Hi macdebbie and thanks for reaching out on this! A good estimate for the lifespan of a latex and coil hybrid is 10 years, whereas an all-latex mattress can last 15-20 years, and some customers have had their all-latex mattress for 30 years or more. My estimation is that Leggett & Platt’s Quantum Edge coils are similar in firmness to 3” of medium Dunlop over 3” of firm Dunlop, which isn’t especially pressure-relieving. Generally speaking, 6” coils are firmer than 8” coils.
The main reason for someone getting a Dunlop comfort layer would be just personal preferences. Most people and companies say Talalay is softer just because that’s an easier way to explain it. You can actually have a soft Dunlop layer that’s softer or firmer than a soft Talalay and a medium Talalay that’s softer or firmer than a medium Dunlop, etc. The real difference comes down to how they react when being compressed. Talalay is bouncier and springier and is generally better at contour and pressure relief on your hips and shoulders. Dunlop is denser and is generally better at support and maintaining proper spinal alignment so our most common configuration is Talalay for the top layer and Dunlop for the bottom 2 layers. We will recommend Talalay for two or more layers for customers that have things like fibromyalgia, shingles, chronic hip pain, chronic shoulder pain, or anything where they’re sensitive to pressure, or for customers that just prefer a bouncier / springier feel. Outside of those circumstances, a combination of Talalay and Dunlop offers the best chance to be successful for the average person. Again, the best way I can summarize the differences would be to say that Talalay is better at pressure relief on your hips and shoulders and Dunlop is better at maintaining proper spinal alignment and avoiding back pain. However, Talalay can also be helpful in avoiding back pain because it provides more of what we call secondary support. Secondary support fills in the gaps between your body and the mattress. For side sleepers, this is normally the area between a person’s ribs and waist. For back sleepers, this is normally the area between the small of your back and the mattress. If these parts or your body aren’t being held up by the mattress, your muscles will work all night to hold those parts of your body up, which can lead to back pain. Aside from that, women tend to be curvier, especially around their hips, and having a top layer of Talalay can help avoid hip pain and keep the mattress from pushing their hips up, which can also lead to back pain. As such, most of our customers definitely benefit from having one layer of Talalay on top, and Dunlop for the rest of the mattress, but it’s completely up to you what you would like to order.
Aside from that, the organic mattresses is our flagship product. It’s fully customizable, meaning you can order the mattress to be as soft or as firm as you’d like. It’s also fully adjustable, meaning you can change the softness, firmness, back support, pressure relief, etc. AFTER you get the mattress in your home. To be more specific, the 10” is our most popular, and these mattresses normally go out with three 3" layers of different firmnesses - normally the softest layer (or the cushion & contour layer) is on top and the supportive layers are on the bottom. This helps ensure our customers get the right balance of contour for their hips and shoulders but also support for their lower back. If you start with a certain setup and find that it’s too soft, you can unzip the cover and rearrange the layers to get a firmer feel out of the mattress, or you can exchange a layer to make it softer. Additionally, latex mattresses typically last 20 years. If, in 5 or 10 or 15 years you decide you want a softer or firmer mattress you would only have to buy a new layer instead of an entirely new mattress. Lastly, if the mattress starts to break down in 15 – 20 years, it’s normally the top layer that breaks down first, and at that point you can likely just buy a new top layer of latex instead of a whole new mattress and get an additional 8-10 years out of the mattress.
If you like a cushioned / cradling feel, my best advice is to order a 7” mattress with a 3” soft Talalay topper. Based on the information you provided, if you were to choose an all-latex mattress, I would recommend 3” of soft Talalay as a topper, then 3” of medium Talalay over 3” of medium Dunlop inside of a cotton & wool cover. Having a top layer that is not encased with the rest of the mattress will allow that top layer enough spatial freedom to move upwards when you lay on it, making for a very plush and enveloping feel. This is what I recommend to customers that are used to pillow top mattresses, memory foam mattresses, or people that are looking for a softer or plusher mattress in general.