Hi Ilusski,
You’re very welcome :). It was probably a bit of overkill but it hopefully gave you a wide range of mattresses to test.
The factories would generally have the best “value” but the showrooms have the benefit of testing various different types of mattress. The Royal-Pedic is a very nice and they make a range of different mattresses that use innersprings and latex as well as all latex. It is not uncommon for natural fiber mattresses to be firmer than people are used to. While all their mattresses are exceptionally high quality … they are also overpriced IMO and I also question the value of having a 7 zone support core where you have to “position” your body to take advantage of all 7 zones and where 2 people with different proportions need to “fit” the zoning in different ways. Good for testing … not so good for buying unless the price is irrelevant to a prospective purchaser. Their topper is also very expensive.
The Clean Bedroom is a great place to test latex mattresses … but every mattress there has much lower value than comparable mattresses sold by many independent manufacturers.
The Greensleep is a very high quality mattress but is also in a higher budget range than many other mattresses that use similar materials. Greensleep says that the Malaysia 600 latex is proprietary to them but in fact the RRIM 600 rubber tree clone is one of the most common clones grown in many latex producing countries. You can see some of the 2011 varieties here. Each country and each area of each country generally chooses a clone for planting based on many factors and there are many hybrids which are more “advanced” than this particular second generation clone.
The mattress itself has 9.5 inches of high quality 100% natural Dunlop latex which can be customized in terms of layering and also side to side but these are not at all unusual options in a latex mattress made by an independent manufacturer and in most cases there is no extra charge for these types of customizations and in many cases every layer can be customized rather than just the middle 2. It does have a very high quality ticking that has wool and silk in the quilting which is hand tufted to the top layer of Dunlop latex. While this certainly adds to the cost … it does not justify the price of the mattress which is well over twice the price of similar mattresses which include organic wool in the quilting/fire barrier but don’t have the silk and may not have the tufting.
The S-300 foundation includes dowels instead of slats which can be “customized” to adjust the alignment for the person on the mattress and is designed to be used with the mattress itself. In the words of The Clean Bedroom … We have found that customers who do not purchase this mattress as a set are slightly disappointed in how it feels without the Euro dowel foundation.. It is rather remarkable to me that someone would be even “slightly disappointed” after purchasing a $4500 latex mattress and then need to spend over $2000 more for the foundation. While there is no argument that the foundation is well conceived and will make a difference … there are many types of latex mattress where the “zoning” is built into the mattress itself and there are also other options in terms of zoned tension adjustable foundations which do not require this kind of expense.
If you look at all the available versions of the Bella Sera for example (not all of which are sold at the Clean Bedroom) you will see that they sell mattresses which use just as high quality Dunlop Latex (which is even USDA certified organic if that is important to someone) which have up to 11 inches of latex and up to 5 layers which can be split or adjusted and all of them are less than the GreenSleep. These are also overpriced IMO.
Savvy Rest as well makes mattresses which use very high quality USDA certified organic Dunlop in 9" and 12" versions where either all 3 or all 4 layers can be both split and adjusted and all of them are also overpriced even though they too are less than the Greensleep. They are also available in Talalay latex which is preferred by many people in the comfort and/or support layers.
I purchased my mattress from here but don’t forget that I had enough confidence to purchase a mattress from an outlet which offered no adjustments or layer exchanges after the fact and where even the shipping for an entire mattress if I had to return the mattress for any reason would have made any trade or exchange impractical. For most people a local purchase from a factory direct manufacturer or if there is not a local manufacturer with the value you are looking for, a “choose your own layer” mattress with a zip cover from an online manufacturer is usually the best option.
For reference … I ordered my adjustable base from here which has the best online pricing for these in combination with the best selection that I know of.
There are several factory direct manufacturers on the list I posted which would have much better value than the mattresses you have tested … although I believe your testing was invaluable to give you a sense of what works for you. Now that you have done some testing … I would do a lot of my research on phone calls to the manufacturers on the list to give you a sense of the prices that are available in mattresses that are close to what you liked in your Clean Bedroom testing.
If you are able to make the trip … custom sleep design makes what I consider to be the most “accurate” zoned mattress anywhere. While they are not the lowest cost either … they are less than the Greensleep including a foundation, pillows, and a mattress cover and can be customized in more ways than any other mattress I know. They would be well worth going through the online customization exercise on their site and/or a trip to test their options.
The 5 members of the site which specialize in shipping mattresses anywhere in the country are in post #21 here should that be necessary.
You’re off to a good start in terms of testing latex mattresses … now some research on the manufacturers websites and on the phone … including letting them know the general mattresses you have tested and finding similar options they may have available and prices … would be the next step before any further testing if I was in your shoes. Then I would choose the one or two which showed the most promise and between them and your online options is where I would likely end up making my purchase … at significantly less than the mattresses you tested.
Phoenix