Does anyone know where to get natural dunlop latex for a great price? It has to be natural as I have allergies to synthetic.
I have a rock hard coil mattress that I want to soften enough for side sleeping but also still be firm enough for stomach sleeping.
I’ve tried natural talalay but 1.5" is too hard for side sleeping and 2" is too soft for stomach sleeping.
Because there’s such a difference in feel with such a small difference in thickness, i believe it’s a density issue and I probably need dunlop, even if I end up putting it under a piece of talalay.
A piece of talalay in a higher ILD under what I have is an option but I don’t think would work.
Im feeling maybe some dunlop would do the job.
I have a piece of natural continuous pour dunlop and LOVE it - but it’s a 3" piece and it’s too thick for stomach sleeping. I can’t cut it lengthwise
If I could find two 1" pieces of dunlop or even a 2" piece, I feel that would be good either alone or as an underneath topper layer.
Anyone know where I can get it cheap?
Also, would there be a big difference on feel between regular dunlop and continuous pour for what I’m trying to do?
The better sources for latex of all types that I’m aware of are listed in the component post here.
It could also be related to the firmness that you chose because both Talalay and Dunlop come in a wide range if firmness levels. Firmer latex is also denser than softer latex of the same type and blend and natural rubber is also denser than synthetic rubber so a blend of either one would be less dense than a 100% natural version.
The biggest difference would be in the relative firmness and the blend of each one more than the difference between continuous pour and molded Dunlop itself.
[quote]ADD: I just found these on the web. Any opinions?
Good morning. Thank you for this response, Phoenix. Somehow I didn’t see it before now.
I ordered a 2" “medium” piece of natural, regular Dunlop (not continuous pour) from Sleep On Latex and slept on it last night. Karl says it comes from Sri Lanka.
I thought regular Dunlop might give me the “density” I craved for support. The thickness was right but it was too firm, even with 1" of soft, natural talalay N2 on top. I’m surprised because the regular Dunlop is so different from Mountain Top’s continuous pour which I love so much (but at 3" is too thick for me.)
Im thinking of switching this regular Dunlop with Sleep On It for their “soft”.
Or, I might try an inch of KTT’s N3 natural talalay under an inch of their N2 I have.
But if I could get a 2" piece of Mountain Top’s continuous pour that’s be great. I dont even mind that it’s zoned, as a topper this works.
Or as you suggested before I could ask that wonderful Dick over at KTT to cut my 3" MT continuous pour piece down for me. I just don’t want to insult the guy by bringing him someone else’s product…
Just an update. I will look at the link you provided and perhaps try to find sellers of 2" continuous pour, also. Does MT give this to anyone? I believe they won’t sell to consumers. Any ideas are welcome,
PS there’s becoming less and less space to walk around in my apartment
Have you tried calling local upholstery companies near you to cut your latex? Sometimes they will have tables or hot wires large enough for queen or king size pieces.
Thank you DIY
I will look into that. I asked a few latex mattress manufacturers locally but they don’t have the equipment as they order their products already cut. I’ll expand my search to the types of businesses you suggested
There is more about primary support, secondary support, and their relationship to pressure relief in post #4 here. In most cases the upper layers are more about pressure relief and the deeper layers are more about support (and any middle or transition layers have an effect on both) so you may be looking at the wrong layers if you “crave” better support. Dunlop can also feel firmer than Talalay in the same ILD and higher density firmer versions of Dunlop may be firmer than you would do best with in the upper layers of your mattress which are more about pressure relief than support. Both molded Dunlop and Continuous pour Dunlop also come in a wide range of firmness levels so your firmness comparison may be more about the different firmness levels of the materials you have tried than it is about the differences between molded Dunlop and Continuous pour Dunlop itself. I would also keep in mind that thickness and softness work together so if you change the firmness then you may need to change the thickness of a layer as well.
[quote]Im thinking of switching this regular Dunlop with Sleep On It for their “soft”.
Or, I might try an inch of KTT’s N3 natural talalay under an inch of their N2 I have.[/quote]
If you are keeping all the other layers the same then switching medium Dunlop for softer Dunlop would certainly give you softer comfort layers and more pressure relief than the same thickness of medium Dunlop but as you know nobody else can feel what you feel so your own experience will be the only way to tell whether the combination is the one that will work best for you in terms of PPP. I’m not clear on exactly what you are comparing your second option to (what are the other layers you would be adding the inch of N3 to) so I can’t really make any meaningful comments about how it would affect things.
Unfortunately I don’t know of any sources for a 2" topper that uses Mountaintop Foam’s latex so if you wanted a 2" topper you would probably need to find someone that could slit it.
Thanks, Phoenix.
Please excuse my lack of knowledge on how to highlight your quotes with an IPhone…I’ll do it this way…
Phoenix said:
“Both molded Dunlop and Continuous pour Dunlop also come in a wide range of firmness levels so your firmness comparison may be more about the different firmness levels of the materials you have tried than it is about the differences between molded Dunlop and Continuous pour Dunlop itself.”
Yes, this is what I am finding. Mountain Top’s “medium” Dunlop continuous pour is softer than Sleep On It’s “medium” regular Dunlop.
