Help choosing layers for SleepEZ mattress

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Phoenix and others,

Thanks for hosting a wonderful forum with honest and extensive information for mattress shoppers. We’ve been looking to change our current coil mattress and have decided to go with a latex mattress because we like the natural material, and like how it supports us. So, we are looking for a dunlop or “natural talalay” mattress.

After many hours going over forum posts and looking at various sites, and a couple of visits to local stores, we are now thinking of going with the SleepEz due to its price-point and comparable quality.

I’m 6 ft and 150 lbs and my wife is 5’3" and 135 lbs. We are both side and back sleepers. I spoke to Steve last week, and he suggested the soft/medium/firm combination for both of us. He also said that the Select Sleep 9000 was a 9" mattress with 3 layers of 3". However, the SleepEZ site seems to suggest that it is a 3+3+2 arrangement, and I assume the final inch of mattress is the cover. Can someone that has bought this or similar SleepEZ mattress confirm the layer sizes?

Also, we went to a local store and tried a few 3+3+3 mattresses. We are now trying to map this to the SleepEZ layers. The two mattresses that we liked were (top to bottom with ILDs)
3" firm talalay (30-35), 3" extra firm dunlop (40-49), 3" medium dunlop (25-30) - 1st preference
3" medium talalay (25-30), 3" medium dunlop(25-30), 3" extra firm firm (40-49) - 2nd preference

I don’t know why a range of ILDs was specified for each layer, but the owner indicated that there wasn’t a single value. Keeping in mind that Sleep EZ’s ILDs are 20 for soft, 30 for medium, 40 for firm and 44 for extra firm, will the following work well?
3" medium talalay (30), 3" firm dunlop (40), 3" firm dunlop (40)

If we get a talalay layer on top, I’d prefer getting a natural layer as far as possible without any synthetic latex in it. The “Buyers Guide” page in the Sleep EZ site says that most talalay is a blend of natural and synthetic although many stores mistakenly call it natural. How can I tell if the 100% Natural Talalay offered in the Select Sleep series all-natural?

Thanks.

2

Hi mattcase,

There seems to be some misunderstanding here. Both of the 9000 models are 3+3+2 and the 10000 models are 3+3+3 and there is about an inch in the quilted cover.

ILD’s are never exact and there is always a range for each firmness rating. The variance is generally larger with 100% natural latex (either Talalay or Dunlop) and smaller with blended Talalay. The variance with Dunlop (both between different layers and across the surface of a single layer or between the top and bottom of a layer) is usually larger than with Talalay which can be made closer to specific ILD’s and is generally more consistent from top to bottom.

SleepEz has several latex options and each manufacturer has differences in the ILD’s they provide so their ratings are meant to be an approximation for all the options they provide. When you talk with them (which I consider to be an essential part of any online purchase) they can provide more details about the specifics of each manufacturer they use to the degree that the latex manufacturer provides it and they can also tell you the options they have available that would be the closest approximation to the layers you tested. They would know more about the specifics of the options they have available than anyone. Matching the layer thicknesses and the ILD information to the closest options they provide would be the closest approximation to the mattresses you tested but the firmness of the deepest layer will have less effect on the overall feel and performance of the mattress than the upper layers … especially with your lighter weights.

I would also keep in mind that the cover of the mattress will also be a significant part of how they feel and compare.

There are two manufacturers of Talalay latex in the western world which are Latex International and Radium. Both of them make versions of their Talalay latex that is a blend of natural and synthetic latex (30% natural and 70% synthetic) and 100% natural (which has no synthetic latex at all). Unfortunately … Latex International usually calls their blended Talalay “natural” and their 100% natural Talalay “all natural” so many retailers and even some manufacturers mix them up and don’t provide accurate information to their customers.

The ISleepEz line uses either 100% natural Dunlop or blended Talalay and their organic line has the option to choose 100% natural Talalay. They are very familiar with the differences between then and will give you accurate information about which is in your mattress.

