Considering a Latex from FSF or SleepEZ

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hey folks.

Just wanted to share my situation and give others a chance to comment and advise.

I recently hurt my back - had an MIR last week, awaiting the call to see a spine orthopedic specialist. I saw a glimpse of the mri, a few seconds - I have a couple discs that do not look good… One looks like it is herniated, and a bit dark, another also dark. Not good. But I am not heavy (150lb or so), just ordered an inversion table, will take some Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM, and see if I can get a little better quickly so as to give my body a chance to heal without surgery. (Meaning since I can sit down right now, if I can get a little better quickly - and give time for my body to heal with inversion therapy, supplements, PT, etc… Maybe I can avoid surgery)

So I realized after sleeping on a bed that was fairly firm, that my 14 year old innerspring has to go. I was much better on the other bed.

So I’m thinking about Latex due to its durability, among some other benefits. (Less VOC’s, I think cooler than traditional foam???)

Cost is not my primary concern - saving my back is. I never realized how important the right support is to keep your spine aligned… That you will regret it if you flex your spine that much for 8 hours a day.

But at the same time I’d rather spend $1950 than $2400 of course (SleepEZ is substantially cheaper for queen apparently, plus the 5%)

But either way I have to wait for them to ship it from the west coast to the east coast - versus getting something delivered as soon as this week.

A couple questions:

Can anyone comment on their delivery processes? Are they fully “white glove” type services? (For instance I’d like my allergen encasement removed from current mattress, and applied on the new one. I have done it before myself years ago, but with my back - I can’t do that right now)

Any requirements to change out my box spring? I’m fairly light. Could I just “flip” the current one I have?

Thanks guys :slight_smile:

2

Hi Jackbauer,

Both of them use courier services for delivery to significantly reduce the shipping cost and the customer would put the layers together inside the cover (which is a fairly simple process). The couriers don’t offer white glove service. You would need to talk with them to find out if they can provide white glove service through a common carrier as an option and if they can, the cost that would be involved in shipping to your area.

A latex mattress generally does best on a solid non flexing slatted foundation or platform base with no more than 3" of space (preferably less) between the slats. A flexing box spring with springs (assuming that’s what you have) isn’t normally the best choice for a latex mattress unless it’s been specifically designed as part of the sleeping system. The bottom of a box spring wouldn’t be suitable. There is more about foundations for latex mattresses in the foundation post here.

Phoenix

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You know Phoenix - reading your response to my other thread where you referenced a post about Albany NY stores…

I’m truly in awe of how much you know, and how much you have written. Unbelievable. Amazing. Thank you.

On the topic of this thread - FSF or SleepEZ. I spoke with Shawn tonight from SleepEZ… I like that guy.

I’m curious on your thoughts of a split layers even for us single guys… In that is there any downside at all here? I tend to sleep on my side, pointing in towards towards the center of the bed. I’m generally on one side, but close to the center, and will “overlap” it. From a configurable standpoint, being able to easily turn my more predominant half of the bed from S-M-F-XF to S-M-XF-XF with one of the XF’s from the other side, might be very nice.

Anyway - again, any downsides at all here? I have seen other people saying “I’m so glad I got it configurable”, but interested in your insight.

4

Hi JackBauer,

Thanks for the kind words :slight_smile:

Just as an addition to my last reply … when you are comparing mattresses it’s important to make sure you are comparing apples to apples and that the type and blend of latex is the same. FSF uses 100% natural talalay so their 12" queen latex mattress here would be comparable to SleepEz Organic 13000 here. The SleepEz Natural 13000 here uses blended Talalay so it wouldn’t be an apples to apples comparison.

There really isn’t a down side to having a a split top layer and it can provide more flexibility if you need to make changes to one side of the mattress down the road (the mattress will last a long time and you never know what your circumstances may be years from now). With a good wool quilted cover it would be very unlikely that you could feel the split and if the sides are the same ILD then you also won’t feel a transition from one side to the other (see post #2 here). As you also mentioned it gives you options to configure and fine tune the layers the layers that you wouldn’t have otherwise if you used solid layers. If you are at all concerned about the split you could also use a single soft top layer and then split the others below it but this isn’t really necessary.

At your weight a 12" mattress wouldn’t really be necessary although some people may still choose it as a preference (see post #14 here about the potential benefits of thicker layers or a thicker mattress)

Phoenix

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Yes I did notice that after reviewing carefully last night.

It seems though that high quality blended talalay may have some advantages over natural… I read up on it here.

My thinking is with a 4-layer product in blended - which FSF doesn’t seem to offer even though it has some durability benefit… That not only does 4 layers (S-M-F-XF) give me flexibility, but it would allow me to easily (and relatively cheaply) buy replacement S and M layers to extent longevity.

One of my only remaining (slight) concerns is the 2.8" vs 3" layers between EZ and FSF. Found a little dialog about it here. I’m spending more than I need (13") not because of my weight, but because of longevity of the overall mattress and a good degree the flexibility. The loss of 0.8" in one (completed) product over another concerns me slightly, but in the end 13" is overkill for me anyway. Plus I’d have to go with FSF’s fully natural product which (apparently) works against durability at least slightly.

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Hi JackBauer,

The difference in thickness of the layers comes from the mold sizes and is just part of how different types of latex are made. If you ordered 100% natural from either one the layers would be 3". The other differences between 100% natural talalay and blended talalay would probably make a bigger difference in your mattress than any small difference in layer thickness.

Phoenix

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A bit of a newsflash… Spoke to Shawn today and he said all molds are now 6", so his 2.8" is now 3"…

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Hi JackBauer,

That’s good news and makes the different thicknesses easier to match.

Thanks for the update.

Phoenix