Comparing ILD of natural vs blended latex, and ILD of layers vs single piece

[phoenix]

Hi g1981c,

This makes perfect sense, BUT I am not trying to design my own mattress, I am simply trying to be a cheat and copy a mattress that is out of my price range. I still don’t know if it would make financial sense, or if it is even possible (from the availability of materials perspective).

If you know the type of latex you have tested (Dunlop or Talalay … blended or all natural) … the ILD (which sometimes isn’t available or specific) … and the specifics of the cover and all the same materials are available to you (and described correctly by your source) … then you would be able to come pretty close. Sometimes the difficulty though is if you need to exchange a layer because most suppliers either don’t allow returns or there are costs involved and if you reach a point where re-arranging layers is not enough and you need to exchange one … then you may not have access to the help you may need to make the best fine tuning adjustments because what to change can sometimes be counterintuitive. If you know the specs of the mattress you are trying to duplicate and if all the materials and components are available and you get it right the first time … then it can certainly save you some money (depending on your supplier and on which component mattress you are comparing it to) … there’s just a greater risk involved in matching the layers and in exchanging them if you need to.

With that still in mind, is latex foam always designated as an ILD range? The Talalay soft had a range of 5 (20-24), the Dunlop medium had a range of 6 (35-40), and the Dunlop extra firm had a range of 10 (40-49). I would think if two mattresses had the layers on opposite ends of the range (a 20/35/40 versus a 24/40/49) that they would feel significantly different, even though they would be considered the same mattress. No?

Some types of latex are more specific and some are not. Blended Talalay for example comes in “single” ILD ratings from low teens to mid 40’s as you can see here while others are more of a range. All natural talalay from Latex International comes in N1 - N5 and you can see the ILD range of each one here). Most Dunlop also has a wider range of ILD’s across the surface of a layer because it is not as consistent as Talalay and some Dunlop manufacturers don’t even provide an ILD and only sell their latex with density ratings (density is directly related to firmness in latex). In many cases … retailers will “guess” at the equivalent ILD range of a certain density of Dunlop but I have seen many of them be way out in their estimates.

You can read a little more about latex ILD’s in post #6 here and some Dunlop ILD estimates based on density in post #4 here.

I would think if two mattresses had the layers on opposite ends of the range (a 20/35/40 versus a 24/40/49) that they would feel significantly different, even though they would be considered the same mattress. No?

I think that if the types of latex were identical that they would certainly feel different but an ILD difference of 4 or so is not a lot and the top layer would be the biggest contributor to the feel of the mattress although depending on body type, sleeping positions, and individual perceptions … slightly firmer comfort layer and the slightly firmer middle transition layer would make the second mattress noticeably firmer for most people. The lower layer would have the least effect on the “feel” although the second one would certainly provide better support for most people as well because of the fairly big jump in ILD. Again … this is assuming that the type of latex is the same between them because once you look at different types of latex then ILD alone is not as reliable a way to compare them.

Phoenix