Flo Beds Core Choice Help

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
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Hi Mattress Underground folks! I’ve got a question about which talalay latex mattress cores to order from Flo Beds but first I figured I’d give a little background on my mattress hunt…

After extensive online research and some in-store mattress testing my partner and I decided to go with Flo Beds- a King size Organic Natural Deluxe (3 cores, all talalay latex). We first tested out various Savvy Rest and Green Sleep dunlop latex mattresses in varying firmnesses at The Clean Bedroom in Brooklyn, and then we tried out a few different talalay mattresses at Healthy Choice Mattress (they’re in Connecticut and New Jersey). We spent 10-15 minutes on each mattress we tried, and we definitely preferred talalay over dunlop. The one we both undeniably liked the most at Healthy Choice was the “Violet,” which puts a medium layer OVER a soft layer, with a firm layer on the bottom (so medium-soft-firm instead of what I more commonly saw, which was soft-medium-firm). Unfortunately, the Healthy Choice mattresses were not only much more expensive than the online companies ($4600 for what would be around $3000 at Flo Beds), but they also didn’t have a zippered enclosure, and my partner and I really like the idea of being able to adjust the layers ourselves (not to mention that we live in Brooklyn and a mattress that can be disassembled will make it soooo much easier to get upstairs and to move, which is always an inevitability in this city!).

We decided to order something similar from Flo Beds because of the design, the customer service reputation, and the price (we’re looking to spend around $3000). Based on advice from this forum I called Flo Beds to check what they thought of the layer setup we were planning to go with. Although my partner and I both liked medium-soft-firm at Healthy Choice the best, Flo Beds recommended against getting a soft for anyone over 110 pounds (which we both are), and they recommended that based on our weights, we get something more like medium-firm-superfirm or medium-firm-firm for me, and firm-superfirm-extra firm for my partner. I unfortunately couldn’t find the ILD’s for the Healthy Choice mattresses, so I can’t confirm how their latex layers would compare to Flo Bed’s, but I’m worried that these will be too firm. We’re both side sleepers and I’m a curvy lady, so I tend to prefer a softer mattress, whereas my partner is a pretty big dude who tends to prefer a firmer mattress.

So here’s where my question (finally) comes in! What cores should we order? Thanks for any help!

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Hi pizzafeelings,

I would keep in mind that the Flobeds configurations all have a 2" soft layer of convoluted latex as the top layer so the layers that you are choosing would be underneath a softer comfort layer.

While your own careful testing or personal experience is the only way to know for certain whether any mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP, … of course it’s only possible to test a mattress ahead of time if you are buying a mattress locally. When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and firmness levels to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.

In other words I would tend to use their suggestions as the “starting point” that has the best odds of success.

Phoenix

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Hi Phoenix- thank you so much for your thorough reply and all of your work here on this site! It was incredibly helpful. We decided to go with medium-firm-extra firm, and we’ll be receiving the mattress next week. I figure that since my partner tends to like a firmer bed anyway, we can shift layers between our two sides and if that really doesn’t work, the price for replacement cores is really quite reasonable (I think with shipping it will still be under $100) so we should be fine. And anything is better than our current bed! I’ll post back once we try the mattress. Thanks again!

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Hi pizzafeelings,

Thanks for letting us know what you ended up deciding … and congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

As you know I think you made a great quality/value choice and I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback once you’ve received it and have had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.

Phoenix