I kept a piece that Neil from Spindle gave me (his “medium”) and I love it but it’s too thick.
Phoenix said:
“I’m not clear on exactly what you are comparing your second option to…”
I’ve got the extremely firm Gardner mattress (tufted pocket coils w/wool & cotton) and to soften it up, I’m looking to go with either 2" of Mountain Top’s medium natural continuous pour (first choice) or finding something else such as 2" of another dunlop in an equivalent firmness. I also have two 1/2" pieces of LI’s natural talalay in an N2 (about a 20 ild) and another piece of the same which is a 1" piece (total 2" of LI’s natural talalay.)
3" of anything is too soft for me in any ild either Dunlop or talalay so I’m left with either cutting the continuous pour Dunlop (2" of that would be perfect!) or putting something a little firmer under the 2" of talalay and seeing if that might work but i don’t think so…last night I put 2" of the N2 talalay over the 2" of this new regular Dunlop “medium” which was too firm, and the whole set up was still too hard.
Mountain Top updated it’s website and they say they make 2" and thinner so maybe someone with a Mountain Top account can get me a piece.
I called around today and 1 lady at an upholstery shop said she has the machinery to cut my 3" piece but she didn’t feel like doing it. No one else had the right equipment but on Monday some more foam manufacturers will be open. There are also 2 places in MA listed as actual “cutters” so ill try them.
I could also just try Sleep On It’s next softer ild of the same and do an exchange. I couldn’t reach him today so I was looking for other options…I’m eager to get this wrapped up once and for all.
[quote]Yes, this is what I am finding. Mountain Top’s “medium” Dunlop continuous pour is softer than Sleep On It’s “medium” regular Dunlop.
I kept a piece that Neil from Spindle gave me (his “medium”) and I love it but it’s too thick.[/quote]
Yes … the ILD of different types and blends of latex often don’t match up very well with other types or blends either because of differences between the latex itself or because of differences in how the ILD is tested (see post #6 here). ILD itself is also only one of the specs that affects how soft or firm a layer or material will feel (see post #4 here).
[quote]I’ve got the extremely firm Gardner mattress (tufted pocket coils w/wool & cotton) and to soften it up, I’m looking to go with either 2" of Mountain Top’s medium natural continuous pour (first choice) or finding something else such as 2" of another dunlop in an equivalent firmness. I also have two 1/2" pieces of LI’s natural talalay in an N2 (about a 20 ild) and another piece of the same which is a 1" piece (total 2" of LI’s natural talalay.)
3" of anything is too soft for me in any ild either Dunlop or talalay so I’m left with either cutting the continuous pour Dunlop (2" of that would be perfect!) or putting something a little firmer under the 2" of talalay and seeing if that might work but i don’t think so…last night I put 2" of the N2 talalay over the 2" of this new regular Dunlop “medium” which was too firm, and the whole set up was still too hard.[/quote]
You were asking about adding another of the N3 under the 2" of N2 in your last post and I wasn’t sure what the rest of the combination would be but if the N3 is softer than the upper layers of your mattress it would make the mattress feel softer and if it was firmer than the upper layers of your mattress it would make it feel firmer. There is really no way to know if it would be “soft enough” or to be any more specific than that because there are just too many variables involved that would be unique to each person.
It just occured to me that Ikea sells a topper here that uses the Mountaintop 85% natural /15% synthetic blend. It has 1 5/8" of their latex with a polyester fiber quilted to the topper. The polyester is a semi synthetic polyester fiber that is made from polylactide.
They don’t show the specific ILD of this topper on the description but Ikea uses the C3 firmness in their mattresses and I believe they use the same in their toppers so it may be worth considering if you are looking for a thinner Mountaintop Dunlop topper and you don’t mind that it has some additional polyester fiber in it.
Hi Phoenix
Thanks. It is worth considering.
Do you known if Spindle’s “Medium” is a C3 or a C2?
He doesn’t carry anything less than 3" though.
Seems the only other place I might get MT’s cont pour is Nest Bedding although I don’t knowing they do less than 3" either.
I have a few other places in mind to ask too.
I’m not sure what he uses for his soft, medium, and firm but a quick call would find out very quickly. The firmness ratings will also vary by blend (or in some cases by the particular pouring line that they use or with any surface modification) so a C3 using one particular blend will have a different softness than a C3 using a different blend even though they have the same ILD.
Nest Bedding also sells the continuous pour Dunlop in both the Synthetic and the 100% natural but they also only have 3" toppers as well and their natural is more costly. Again … the natural will have a different softness level than the synthetic or any other different blend even if the ILD is the same.
Hi Phoenix
I decided to sell my mattress because it’s so firm.
No matter what I put on it, nothing works, so it’s really true that the core is important too.
I’ll buy a simple twin mattress (used from a good home; something that has out-gassed enough) and see what of my latex I have here will just give me a decent night’s sleep.
[quote]I decided to sell my mattress because it’s so firm.
No matter what I put on it, nothing works,[/quote]
It would be a shame to sell such a high quality mattress and lose so much of what you paid for it when all you probably need is the “right” topper!
