Hello from SF Bay Area

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hello. I just wanted to join and make my first post. (maybe I’ll have the privilege of working with one of the members :slight_smile: ) I don’t have a particular question yet, but wanted some guidance in this journey.

We need to replace our queen sized bed/mattress for many reasons. 1) My one-year old is co-sleeping with us and we need a king-sized bed. 2) Mattress is at least 10 years old – and I’m sure it’s not one of those high quality mattresses, since husband bought it while he was still single, for $800. 3) We feel sagging in the middle of the bed – definitely time to replace. 4) We wanted to go more natural, for the kid. (No off-gassing, etc.)

I intend to visit Savvy Rest and European Sleepworks in Berkeley as a reference point. Although I expect their prices to be outside my budget ($2000-$3000), I wanted to do my testing there. Then hopefully I would be able to find something I can afford in the places Phoenix recommended in Palo Alto or San Jose area.

Just based on the information I have read through this wonderful website, I think I want to go all NR talalay latex. If it’s way beyond budget, maybe do a blend on the comfort layer or maybe have innersprings in the support layer. My husband and I are 5’3, 120-140 lbs. I am a side-sleeper/back sleeper while husband is a side-sleeper/tummy sleeper. But I know we both prefer a plush mattress rather than firm. We also both move around a lot (I don’t know if we’re naturally like that, or because our mattress is just way too uncomfortable.)

Is 9" of mattress good enough? At least 2 layers of 3" talalay? Where do I even begin, if I were to hypothetically “design” my mattress? (I’ve actually began… by reading through this site.)

My problem is, there’s still so much for me to learn — and we already bought the new king-sized bed (an Ashley Furniture bed) (which may be delivered this weekend or the next.) So I would need the new mattress very soon. My other concern is that, we bought the bed before I read through this site, and therefore, was unaware that I should have checked the slats first to make sure it’s no more than 3" apart. If it is… how do I solve this problem? Furniture salesman said we can just put a plywood on top of the slats — which I have read here was not exactly a good idea.

Anyway, thanks to all the members, and to Phoenix, for providing helpful information through this website. I hope to ask a more relevant question in my next post. Right now, I’m still kinda’ overwhelmed and lost, but I wanted to introduce myself. Thanks.

2

Hi moosemom,

I’m glad you found us … and welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

I’m guessing you’ve read it already but just in case you haven’t I would make sure you’ve read the tutorial post here.

For most people 8" to 9" of latex is plenty but it would also depend on the specific design of the mattress and the body weight and sleeping positions of the people on it and which was the best match for them in terms of PPP. At your weights most people would be fine with this or even less than this in some cases. Post #4 here has more about the effect of thicker individual layers or the mattress as a whole.

I would avoid trying to “design” your own mattress based on theory or specs and use your own personal testing to decide on which mattress design works best for you (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). The more generic guidelines can give you some sense of the concepts that are involved in different designs but your body will tell you much more than any “theory at a distance”.

As you mentioned … I would avoid a solid surface unless there was a “compelling reason” to use it (see post #10 here). If the distance between your slats is too much you could either add more slats to your bedframe or if the gaps were just a little bit too wide you could add something like this bed rug here or one of the slat conversions here (which has no flex at all) or even one of the Ikea slatted bed bases here (which has some flex which may change how the mattress feels and performs) to even out the support under your mattress. At the very least you could use pegboard which will allow some airflow under the mattress although not as much as slats.

I’m looking forward to finding out about your experiences and your final choice and of course feel free to post any questions you have along the way.

You have some good options available to you.

Phoenix

3

We bought our mattress last night from European Sleep Works. I will tell you more about the great shopping experience with them in another post. But for now, please give me your opinion on the final two choices we had. We’re planning to go back today and try out the mattresses again because we kept second-guessing ourselves and we wanted to make sure we made the right choice.

Latex HDM
1.5" layer of all-natural Talalay latex
2,000 pocketed high definition microcoils
6" base of all-natural Talalay latex
Stretch-knit cotton and Merino wool cover
Available in 4 firmness options
Eco-certified components

Alpine HDM
1.5" layer of all-natural Talalay latex
2,000 pocketed high definition microcoils
1,000 European pocketed basecoils
Stretch-knit cotton and Merino wool cover
Available in 4 firmness options
Eco-certified components

Questions:

  1. Do you have any insight on the quality of ESW’s products? I know you recommended them when thy were carrying BEs. But what about their own line?
  2. Am I choosing between good and good here and it’s just a matter of preference?
  3. Going in, we thought we would like an all latex mattress. but we ended up liking some coil and more springiness in the mattress. But could it be bacause the feel of talalay is just new and different to us, that we preferred the innerspring? We were thinking if the latex is actually better for our spinal alignment and pressure relief — and that we’ll eventually get used to it.

Thank you for your time and input. By the way, we had Steven helping us and he spoke highly of you, as well. Great guy, really helpful.

4

Hi moosemom,

They are similar in concept to the BE mattresses and they use all high quality components and layers. There are no weak links or low quality components in the mattress and I think highly of their design and of course their knowledge and service. It’s been very interesting to watch their transition from selling good quality mattresses to actually designing and making them :slight_smile:

Yes … this would be a choice between “good and good” and would be a matter of your preference between the two different types of support systems (latex or pocket coils) and which one was the best match for you in terms of PPP.

Latex can take some getting used to for some people but it’s the design of the mattress that provides the PPP not the type of materials. One type of material doesn’t provide better better support or alignment than another because it always depends on the design of the specific mattress. There can be a big difference between preconceptions and what you think you may like and what you actually end up liking and if it was me I would focus on the one you prefer now rather than “hoping” you may get used to a mattress that doesn’t seem to be your preference. Some of the most knowledgeable people I know that could sleep on any type of mattress they wanted to sleep on a pocket coil mattress with good quality comfort layers.

Phoenix

5

Phoenix, as always, thank you for your response.

We didn’t exactly prefer one over the other, when we made our purchase. We were equally torn between the two. Problem was, I had my restless one year old in tow, and the store was technically closed already (we were still there at 6:30pm, and they close at 6pm) — and DH wanted to make a decision. So we decided to go with the one that was $500 cheaper. We figured, if we liked them both, then we might as well go with the cheaper one.

Don’t do this. The result was that I couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about whether or not we made the right decision. I wasn’t fully convinced that I tested the mattresses as I should since it was difficult to focus, with the little one running around. So we did what anyone would have done… we went back and tested the final two choices again. Spent another hour or so, trying to relax more and listening to what our bodies were telling us.

We ended up changing our purchase. We bought the Latex HD. Having relaxed more and spend more time on the mattresses, we felt some hard pressure points in the Alpine HDM which was not present with the Latex. Our shoulders were hurting a little. The non-bouncy feeling of latex became secondary in our decision making. It was more important for us to make sure that we get complete pressure relief so we decided to change our purchase.

But just to clarify, for anyone considering these two options – both were good. We just felt that the Latex HDM worked slightly better for us.

Just thought it would be good to let you know how our search ended.

6

Hi moosemom,

Thanks for the update and I couldn’t agree with you more.

A mattress purchase is a decision that will affect the quality of our sleep (and our wellbeing when we’re awake) for many years to come and it’s well worth taking a little extra time and testing to make sure that your choice is the best possible option.

So I appreciate your comments and I hope that many other members take them to heart.

Most importantly … congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

Phoenix