Expert Advice for Plus size sleeper: Latex mattress

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Hello, Experts! I’ve been deep into latex mattresses research and will be pulling a trigger on Black Friday, hoping to see some nice sales. The options are overwhelming, and your knowledge and expertise throughout this forum is profoundly great! We are looking for a 100% latex mattress that will last at least 10 years (hopefully longer), provide structural support, and allow for layer adjustability at any time down the road to adjust comfort layers.

We have looked at latex mattresses at Sleep Essentials store, but, even though we liked the options, most likely we won’t be buying from there simply because they do not offer a return policy.

Here are the details: 2 partners of different weight and sleeping preferences, so we’ll be getting 2 Twin XL latex mattresses. We already got 2 Twin XL Rize Contemporary IV adjustable bases: spouse has acid reflux and GERD, so needs to sleep at incline. We are in the 50s, 5’4"/175 lbs (side sleeper, prefers medium firmness) and 5’5" 260 lbs (back/side sleeper, prefers medium firm to firm; sleeps hot; lower back issues) respectively. We both prefer mattresses of customizable layers, so something like SleepOnLatex, where you can only add a topper, won’t work (unless we construct a mattress of the SOL layers).

I’ll add the options we are considering below, but my main question has to do with the height of the mattress. I see conflicting information on different sites regarding plus-size sleepers: some say that 9" mattress (3 3" layers) is sufficient for 250lb+, the others are saying that you’ll need 4 3" layers. Obviously, if heavier sleeper needs to get 12" mattress, then the lighter sleeper will also need 12", even though he will be OK with 9". We would prefer 9"-10" mattress (as total height) simply because the adjustable base with the rizer is already of significant height, so adding 12" mattress might be a little too tall for our heights. I know 9-10" mattress would be OK for a lighter person, but would it be OK in the long run for a heavier person? What are your recommendations in terms of which firmness layers we need to choose based on our preferences? Also, what are the thoughts for 6" Dunlop vs 2 3" layers of the same ILD? Do they they provide same or similar firmness? We will be very grateful for the feedback and the recommendations!

These are the companies/mattresses we are considering.

  1. Sleep Essentials - for reference only: for partner 1 (175lb) - AR3, for partner 2 - (AR4). Both mattresses are 9". Don’t know the ILDs of the layers.

  2. SleepEZ Organic Latex mattress: 10" or 13". Partner 1: F/M/S. Partner 2: XFirm/F/M

  3. Plush Beds Botanical Bliss. 10" or 12". Partner 1: Medium. Partner 2: Medium-Firm. I understand they might customize layers if requested.

  4. Cozy Pure: 10" Cozy Caress or 12" Cozy Embrace. Partner 1: Medium. Partner 2: Firm. Reverse flipping to select different firmness. 5-zone 6" core layer. I understand they might have X-Firm option, so need to talk to them about it. Don’t know the ILDs of the layers. We like the options, but there is no return policy.

  5. Turmerry. Organic Latex Mattress: 10" or 12". Partner 1: Medium. Partner 2: Firm or Extra Firm. Bigg+ Mattress: made for plus-size sleepers, 12"; Firm or Extra Firm for Partner 2. Zoned layers. Some people are complaining of shipping delays, so will need to confirm what they have in stock and how long the wait is.

  6. Foam Order: Design your own Latex mattress. 9". Partner 1: F/M/S. Partner 2: XFirm/XFirm/M.

Notes. We have considered FLOBeds, but they have Tallalay only mattress, which, I think, might not work for plus-size sleeper.

Thank you!

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Hi EterMV and welcome to the forums and thanks for reaching out on this! Our 10" mattress (which has 9" of latex) is perfectly fine for folks 300 pounds or less, and we actually have some customers over 300 pounds that have reported that they do just fine on our 10" mattress, so I really don’t think you need to go any higher than that. I do recommend the 10" mattress over the 9", and this is for a few reasons. The 10” mattress is definitely our most popular, which has three 3” layers and one inch of wool in the cover. The 9” mattress has two 3” layers and a top layer that is 2” thick, then an inch in the cover. The top layer in the mattress is normally the softest layer, so the 9” mattress is firmer and more supportive than the 10” mattress. In your mattress, for example, you would only get 2” of soft Talalay and 2” of medium Talalay in the 9” whereas the 10” would get you 3” of soft and 3” of medium, making for a softer feel than the 9”. Women tend to be curvier around their hips, and having 3” of Talalay on top helps ensure their hips sink in to the mattress far enough that they don’t get any hip pain. Also, if their hips don’t sink into the mattress far enough, the mattress can actually push their hips up which can their off their spinal alignment. Also, the 9” mattress can be more difficult to do layer exchanges for because we would need to know in advance what layer you want to replace because we would need to know if we’re sending you a 2” or 3” layer. In the 10” mattress, by contrast, we know we’re going to send you a 3” layer no matter what and you can try tons of different combinations with the 3” layers to try different firmnesses and get the mattress dialed in. So there definitely are more advantages to the 10” versus the 9”.

If you were to get 6" of firm Dunlop instead of two 3" firm Dunlop layers, the firmness wouldn’t really be different, but with a 6" core, you lose the ability to adjust the mattress to a finer degree. Any change you make will have to be a BIG change. Whereas if you have 3" layers, you can make the mattress slightly softer, moderately softer, much softer, or slightly firmer, moderately firmer, much firmer, etc.

My best advice is to get a mattress from a company that has a layered setup with a zippered cover like we do, even if you don’t get the mattress from us, that’s still my best advice. The 10” mattress is definitely our most popular, which has three 3” layers and one inch of wool in the cover. The 9” mattress has two 3” layers and a top layer that is 2” thick, then an inch in the cover. The top layer in the mattress is normally the softest layer, so the 9” mattress is firmer and more supportive than the 10” mattress. In your mattress, for example, you would only get 2” of soft Talalay and 2” of medium Talalay in the 9” whereas the 10” would get you 3” of soft and 3” of medium, making for a softer feel than the 9”. Women tend to be curvier around their hips, and having 3” of Talalay on top helps ensure their hips sink in to the mattress far enough that they don’t get any hip pain. Also, if their hips don’t sink into the mattress far enough, the mattress can actually push their hips up which can their off their spinal alignment. Also, the 9” mattress can be more difficult to do layer exchanges for because we would need to know in advance what layer you want to replace because we would need to know if we’re sending you a 2” or 3” layer. In the 10” mattress, by contrast, we know we’re going to send you a 3” layer no matter what and you can try tons of different combinations with the 3” layers to try different firmnesses and get the mattress dialed in. So there definitely are more advantages to the 10” versus the 9”. However, this is absolutely your mattress and however you’d like to order is completely up to you.

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