conflicting latex mattress advice relating to ILD/weight

[phoenix]

Hi jamesy,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!.

So I seem to be getting conflicting advice from several of the major online retailers, all of whom sound very knowledgeable. I am on the heavy side, 260 lbs. or so, although losing slowly!

Congratulations on your weight loss!

You certainly can get different advice about a mattress based upon a retailer and what they offer.

I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

One advises a 10 inch mattress with a 36 ILD (what they call firm) 6 inch core plus a soft (21 ILD) 3 inch comfort layer. Another says that for a 10 inch mattress I need a 44 ILD (what they call extra firm) core and a medium (32 ILD) comfort layer. Still another thinks I should get an even thicker mattress with an additional 2 to 3 inch layer. Trial and error seems a really inconvenient way to sort this out, but I don’t know of any local retailer where I can go in and mix and match layers to get the right feel. Any advice welcome.

When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc.) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done (which you said you aren’t able to do) or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.

Since the only way to know for certain or confirm whether any mattress will be a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP or how it will compare to another mattress will be based on your own personal experience … if you aren’t confident that an online mattress will be a good match for you then the return/refund policy and any costs involved would become a much more important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase so you can try out the mattress in your bedroom instead of a showroom with the only risk being the cost of returning a mattress if in the worst case, and in spite of the “best efforts” of everyone involved (both you and the retailer you are buying from) the mattress doesn’t turn out to be as suitable a choice as you hoped for.

One, for example, says that more than 9 inches is never necessary. Others say that heavier people should get additional thickness. It’s very confusing.

There is no one “thickness threshold” or “absolute value” for people of different BMIs.

Regarding thickness, the thickness of a mattress is just a side effect of the design and by itself isn’t particularly meaningful because whether a thicker or thinner mattress would be better or worse for any particular person will depend on the specifics of the materials (type, firmness etc.) and on all the other layers in the mattress. Thickness is only one of many specs that are used to make different mattresses that perform and feel differently and that makes a mattress suitable for one person and not another. There is more about the effect of thickness in post #14 here. Regardless of how thick or thin a mattress may be … the most important part of the “value” of a mattress is how suitable it is “as a whole” for your particular body type, sleeping positions, and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) regardless of how thick it may be. There is certainly no reason that at your weight you would “need” a particular thickness but you may still “prefer” a mattress that is thicker or thinner depending on the design.

You’ve not provided too much detail about the specifics of the companies or the actual layers of product you’re considering, so it’s difficult for me to make any meaningful comments for you regarding that.

. I do understand generally that there is a going to be a trade off between supportiveness and feeling of firmness and while I don’t want to sleep on something that feels like cement, at the same time I don’t want to pay a lot of money for something lacking sufficient support.

To learn about pressure relief and support, there is more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.

PS I also note that generally speaking from their websites, different retailers seem to have different philosophies (and I am not even going to touch the Dunlop v Talalay issue).

Dunlop and Talalay latex each have individual characteristics and comforts, and you should learn about them in order to make an educated choice. You can read more about Dunlop (of either type) vs Talalay latex in post #7 here.

In order to make an informed decision, I would advise you to spend a bit of time reading through some of the links I’ve provided. Otherwise, you’ll be at the mercy of the “advice” you receive from various sources. Some can offer good advice, others bad, but you’ll never be able to differentiate one from another without educating yourself.

I look forward to learning about your progress.

Phoenix