I’ve posted and asked questions in several other topics, but now that we’ve made our selection I thought I should post our experience here since we are in the Dallas/Ft Worth area and we went with one of the local factory direct companies.
Thanks to all the information and advice on this site, as well as trying out various mattresses, we came to the conclusion that an all latex mattress was the best choice for us. Some of you may have seen in another topic that we were deciding whether to go with a split king or regular king - we decided on split king. We also decided that we’d prefer to purchase from a local company if possible.
As with others in this thread, we finally selected a mattress at The Mattress Factory. Peter (the owner) was very helpful, knowledgeable, and low key. Nothing like the “used car” salesmen type you have to deal with at the mainstream mattress retailers. As others have mentioned, it’s an old building in an industrial part of Ft Worth with a bare bones “showroom” - it’s all about the mattresses here, they’re definitely not trying to impress you with the décor of the “showroom”. One neat aspect of the “showroom” that I don’t think anyone has mentioned is that it has windows in the back wall, so you can see right into the factory and see mattresses being made. (Less impressive than it sounds. This is a very small operation. But still neat to see, and it says something to me that they have no problem with customers seeing into the factory at any time.)
Since The Mattress Factory is about an hour from us, I had “scouted” it out a few weeks ago to see if this was as good a possibility as it sounded in this thread. I was very impressed with the mattresses and my interaction with Peter, so arranged to return with my wife and meet him this past Saturday morning. Meanwhile I continued to “scout” other stores and try other mattresses, but when this Saturday came around while we had found some other possibilities we hadn’t found any possibility that I liked more.
There were four all latex models on the floor. One was way too soft for both me and my wife, and one was too firm for both of us. Between the remaining two my wife finally settled on the one that was 6" 28ILD support core with a 2" 28ILD comfort layer on each side - 28/28/28.
I, however, was feeling kind of in-between - I preferred the comfort of the one my wife liked, but preferred the more firm support of the other. So I discussed that with Peter and he suggested that he could combine my preferences by doing a 6" 36ILD support core with a 2" 28ILD comfort layer on each side - 28/36/28. He even went back in the factory and brought out a 2" 28ILD Talalay layer and laid it on the other mattress to give me a very general idea of how it would feel (of course I understand that the feel was being affected by the fact that I was laying directly on the 28ILD layer and it was “on” the mattress instead of built “in” the mattress, as well as the fact that the other mattress’ existing comfort layer was impacting the feel as well.)
That turned out to be a good suggestion, it hit the sweet spot for me.
Throughout all this my wife was apparently thinking, and had started laying on the 28/28/28 again. She then came over and laid on this “test bed”, and very shortly decided she really liked that combination as well - with the more firm support layer.
So we both ended up going with 28/36/28 - 6" core with 2" comfort layers on each side. (I love that they still make two-sided mattresses that can be flipped to even out the wear and extend the life of the mattress.)
They currently have a $100 internet coupon discount which he gave us, plus he gave us the 5% TMU discount. They will build the mattresses over the first few days this week and deliver it to us on Thursday.
(I’ve also ordered a couple of twin xl St Dormier wool mattress protectors from FloBeds.com.)
A couple other comments…
The innersprings mattresses at The Mattress Factory also appeared to be quite good. Worth checking out if you prefer innerspring.
We also checked out Sleep Craft in Lewisville. Also had a very good experience there, just like at The Mattress Factory - helpful, knowledgeable, low key, and not the “used car” salesman type of mainstream stores. Their all latex mattress offering was a single 6" layer. Unfortunately, to me a single layer is either too soft for the support I need/want or to firm for the comfort I need/want. They had very good innersprings as well, including the option of innerspring with a latex comfort layer. Definitely worth checking out if you prefer innerspring, or you if like a single layer all latex.
I think I agree with someone else who posted in this thread that if I wanted an innerspring I’d definitely consider Sleep Craft along with The Mattress Factory, whereas The Mattress Factory would be (and is) my choice for an all latex.
Well, I hope that helps someone else looking to buy a mattress in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, now or in the future.
I’ll return with posts as we experience the bed… as well as any service/support dealings with The Mattress Factory, if any become necessary.
