European Sleep Design coil/latex beds vs all latex

Hi everyone, just joined the forum today. Phoenix, thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put into this forum, and for your detailed replies to all the questions!
I’ve been sleeping on a Serta pillowtop mattress for the past 8 years, and am just now realizing what a “piece” it has been all along! It has sagged so bad that it might as well be a $1500 hammock. After tons of research over the past couple of weeks, I’ve “seen the light” and will never go back to beds produced by what I feel is a scam industry.
I’ve tried several beds locally, including all latex beds by Pure Latex Bliss, OMI, and Savvy Rest, as well as several coil spring/latex beds at European Sleep Design (beds are made by Berkeley Ergonomics from what I’ve read).
My question is this… are these latex over coils designs going to hold up for 10+ years? I like their Baltic mattress, which has 2" of latex over the coils. I liked the Medeterranean XP even more with it’s micro-coils over larger coils contruction… felt really nice, but it only has 1" of latex on top. I’m worried that either of these designs will put a lot of stress on the relatively thin latex layer, causing them to break down in a few years. Anyone have long-term experience with them?

I know all latex will hold up for a long time, but even then I’ve read stories about latex mattress toppers (and whole beds for that matter) wearing out in 5-7 years. Hopefully those are rare cases, with questionable quality latex. I really like the feel and support of the latex mattresses, now I just need my wife to try them as well. So far she’s sold on the latex/coils design.

Hi TheLight,

Yes. The innersprings they use are very good quality and very durable. The “weak link” of any mattress is almost always the layers above the innersprings which are the ones which are most prone to softening and impressions. If you cut open an innerspring mattress that has issues with softening and impressions you will discover that in almost all cases the innersprings are fine and thet the problem is with the foams above the innersprings. The quality of the materials in the comfort layers is one of the most important parts of durability.

The microcoils that they (and other manufacturers) use in the comfort layers of some of their models are also a durable component and would not be a 'weak link" IMO. Theirs have more coils and are higher quality than many others that use microcoils.

You can read about all the different factors that are involved with the durability of a mattress in post #2 here. As you can see … layers that are too thick and soft will be subject to more mechanical stress than firmer layers and soften and/or break down faster and even latex is not immune from having issues with softer thicker layers under heavier body weights. While latex it is certainly more durable than other materials and this will happen less … nothing that is soft enough to relieve pressure will hold up indefinitely or be immune from softening issues with softer foams under heavier body weights. One of the beauties of mattresses like BE and others is that if a single layer wears out before the others it can be replaced without replacing the entire mattress. You can also see here some examples of thinner firmer latex mattresses that have lasted 30, 40, and 50 years but this would not be the norm for mattresses that had a softer comfort layer.

I should also mention that in many cases people who have purchased a “so called” latex mattress … especially if it was from a major manufacturer … often unknowingly purchased a mattress that had fairly thick layers of polyfoam above the latex and if there is more than around an inch or so of polyfoam above the latex it would be subject to the same issues as all lower density polyfoam layers no matter what was under it. In most cases these people are not even aware that they were not really sleeping on latex (unlss they cut the mattress open) so they will often talk about how their “latex” mattresses are having issues when it’s actually the polyfoam they are sleeping on.

Phoenix

Thanks for all of the info, Phoenix! You’ve been a true asset in helping me search for a new mattress. I have my mind set on getting an all-latex mattress, I was secretly hoping you’d really bash on the latex over coils design so I could present that case to my wife. :lol:

Hi TheLight,

While there are many people who prefer all latex … including me … some of the most knowledgeable people I know that could choose any mattress they wanted sleep on a latex/pocket coil hybrid which can also be a great mattress. There are others yet that sleep on memory foam and other types as well so it really is a matter of preference. The common denominator is that all of them use the most appropriate and best quality materials possible in the design they prefer.

Phoenix