So I had the opportunity to visit the Mattress Factory and City Mattress in Ft. Worth this past weekend, and I was very impressed with each of their offerings. Unfortunately time dictates did not allow me to visit Sleep Craft in Lewisville. I plan to visit them this weekend.
My first stop was City Mattress. From viewing their website, the mattress line that I was most interested in was their Royal Jewel series and all-Latex mattresses. Unfortunately they did not have any Royal Jewel Latex Plush mattresses on the showroom, or in the back to let me lay on. It is a 932 coil density Queen mattress with small 16 gauge marshall coils and a 2" Talalay comfort layer. They did, however, have the Royal Jewel Gel on the showroom that I tried out. I loved it! Like the Latex Plush model, this mattress has 932 coil density 16 gauge marshall coils, with 15 gauge coils on the edge for additional stiffness on the perimeter… It had 1" of Talalay Latex and 1" of Gel memory foam comfort layer. It felt wonderful! The memory foam and latex complimented each other very nicely. The memory foam gives you the softness and feel of sinking in just a little bit, while the latex gives you the buoyancy that keeps you on top of the mattress. The latex mattresses were nothing to write home about. They were Dunlop latex, so they were too firm for me.
This brings to mind a concern of mine: the small 16 gauge coils. My concern is that they might be too weak to last a meaningful amount of time. I did read on this forum elsewhere by Phoenix that thin wire coils can still hold up for years in a mattress with small coils and with a high coil density. The coils did feel soft. My concern is that the coils might give out in a couple of years. Another concern is the gel memory foam. I know Latex is supposed to last for a very long time, but I hear that memory foam can give out in a few years. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
My next stop was the Mattress Factory. I was excited to test out the Elegance mattress, as well as Jerry’s Latex mattresses. The Elegance is a high, high quality innerspring mattress with a HR polyfoam comfort layer. on top of 13 gauge offset coils. Unfortunately it was too firm for me (I like a soft mattress). Next, I tried each of the three latex models on the floor: a firm (36 ILD), medium-firm (32 ILD), and medium (28 ILD)… The core was a Dunlop, with the top and bottom a softer Talalay. The firm and medium-firm were too hard for me. The medium (his softest latex mattress) presented me with an interesting conundrum: the Talalay top felt great, but my hips sank down into the Dunlop core which felt hard and gave push back to my hips, making it too firm for my hip pressure point. So, I doubt I’ll buy from him.
Which brings me to Sleep Craft. I am planning to go there this weekend and try their all-Latex N3 mattress, as well as Latex-innerspring hybrid mattresses. I called and spoke with Zak, the co-owner, and he said their N3 mattress is all-Talalay in a 25-30 ILD. I’m excited!!! I mentioned the latex mattress at Mattress Factory being Dunlop and Talalay mix, and he made a pretty interesting statement, he recommended against buying a Dunlop/Talalay combination because the different latexes will wear out unevenly, requiring me to replace it sooner. This struck me as interesting because I have seen a video of a compressed Talalay latex mattress unfold after four years of being rolled up, and it sprang back to life, whereas the Dunlop latex that was also compressed for four years just flopped down and maintained the indentations from the folds while compressed. His words resonated with me thinking of that video. Anyway, I look forward to trying the all-Talalay mattress. I think it will be softer than the Dunlop, and I like a soft, supportive feel.
I will post my observations after my trip to Sleep Craft this weekend.