from GAIAM http://www.gaiam.com/cotton-flannel-wicking-mattress-pad/03-0968.html?start=4&cgid=1010302 I was able to google and found a 20% off coupon so it ended up being just over $111 for a Queen. Its not as nice as some out there but it gets the job done for the price, its much like a really thick flannel sheet.
I got my organic sheets and blanket from Target they are MUCH cheaper than anywhere else. I have had these sheets in the past and they lasted over a year but they did start to discolor, maybe because of the natural dyes, but I figure they cost so much less that I can just buy new ones. I found organic pillow protectors at Target for $7.99 each.
Still deciding if I really need a mattress encasement?
Thanks for the feedback and congratulations on your new mattress
Each person has their own criteria for “value” or what I call their “personal value equation” and you are a good example of how some people place more value on some of the elements of a mattress purchase than others. When you are choosing between “good and good” and have made some good comparisons (which you did) then what you end up deciding is the best value for you which to me is the definition of a successful purchase decision.
Thanks for the heads up about the Gaiam mattress protector as well.
Since you already have a mattress protector the only real reason you would need a mattress encasement would be if you needed something around your mattress that had waterproof properties (your cotton protector is moisture absorbent and will protect the mattress from the normal moisture, body oils, and skin shedding that your body emits but it’s not water resistant or waterproof) or if you had more severe allergies and wanted more complete protection against dust mites than you would have with just a mattress protector.
