Coming down the home stretch on a latex mattress purchase

[phoenix]

Hi dsw61,

Although the company would not provide ILD numbers, they do divulge the type of latex being used, the manufacturer who makes the latex, along with a basic firmness rating of Soft, Medium or Firm.

When you are testing a mattress locally then disclosing “comfort specs” such as ILD/IFD isn’t really necessary or an important part of transparency because with careful testing your body will tell you much more about whether any specific combination of layers or components are a good “match” for you relative to the mattress “as a whole” in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) than knowing the ILD/IFD of any individual layers regardless of what the actual numbers may. In other words … I would consider ILD/IFD information to be a legitimate part of what many manufacturers consider to be “proprietary” information.

They are probably also well aware that many of their customers may just be “showrooming” their mattresses and may be intending to purchase a similar mattress or combinations of layers and components online so they would have no reason to disclose ILD/IFD information to a potential customer. ILD/IFD itself is also only one of several factors or “specs” that will determine how soft or firm a layer or a mattress will feel to different people and can sometimes be more misleading than helpful (see post #4 here).

For most people though that aren’t particularly sensitive then “word ratings” would probably be “close enough” to approximate another mattress as long as the type and blend of latex and the thickness of each layer was the same and the cover (which can also have a significant effect on the feel and performance of a mattress) was also very similar. Having said that … for those that are more sensitive to smaller differences between two mattresses and are closer to the “princess and the pea” than the “I can sleep on anything” end of the sensitivity range then they may need to “match” each layer and component more closely.

The design I came up with that I hope matches:
3" Support Layer - 100% natural Dunlop by Latex Green ILD 38
3" Middle Layer - 100% natural Dunlop by Latex Green ILD 28 - 31 or
100% natural Dunlop continuous pour by Mountain Top Foam ILD 32
3" Comfort Layer - 100% natural Talalay by Radium ILD 28 or
100% blended Talalay by Latex International/Talalay Global ILD 28

These certainly sound like reasonable approximations although I would be a little bit careful with the Continuous Pour latex from Mountaintop foam because their ILD ratings may not match the ILD ratings of molded Dunlop (see post #8 here) and they also have a different “feel” that is somewhat in between Dunlop and Talalay as well.

Total cost delivered will be between $1,158 and $1,237. I’ve been going over my numbers and have called the various online places to verify the prices and feel confident this price is accurate. I’m just having a hard time believing the price difference between my DYI mattress and the local store. The downside to a DYI mattress is that I won’t be able to return anything, Worse case is I have to buy another top layer to try for about $320 - $340. I’m pretty confident the two bottom layers will be fine.

I’ll provide an update when we finalize our decision.

I’m looking forward to an update with your comments and feedback once you’ve finalized everything and have had a chance to sleep on your DIY mattress. Hopefully your initial choices will be a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness,and PPP without needing to make any additions or replacements

Phoenix