Phoenix

3

Aah, thanks for clearing that up. I guess things must have gotten mixed up when I was asking about different models. I’m curious if you know how much of a difference the 1" in the top layer will make to the feel of the mattress. The mattress in the store also had a mattress cover with organic wool and cotton, so perhaps the covers are similar. But will the reduced top layer make the mattress more firm by bringing us closer to the middle layer?

Thanks for that explanation on the ILDs and their ranges. I guess that makes sense due to the nature of dunlop and talalay processes. I will talk to Steve again to get additional details about the latex layers and their manufacturers.

I was also looking to find warranty information on the SleepEz site, but couldn’t find details there other than their exchange policy. Do you know how their warranty compares to other online stores, in terms of the amount of indentation they look for and details like that?

Thanks again for all the information. You are a great resource for those with questions.

4

Hi mattcase,

A thinner comfort layer would allow more of the firmness of the deeper layers to “come through” yes and you would sink in less than with a 3" layer but “how much” firmer it would be would would be very subjective and would depend on the specifics of the mattress (the firmness of each layer) and the body type, sleeping positions, and individual perceptions of each person. For some people this may be an improvement and for some it would be detrimental compared to a 3" top layer but for most people it would be noticeably “different” and feel firmer if all the other layers and components were the same.

You can see the details of their warranty here. Most defects in a mattress (which is the only thing a warranty covers) will show up in the early stages of the life of a mattress (generally in the first few years) so beyond that it’s much more important to make sure your mattress uses good quality and durable materials than it is to have a long warranty that doesn’t cover normal weak and tear or the softening and breakdown of lower quality materials that leads to the loss of comfort and support anyway. You can read more about warranties in post #174 here.

You would need to ask them about any exclusions that aren’t listed in the warranty but I know that most of the better smaller manufacturers (including SleepEz) tend to favor their customers in the “grey areas” of warranty coverage.

Phoenix

5

Thanks, Phoenix. That’s what I thought, and what Sleep EZ suggested as well - that the difference in 1" will be significant. Since we liked what we tried at the store, and are thinking of going with all dunlop layers, we are leaning towards the iSleep EZ 10000. Sleep EZ suggested we try the medium+firm+extra firm layers as the one that will mimic what we tried at the store most closely. Also, that will give us options to reconfigure the layers as needed.

The link to the warranty information was very helpful. Sleep EZ confirmed that the warranty covers indentations of 1" or more.

Now it’s time to bite the bullet and make the purchase. Thanks again for this wonderful forum, and all the great information.

6

Hi mattcase,

I’m glad the site could help you and SleepEz is certainly a great quality/value choice.

Congratulations on your new mattress … and I’m looking forward to your feedback when you receive it. I think that with their guidance your choice should be reasonably close to your “preference #1” that you tested :slight_smile:

Phoenix

7

This is to close the discussion on this thread. Last week, I finally ordered the 10" organic mattress from SleepEZ with medium/firm/extra-firm from top to bottom. We got the mattress two days back. Setup took a while, and is doable by a single person although definitely easier to do with 2 people around.

My wife and I are very happy with the purchase! The bed offers the perfect amount of support and pressure relief for us, and we didn’t remember waking up to toss and turn through the night. I also woke up feeling fresher and ready to go rather than struggling to wake up. What a difference a quality mattress makes!

Thought it’s just been two days, we don’t think our opinion will change significantly in the long term. If it does, we’ll keep the forum posted.

Once again, our sincere thanks to Phoenix and others on this forum. This is truly a great resource for mattress buyers.

8

Hi mattcase,

Thanks for the update … I appreciate it.

It sounds like you and your new mattress have become good friends very quickly :slight_smile:

Phoenix

9

Mattcase,

Did you order and receive your mattress? We are looking at the SleepEZ 10" and are pretty excited. Just biting the bullet is hard for us. I always want to get more information.

Thanks,
Karen and Doug