Hi manazca,
- The foam is a Firm Foam, 5 lbs rating.
This is almost certainly wrong because this isn’t a density that you would find for a polyfoam base layer and it seems that the person that provided you with this information may not be familiar with polyfoam densities or they would have immediately recognized that this wasn’t correct. This may be coming from the same source as was mentioned here and here. Having said that … the polyfoam is probably in a suitable quality/density range even though this wouldn’t be correct.
I would really appreciate your opinion about it.
I’m always happy to make comments about the quality of the materials in a mattress but only you can decide on the “value” of a mattress purchase because value is always relative to the other mattresses you are considering or are available to you and on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (see post #13 here).
The biggest part of “value” is deciding which one your testing indicates is the best match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and how well you are likely to sleep on a mattress.
Next comes the relative durability and useful life of the mattress and I can certainly make a few comments about this.
The blended Talalay latex is a high quality material but with only an inch of it the polyfoam below it would play a significant role in the durability and useful life of this mattress and I would want to know the correct density of the polyfoam support core. Knowing your body type would help as well (lower density polyfoam is more suitable for lighter body types than it would be for heavier body types and this is a significant part of the relative durability of a mattress). This would be a suitable choice for your daughter but it may be a less durable choice for you but again I can’t really make any meaningful comments without knowing the specifics of all the materials in a mattress.
Blended Talalay latex is a very durable material so there would be no weak links in this mattress. There is also more about a latex hybrid vs an all latex mattress in post #2 here. Because this mattress is relatively thin and is a little on the firmer side … this may be a better choice for a back or stomach sleeper than it would for a side sleeper because side sleepers generally need thicker and softer comfort layers to relieve pressure when they sleep on their side but again your own testing will be the most reliable way to know this. If there is no difference between the materials in “this years model” and “last years model” and they are both new (not a floor model or comfort exchange) and they both have a warranty then I would certainly choose last years model.
The store also has a 6’ all natural Dunlop latex mattress but it is totally out of my budget ($2100). Plus the 15% Canadian taxes, of course
This would be closely comparable to the Sunshine mattress in terms of durability (see post #6 here for more about the different types and blends of latex) and the choice between Talalay and Dunlop would be a preference choice rather than a “better/worse” choice (see post #7 here).
These are really preference choices that would be based on the criteria that are most important to you and that only you can answer based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. There is more about online vs local choices in post #2 here and in this topic that may also help you decide on whether you are comfortable with any additional risks involved with an online purchase (and I would also factor in any exchange or refund policies into the “value” and risk of an online choice as well).
Since your daughter won’t be able to provide you with meaningful feedback about PPP an online choice can certainly make a lot of sense for a child’s mattress if there are no comparable options available locally but for you it would really be a matter of your own risk tolerance and the options that you have available online vs locally.
Phoenix