DFW Latex Core Mattress Hunting

Hi Phoenix; I’ve been reading a bunch of forum posts for a while now, unfortunately after my Tempurpedic purchase at Mattress Firm. It’s a queen size Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe.

I’m definitely switching it out and I’m looking for the most/more green (less chemical filled) alternatives. (I’m still within the 90s days of my purchase) And though it’s been almost 2 months now I still cannot stand the smell. When I first got the bed, it felt like my lungs were burning. It also sleeps too hot and I wake up in the middle of the night to change positions in bed because I’m sinking into it.

I already spent 4K on this mattress so I’m willing so spend up to that if necessary but I’d rather not…I’m in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and the mattress will be mainly for me, although my boyfriend is over a lot.

From what I’ve read in the forums, I’m going to try to go for a 100% latex bed; because it seems like it has the qualities I want from a memory foam bed.

Here are a few more details about places I’ve tried:

I have been to Mattress Land Outlet in Plano, but they didn’t have any latex beds; only innersprings with latex layers.

I also tried out the Spruce VIII at Sovn and I really liked the “C” firmness with an extra latex/natural fiber mattress topper with flexible slats as the foundation. The only hesitation I had with this is that they don’t have as flexible return policies as the “big name” companies in town, and I want to make sure I try the other mattress stores you suggested before dropping money/being locked down with them. They do have a 25 year warranty and switch out the layers however. ($3300 + $800 topper)

I’m planning on heading to Denton to United Holland Mattress to try out the Dream Machine 7000 ($1515) which seems to be the most affordable option but I don’t know their financing/return policies.

I also was thinking of heading to Stacy’s Furniture to try out the Restonic beds (HealthRest Bliss & Health Rest Latex) not 100% of the difference between these two; but they don’t advertise their price and return/exchange policies.

I would head to Fort Worth to Mattress Factory to try out the Barrington Latex Mattresses but I wanted to try my geographically closer options first.

Finally, I was considering trying out the Ikea Sultan Edsele and putting an extra latex topper on that but there are definitely no exchanges for that place.

Oh! And unfortunately Green-Living in Dallas has closed down; I would’ve tried Savvy Rest there—I feel really uncomfortable buying a bed before trying it out in person. (Thus why I haven’t jumped on purchasing a bed from online retailers.)

I’m 5’8"-5’9" and 175-180 lbs. and a side sleeper (I flip a lot and my secondary position would be sleeping on my back). I previously had a 22 year old sagging bed, which I was on in my parents house my entire life so it’s been a hard process to decide which bed feels most comfortable/more comfortable than the one I had. (My boyfriend is about 130lbs and 5’9"; he’s a side sleeper too.)

I definitely plan on keeping this mattress well into my future when and if I get married and have kids so I want to future proof the mattress too.

I was also curious if you had any more insight about the latex beds—I’m worried that it will sleep hot also. Am I just better off getting an innerspring?

One more thing which might be out of the realm of your expertise/experience; but I used financing to purchase this Tempurpedic from Mattress Firm—and I plan on returning it for a full refund. But do you think I should try financing out at a place like Sovn again? (I’m hoping that because I got financing from one bed place it won’t affect negatively on my attempts to get financing again at another place…) Or just go ahead and bite the bullet and buy one of these beds at full price.

Hope this question hasn’t tackled too many things—and I apologize if you’ve already answered all these questions and just haven’t read the right posts…

Thank you so much in advance, I’ve learned a lot from your site!

Hi rjar,

You should be able to get a great mattress in a significantly lower budget range :slight_smile:

For some reason the Sovn prices are much higher than all the other Berkeley Ergonomics dealers across the country. A forum search on Sovn (you can just click this) will bring up more about them. Their mattresses are high quality … their prices are on the high side.

Thanks for the heads up. They are also no longer on the Savvy Rest store finder so I’ve removed them from the Dallas / Ft Worth list.

Latex is generally the most breathable and coolest of the different types of foam materials but sleeping temperature will also depend on a combination of factors, not just the type of foam or the type of support core. You can read more about the factors involved in sleeping temperature in post #2 here. In general most people don’t find that a latex mattress sleeps warm (quite the opposite in most cases) but some people that have a mattress with a thicker / softer comfort layer that they sink into more deeply and no quilting may find it sleeps on the warmer side (and this would be true for any type of foam material) … particularly if some of the other factors also contribute to warmer sleeping temperatures.

