Phoenix this is a fantastic and illuminating site, thank you.
I’m in the process of choosing a new mattress. I’m am a 6’5" 190lb male (tall / thin / fit). I’m a side sleeper and I have wide hips and shoulders so sinking in is important . I also have mild chronic lower back pain, so getting my side posture right is a big deal.
I’m looking for a premium mattress and latex is the obvious choice from what I’ve read. It seems that latex mattresses can be compared based on ILD, manufacturing technique, and to some degree upholstery. This opens the possibility of finding a showroom mattress that I like and buying an equivalent mattress online cheaper or using the online price as a bargaining chip.
Today I laid on a latex mattress for the first time and I feel like I’m on the right track. I tried the Highlands mattress at the Seattle Mattress showroom.
It has a 3" talalay topper and 6" talalay base. The business manager Tony said the topper is upholstered with 3/4" tufted cotton. There are two types in the showroom:
Plush - 19 ILD topper, 32 ILD base
Firm - 28 ILD topper, 36 ILD base
The toppers were swappable so I tried four topper/base combinations. Tony helped me figure out which combinations gave me good spine posture on my side. Here were the results:
Firm topper / either base - I didn’t sink in enough and I was uncomfortable. Tony said my spine was not straight.
Plush topper / Plush base - Not as soft as I was expecting but reasonably comfortable. The pressure felt evenly spread. Tony said my spine looked straight. After 5 minutes on my side I felt uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I my spine was a little out of alignment or if I’m just not accustomed to such a body-conforming mattress.
Plush topper / Firm base - Pressure felt evenly spread, I was slightly less sunken in. Tony said my spine looked straight. It felt straight, and I was pretty comfortable after five minutes. This was the best result.
Quick digression - for giggles I laid on a cheaper mattress, an extra firm continuous coil inner spring with 3" talalay 28 ILD and 1 1/2 inch very soft bamboo pillow top. It was all one unit, unlike the Highlands which had a separate topper. Interestingly I had the same good result as the Plush / Firm latex combination - I was comfortable on my side and Tony said my spine looked straight (and it felt straight). This was a head scratcher since I didn’t respond well to the 28 ILD topper on the Highlands. Maybe the 1 1/2" bamboo upholstery let me sink in more compared to the 3/4" cotton upholstery? Maybe the lack of upholstery between topper and base allows me to sink in more despite the higher ILD? I’d like to put this experience in context.
So the problem with the Highlands all-latex Queen mattress is the sticker price of $2,600. I’d like to find a cheaper online equivalent as long I have a reasonable expectation that is has similar comfort and PPP. Arizona Premium Mattress Co looks promising. I can configure the same specs on paper for $1400!
What concerns me is the mattress cover. Az offers two cover options, cotton (thickness unknown) and 1 1/2" wool. They are both zipper covers as opposed to I’m-not-sure-what with the Highlands. The Az cotton may be more like the Highlands cover, but I only have a photograph. Also, the Highlands topper is covered separately from the base so there’s an extra 1 1/2" of cotton between the two compared to the Az mattress.
Am I comparing apples to oranges?
Is there another combination of parameters that might work even better for me? I’m curious about 14 ILD toppers but I haven’t seen any advertised locally. I’m also curious about sleeping ‘closer to the latex’ with a very thin upholstery for more comfort, but I doubt I’ll find that in a showroom.
Any insight would be welcome. I’m going to check out more showrooms in the area and hopefully I can test a wider variety of latex mattresses before I purchase one.
Once again, great site Phoenix.
Thanks,
Karl