Durability of latex with respect to harmful reactions and firmness

[phoenix]

Hi Catatonic,

You are getting some incorrect and/or misleading information here.

Is 100% natural latex immune to some reactions that degrade blended?

Not “immune” no but there are some differences between the properties of synthetic and natural latex in terms of how they age. Post #6 here has more information about the different types and blends of latex and post #2 here has more information about some of the differences between natural and synthetic rubber.

The natural latex will last much longer then a blended latex. The blended uses man made materials that will break down much faster than natural latex.

If they are referring to blended vs 100% natural Talalay then the manufacturer of the latex they use would disagree with them (see this page on the Pure Latex Bliss site which is owned by Latex International).

Natural latex is not photo sensitive so UV light does not harm it or cause it to break down.

Antioxidants or antidegradants are added to latex formulas to reduce the effect of ozone triggered by UV light. You can see from the list here that ozone is one of the factors that can have a “severe effect” on natural rubber but it’s less for natural rubber than synthetic rubber because of the difference in their chemistry and polymer backbone. If you put a natural rubber layer out in direct sunlight for a while it could certainly harm the latex.

Typical problems associated with synthetic latex such as crumbling, darkening due to light exposure, rutting and formation of body impressions and dips do not occur with botanical latex.

This again is misleading and puts the focus only on natural vs synthetic (which is more “marketing” information) instead of the specific type and blend of latex. It’s always a matter of specifics and degree and not just whether latex is natural or synthetic. Both types will degrade over time although all latex is more durable than other types of foam materials.

Are their claims accurate?

No

How important is a protective cover for 100% natural and blended respectively? Would a fitted sheet style mattress protector provide adequate protection for a latex topper?

I believe it’s important over longer periods of time for the latex to have the longest possible lifespan. A fitted type mattress protector would be OK over the short term but I believe it would reduce the lifespan over the longer term.

When shopping for blended latex, should I be concerned with what the proportion of natural to synthetic is?

The previous link probably answered this but in the case of Talalay you won’t have a choice (all blended Talalay is about 30% natural and 70% synthetic) but in the case of Dunlop it can make a difference both in the cost and durability … again depending on the specifics.

What ILDs is this talking about? Is it just the N1 firmness? If 100% natural latex is advertised with an ILD rating as opposed to N#, what ILD would this be applicable to?

It would be a curve not a sudden change and would probably depend on many factors such as the body weight of the person and the position of the layer in the mattress but in very general terms I would say based on many conversations that they would probably even out somewhere in the range of mid 20’s ILD or higher.

You can see the range of ILD’s for each firmness level of Latex International’s 100% natural Talalay here.

Phoenix