Flexus Comfort Latex Beds

Hi Phoenix,

I purchased a 9" Natural Comfort II latex mattress (6" dunlop latex 31 ILD / 3" tatalay latex 22-24 ILD) about 3 years ago from Flexus Comfort and have been happy with the product until about 2 months ago.

Thereabouts, both my and my spouse’s hips started to sag to the bottom of the top layer. When I unzip the cover to inspect the top layer, visually it’s hard to see any indentation or sagging. However, from a usability standpoint, it’s effectively done as we no longer can sleep on this mattress (back ache).

The issue I’m having is while the support layer is just fine (I tested the mattress without the top layer on), the top layer clearly needs to be replaced even though visually it looks to have no noticeable depression. My 30 year Flexus Warranty states that in order to make a claim, the “sag” / depression needs to be at least 1 inch and clearly visible. So in short, I’m out of luck and will likely have to purchase a new $550 top layer.

So, my question for you before I go down this road again is how long should a 3" top layer last given i weigh 190 lbs, my spouse weights 150 pounds and we rotate the mattress and box spring every 2 to 3 months since we purchased it? Is 2 to 3 years “normal” expected usage? My concern is that if I have to fork out $550 every 2 to 3 years for this comfort layers, the value proposition for the mattress as a whole changes dramatically for the worse.

Thanks,

Leary

Hi Leary,

I’m sorry to hear that you are no longer sleeping well on your mattress.

While there is no way to quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when you will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for you (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines here then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.

Latex is among the most durable foam materials in the industry and does a better job or maintaining its ILD and firmness than other types of foam materials, some of which can lose 50% or more of their firmness over time (although this would generally be lower quality materials). With polyfoam for example an “acceptable” level for loss of firmness from flex fatigue would be in the range of 25% to 30% and lower quality materials can be much higher than this. Foam softening of less than 20% over the useful life of a mattress would be inside the range that wouldn’t have a significant effect on most people unless their mattress was already “on the edge” of being too soft for them and was enough to take them outside of the comfort/support range that was suitable for them and latex in a suitable firmness range will consistently be less than this over the longer term.

There is also more information in post #4 here includes all the possible reasons that could account for your experience. It doesn’t sound like your top layer is defective and assuming that you have ruled out any issues with your support system (by testing your mattress on the floor) and if you aren’t using a mattress pad or topper then if I had to guess I would guess that it would be some combination of #2 and #5.

Your mattress may have been “on the edge” of being too soft when it was new (this could be from either the firmness of the support core or the thickness or firmness of the comfort layer) and foam softening that was inside the “normal” range (less than 20% and most likely less than this with latex) may have put you outside the comfort/support range that was suitable for you. This along with any possible changes in your own needs and preferences over time as well would be the most likely reasons for your experience. This could also be more likely if you are primarily a back sleeper (and based on your comments here it appears that you sleep mostly on your back).

If you have ruled out the support system as a possible reason (by testing your mattress on the floor) and you aren’t using a mattress pad or topper on your mattress then it may be worth trying either flipping your bottom support core (one side of a 6" Dunlop layer can be firmer than the other) and/or flipping your top layer (which may also make a very slight difference in firmness) to see if it makes a noticeable difference.

If you do decide to replace the top layer it may also be worth considering a slightly thinner or firmer top layer so that you are more in the middle of the comfort/support range that would be suitable for you.

I would also call Flexus as well to see if they have any other suggestions that may be helpful based on their many years of experience.

Phoenix