Whether or not to finance a mattress is really a personal issue so this is something that only you can answer. I don’t think applying for financing at a store where you return the mattress for a refund should affect your ability to apply somewhere else but as you mentioned this is outside of my area of expertise.

I’m looking forward to your ongoing feedback and finding out what you end up with.

Phoenix

[quote]I’m planning on heading to Denton to United Holland Mattress to try out the Dream Machine 7000 ($1515) which seems to be the most affordable option but I don’t know their financing/return policies.

I also was thinking of heading to Stacy’s Furniture to try out the Restonic beds (HealthRest Bliss & Health Rest Latex) not 100% of the difference between these two; but they don’t advertise their price and return/exchange policies.

I would head to Fort Worth to Mattress Factory to try out the Barrington Latex Mattresses but I wanted to try my geographically closer options first.

Finally, I was considering trying out the Ikea Sultan Edsele and putting an extra latex topper on that but there are definitely no exchanges for that place.[/quote]

Do you have any pros/cons/advice about how these other retailers/mattress brands might compare to the Sovn one I tried? Or do you think I’m just better off trying these beds out for myself? I’d just like to know if these brands are notorious for being too firm or wearing out too quickly/have bad builds.

Also, would you recommend I look into any latex mattress retailers online or do you think that I should just stick to trying these out in person?

Hi rjar,

It would depend on the specifics of the mattresses you are comparing. Making brand comparisons isn’t really that meaningful and the only way to make meaningful comparisons between mattresses is on a mattress by mattress basis. Of course the suitability of a mattress in terms of PPP along with the policies, benefits, or options that are part of a mattress purchase from different retailers or manufacturers would also be part of the “value” of the purchase and your personal value equation as well.

I can tell you that all of the Sovn mattresses use high quality materials and there are no obvious weak links in any of their mattresses but to compare them with another mattress would require knowing the specifics of each mattress you are comparing.

In general terms … the Spruce uses a 6" 100% natural Dunlop core and a 100% natural Talalay comfort layer 9which I believe is 2") with a high quality cotton/wool quilted cover so this would give you a reference point for comparisons with other mattresses.

All of the manufacturers you are mentioning tend to be more transparent (although Restonic may only be transparent about some of their mattresses and not others) so there are no clear “cautions” here as far as brands but I would make sure that the retailer is willing to provide you with all the information you need before you go there because otherwise you could end up spending time testing a mattress that you really like and have no way to know its quality or durability or how it compared to other mattresses.

There are no shoulds and shouldn’ts here because it’s really a personal choice and would also depend on what you were most comfortable with, your “risk tolerance” with an online purchase, and how they compared with your local “finalists” in terms of your personal value equation.

Phoenix

I went to United & Holland in Denton and although Tony was nice, he seemed really apprehensive about telling me the specs of the latex bed I was looking at (dream machine 7000). He said there were 3 layers, two latex and one synthetic foam for flame retardant purposes/quilting. He said it was 100% talalay latex from latex international and he said the mattress ILD was 40 ish saying it was his “firm” mattress and that most people “95%” of people were perfect for “THIS” mattress. I didn’t feel as much hip pressure from laying on it vs the other “medium” mattress, so I’m wondering if he’s correct about this bed firmness. I think the pricing is really reasonable, but the return policy isn’t all that great and there aren’t customizable layers. I’m worried that I’ll get home with this mattress and find that it’s too firm.

Any suggestions on what I should say or ask him in regards to the mattress? I think he was convinced I was trying to steal the specs for another business, when in reality I don’t want to keep having to return mattresses/pay for return delivery and restocking fees!

I think it was odd that I was just trying to ask him these questions and he was avoiding being straightforward with me.

Let me know what you think; I’m going to try out another place in Fort Worth next week; and potentially go down to Austin to try a savvy rest bed since that has more customization.

As you’ve seen a bit of, and especially because of the online retailer threat, there is a (not unreasonable) school of thought that people who make mattresses don’t want to share their ‘winning’ designs, as many will take the design and shop it online. I don’t believe Savvy Rest discloses ild either, for instance.

