I read the basic info on purchasing a mattress on this blog. Next, I visited the OMF, RESTWELL and ROOMandBOARD. All three stores only carry one model of foam. OMF and RESTWELL both carry an extremely soft model, which were not considered as an option as I weigh 195, am a side sleeper and have considerable lumbar problems.
ROOM & BOARD’s unit has a 6 inch Dunlap firm core (they didn’t have the specifics) with a soft Talalay comfort layer 1 1/2 “thick, on one side and 1” thick on the other., which doesn’t meet the 3-4 inches thick, or the density I need. The fire barrier was a wool fabric with a cotton cover., which I believe meets the specs you recommended.
I’m wondering if there is any other dealer in Mn., or Western Wisconsin that might meet the specific requirements I have.
Did you test the mattress for PPP? When you are deciding on the suitability of a mattress I would avoid using specs because careful and objective testing and your body will tell you much more about whether a mattress is a good match for you than using specs or “theory”. A thinner comfort layer can work just as well as a thicker comfort layer depending on the layers and components underneath it. If this is the mattress you are looking at there … then according to the description on their site it uses 100% natural latex in both the comfort and support layers.
I don’t recommend any specific cover or quilting (outside of avoiding quilting uses thicker layers of lower quality materials) because that would also be a personal preference and would depend on how the cover/quilting interacts with all the other layers and components of the mattress in terms of PPP. A wool quilted cover is certainly a preference that many people like because wool is a very good temperature regulator and has a feel that many people prefer but others may prefer a thinner unquilted stretch knit cover so that they can sleep closer to the latex. Wool can also be used to pass the fire regulations as well but their description indicates that they also use a viscose fire barrier in addition to the wool. There is more about the pros and cons of wool quilted covers vs unquilted covers in post #6 here.
If you are close to Minneapolis / St Paul then the better options or possibilities I’m aware of are listed in post #2 here. Outside of their websites I don’t know the specifics of the mattresses they carry so I would call them first to make sure that any of them that you wish to visit have a mattress on their floor that meets the criteria that are important to you.
There is also more about the most important parts of the value of a mattress purchase in post #13 here and I would make sure you use your careful and objective testing and personal experience (not the specs of a mattress) to assess the suitability of a mattress in terms of PPP and then use the information and specs about what is inside the mattress to make sure that the materials are good quality and to make meaningful comparisons with other mattresses. Knowing the specs is important to make sure that the materials are good quality … but not for deciding on whether a mattress is a good match for you.
My the information you provide is a enormously valuable. Can’t thank you enough!!
Yes, I did check the PPP on the ROOMandBOARD mattress. The thin comfort layer did not offer any support for my body type.
I’m curious about the viscose layer as the salesperson mentioned only the wool. As she did not have the specs I not sure if there was a quilted layer beneath the flat top cover. It. felt like I was on top of a mattress rather on a mattress that was supportive.
You’ve listed a great number of dealers, hopefully I can find a mattress that works for me.
Thank you, for all of this information!
This is used as a fire barrier so the mattress can pass the fire regulations. Viscose/Rayon materials are derived from various types of plant fibers (such as bamboo, beech trees, eucalyptus trees and others) and are a “semi synthetic” fabric (see here). I would consider them to be a “safe” fire barrier (see this page and post #2 here).
I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding and of course any other questions or comments you may have along the way.
Would you direct me to your tutorial on the differences between Talalay and Dunlop.
The Englander mattress I had in the 60’s was one layer : 5-6 inches of rubber latex, with a flat cloth covering. I would love to duplicate the support that mattress provided. It was second from the top in firmness (not sure if that was regular or firm) I returned the first one as it was hard as a rock. Course I was 140lbs then vs 195 now. In your opinion, is there one solid core today that
offers that same full support - considering my body weight. It would certainly make this looking a lot simpler.
I think post #7 here has the information you are looking for although describing “feel” is as difficult as describing the taste of a food that someone hasn’t tried before and the best way to know the differences between them would be based on your actual testing or experience.
There are many firmness levels of latex (probably more now than there was then) so I don’t know which firmness level would be closest to the mattress you used to sleep on and any differences in weight and body shape would also change the feel and performance of a mattress in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) because the same firmness level will generally feel softer for someone that weighs more than it would for someone who weighs less. There are quite a number of Dunlop latex mattresses that use 6" of 100% natural Dunlop latex though (including some of the manufacturers that are included in the list of online members that are linked in the tutorial post) and diynaturalbedding is a local option that would also be worth considering because they would also have a mattress with 6" of Dunlop latex (in two 3" layers) so you could try different combinations to see which one was closest to what you remember. If the firmness level of the two 3" layers was the same and the cover was also similar then the mattress itself would be very similar to the mattress you are describing even though it may feel different now than what you remember.
I recently called Sealy Posturpedic to inquire about the foam mattress I purchased five years ago, which started to sag about a year later. They discontinued it three years later. It’s called Pure Embrace. Made of 8 3/4’ latex core, 2" latex, 1 1/2 reg foam, 3/4"latex, 1 1/2"" poly. The unit is 88% Dunlop, 7% Dunlop/poly and 3% poly. They wouldn’t give me the density’s. Is the weak leak apparent?
I was informed the matching foundation is a solid core, so I am planning to use that with a new mattress.
Yes … 3" out of the top 3 3/4" in the mattress is a lower density polyfoam which is a much lower quality material and 3" is more than the guidelines of “about an inch or so” that I would suggest (see here). All the old Sealy Springfree latex mattresses (and the very similar Stearns & Foster luxury latex mattresses which replaced them) have a similar weak link and use more polyfoam in the comfort layers than I would be comfortable considering.
The latex will probably still be in good condition and some people have even cut open their sagging mattress and done “mattress surgery” to replace the polyfoam with a higher quality material (see post #2 here)