Decisions...Decisions...

First let me say WOW! Phoenix, your knowledge on this topic is astounding and when I started on this novel journey of “eh, maybe I’ll get a new mattress” has now turned into “holy $%!* where do I even begin!” Well thanks to your site, I’m now much more dangerous :evil: and I’m really not trying to go too deep into this. So…that being said, I’ve come across two manufacturers on your site that seem to have great potential with their products. I would like to get your opinion on the two choices.

I’ve seen you make reference to the DreamFoam Amazon.com but I haven’t really seen you refer (besides saying they’re highly reputable) Arizona Premium Mattress. I’m highly interested in their products. Latex Mattresses On Sale - Latex Mattress Toppers - Phoenix, AZ seems like a pretty decent offering. If this is the direction you would go, is there a big difference between the first mattresses.net one and this one? King All Natural Talalay w/Free Bamboo Cover Upgrade,

I see that a lot of this is boiling down to preference, but as far as specs go, I’d really trust your opinion between these options.

Thanks in advance!

Your post sums up my experience almost exactly. I found this site and the wise posts from Phoenix and now I’m really weighing options. Mostly I’ve been considering the EcoSleep Cassidy, Ultimate Dreams latex $600 Queen, and to a lesser degree the Flexus Comfort 9". The guys at Flexus are awesome and helpful but $500 over the Cassidy is tough to justify. I’m at the point where I wish I could just go A/B these things and walk out with the winner :slight_smile: It’s great having all the tech specs and material quality knowledge but the end decision comes down to personal preference…and each of us is the only one who can make that decision for ourselves.

Hi bear12677,

All of these use great quality materials in their budget range and are members of this site which means that I believe they are among the best quality/value in the country. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy any mattress that they made … provided I was confident it was suitable for my needs and preferences or what I call PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences). Deciding this is either a matter of local testing on similar mattresses or a matter of more detailed conversations with each manufacturer so that they can help you make the choice that “on average” would be best for your body type and sleeping positions.

Once you have eliminated all the “worst” choices and are down to choices between “good and good” … then it’s time for me to step out of the way because nobody else can tell someone what is “best” for them or which parts of a mattress purchase are most important. I can’t tell you what to buy … only provide guidelines about how to choose. When you are down to final choices then personal preferences and all the objective, subjective, intangible, and even intuitive factors and options that are part of any mattress purchase (not just the mattress itself) and that are most important to you is the only way to know which one to choose based on your own “personal value equation”.

In your case I would narrow down your choices at each manufacturer to one. This may require more detailed conversations and asking lots of questions with a manufacturer where you are considering more than one of their mattresses. Next I would choose between memory foam and latex (and which material you want to sleep on for the next decade or more). Again … your more detailed conversations with each manufacturer, and especially your own local testing on similar mattresses and materials, will be your best guideline.

It’s great to be in a position where in terms of quality and value (which is all I can speak to) you really can’t make a mistake so your decision can focus on all the other factors such as the suitability of each design, the options and preferences which are most important, and your confidence that your final choice will be the best choice for you regardless of how you personally define “best”.

Phoenix

Thanks so much for the response Phoenix. I appreciate it greatly. The more I think about this, the more questions I have, so I hope you don’t mind if I fire away :slight_smile:

So, the latex mattresses that I identified earlier have “swappable” or adjustable cores. Is this more of a gimmick? Or is this a viable selling point for a mattress that gives it potentially one more reason to go with latex over gel memory foam? It seems pretty neat that it’s layered and that you can swap out and potentially replace parts that may wear over the years. What are you thoughts on this "versatility’?

Also, here’s my devilish side coming out… :evil: what do you sleep on every night?? :stuck_out_tongue:

Hi bear12t77,

No it’s not a gimmick at all. It reduces the risk of making an online choice that is not quite the right comfort or support choice and I think it’s a great option to have. It’s not really something that I would use to choose between two materials because this is a matter of design rather than the material and there are also memory foam mattresses with similar exchangeable layers. No matter what the firmness level of a latex mattress though it will still “feel” like latex and memory foam will still “feel” like memory foam but for those who prefer latex (and I am one of them) then choosing a mattress where one or more layers can be either re-arranged or exchanged provides options that can reduce the risk of an online purchase … or sometimes even a local purchase.

As you mentioned, a component mattress also allows you to replace layers that soften or degrade faster than others (typically the upper comfort layers) so you don’t have to replace the whole mattress. They also allow you to accommodate changing needs, circumstances, or bodies over time :slight_smile:

I sleep on my own custom designed latex mattress. You can see the details in post #4 here.

Phoenix

Phoenix, you are a sage!!! Ha!

Ok, in respect to the latex mattresses, is there a big difference between just talalay and all natural talalay? I realize that one is a blend and one is (or should be) 100% talalay, but do you have an opinion on which one would be better? From a comfort/durability/maintain shapablity stand point. Here are the two latex ones that I was considering:

or…

Is the $200 increase worth it? Or is that just the equivalent of the “free” bamboo cover?

This really is a scary decision. Much more so that I initially realized. I knew of the mattress retail “scams” where you couldn’t really compare them store to store, but I had no idea that there was this whole new world of manufacturer direct selling. I realize my first post was very subjective and it really pointed more towards individual preferences, etc., but I would like to get your opinion on the latex vs. the gel memory foam. I’m really looking for something that won’t leave indents. I have one now that is insanely indented on both sides. It’s like having Mt. Everest in the middle of my bed :stuck_out_tongue: . That is one requirement that I DO know at this point that I don’t want :).

Hi bear12t77,

This article along with post #6 here talks much more about the different types of latex and how they compare. I think in terms of overall “value” and performance that blended Talalay or 100% natural Dunlop would be the most common choices … and if you ask Ken he would probably tell you the same thing.

100% natural Talalay is a more expensive material than the blend and whether it was “worth it” would depend entirely on what was most important to each person (some people place a high value on the fact that something is natural regardless of any actual benefits of the material itself) but i think that most people would probably consider the blend to be better value and in the softer ILD’s it would also be more durable.

If your preferences are strictly about durability rather than how something feels then latex is the most durable foam. If you are comparing them in terms of “feel” and how they respond when you sleep on them then this would be strictly a preference and they are very much an apples to oranges comparison. If you are looking at gel memory foam then it would be roughly comparable in terms of durability to the same density of memory foam without gel. I would suggest that for those where durability was the single most important issue or that were in a higher weight range then any type of memory foam should be in the 5 lb range and up which would be in the higher durability range of memory foam. with memory foam … durability increases with density up to the range of about 5 - 6 lbs and beyond that the durability benefits of higher density begins to level off. Many people prefer the feel of many 4 lb memory foams though because it tends to be a little more breathable, faster responding, softer (by most people’s perceptions) and less temperature sensitive although there are hundreds of different chemical variations that can produce any combination of properties in any density of memory foam. The main reason for the type of indents that you are experiencing is the use of lower quality and thicker layers of foams in the upper layers of a mattress (which is the weak link of most mattressses) … particularly pillowtops and eurotops. You can read more about durability and the many factors that contribute to this in post #2 here.

Phoenix