As Phoenix has written before, ild is a comfort spec, which has little to do with quality or durability, and therefore where you can test a mattress in person for PPP there’s less of a need to know the comfort specs.

On the other hand, the retailer could have just been overly cautious … I wasn’t there, I have no idea.

Off topic: I strongly sympathize with the brick and mortar stores out there… And strongly value that they let me touch, try, and feel a product before I buy, and for the better ones have rock solid knowledge and advice. I can imagine the frustration where a customer comes and tries all your goods, solicits your best advice and experience, and then goes online to pay the minimum from an online company that doesn’t need to incur the costs of having a store with showroom inventory, and can have fewer knowledgeable people, which were key requirements in order for the customer to make the decision to buy. It’s too bad there’s no easy mechanism (or desire) for online retailers to commission brick and mortar stores in such cases.

Hi rjar,

As dn mentioned … there are generally two types of specs. One is quality specs which can tell you about the type and quality of the materials and components in a mattress. The other is “comfort specs” which tell you about the firmness of the layers.

The quality specs are important so that you can identify any potential weak links in a mattress and make more meaningful comparisons to other mattresses.

The “comfort specs” are not important when you are testing a mattress locally because your own careful and objective testing will tell you all you need to know about how well a specific mattress “matches” your needs and preferences in terms of PPP.

You should be able to find out the thickness, type, and quality of all the layers in a mattress without a manufacturer “risking” that a customer will try and duplicate the mattress elsewhere (which would require all the comfort and design specs that makes each mattress unique).

The quality specs I would want are the type and thickness of all the layers and components in a mattress, the density of any memory foam or polyfoam, and the type and blend of any latex. While an innerspring isn’t normally the weak link of a mattress (which is usually in the comfort layer above an innerspring) … I would also want to know the type of innerspring along with the number or coils and the coil gauge to make better comparisons with other manufacturers (although it’s not really possible to compare innersprings in detail because these are just some of the specs that differentiate innersprings from each other and they don’t tell you the amount of steel used in the innerspring which is perhaps the most meaningful “quality” spec of all.

Phoenix

Phoenix,

Thanks for all your feedback. I’m certain that I’m buying a latex bed now, but I’m still narrowing down where I’m getting it and which mattress. I’m going to be trying out the Mattress Factory Mattress this weekend; the Barrington foam and Latex bed they have. They are saying that it is flippable. I think I read that you had purchased this same bed from the Mattress Factory…so I’d like your opinion about the bed.

Does having this “flippable” option with a latex mattress like this show that it’s made of lower quality materials? Is the flipping option unnecessary or does it actually add to the durability of the mattress?

I’m narrowing my mattress choices to 3 in town, and the main differences are switchable layers and the Talalay Core vs. the Dunlop core. I saw in a video from one of the online sites that over time the Dunlop latex doesn’t “spring back” or retain it’s elasticity, whereas the Talalay does. On the other hand another site says that because of this ability to stay elastic, Talalay actually breaks down faster.

Can you clarify this for me?

Sorry if I’m being redundant or confusing…

Hi rjar,

My mattress was a custom build but my opinion on the quality of any mattress is based on the materials inside it regardless of the manufacturer and Talalay latex is a good quality durable material that is my personal preference (although others may have different preferences completely that are just as valid as my own). Your own testing will tell you which mattress design is most suitable for you in terms of PPP.

Any mattress can be built two sided and this has nothing to do with the quality of materials. While lower quality/density materials will last longer in a two sided mattress … latex is not a lower quality material. Flipping and rotating a mattress will add to the useful life of any two sided mattress and would be necessary if you want the durability benefits of a two sided mattress. You can read more about the pros and cons of a two sided mattress in posts #2 and #3 here and the other posts it links to.

You can read my thoughts about the different types of latex in post #6 here. I personally treat the choice between Dunlop and Talalay as a preference choice rather than a “better worse” choice. Softer versions of 100% natural Talalay may be less durable in some cases and long term compression or “heat aging” of Dunlop (vs normal use) could lead to what you saw in the video (see post #4 here) but in normal use I would consider any latex as being a good quality and durable material. Both blended Talalay and 100% natural Dunlop in a suitable design or firmer versions have a long history of being able to last for decades.

Phoenix