Hi craezie,
You may be surprised to learn this but there is only 9" of latex in the Aireloom you are looking at and this would account for much of the “difference” you are feeling compared to 12" of latex.
I have to give the person at Sit n Sleep credit first of all for taking the time to research the mattress. He looked at his spec sheet and the law tag (at my request) to find out the layering and even phoned the Aireloom rep to find out the ILD’s but the rep was not available for a few days.
In any case … here is the layering.
There is about an inch or so (possibly slightly less) of polyfoam in the quilting on the very top. This is within the maximum I normally consider acceptable in a latex mattress. While I would prefer to have wool in the quilting layer if a firmer layer is on top of the latex … this is OK since the quilting needs to have something in it to quilt to.
Underneath this is 3" of Talalay latex. While he didn’t know the exact ILD … it would likely be quite soft somewhere between 19 and 24 would be my guess although it could be outside of this range.
Under this is another 3" of Talalay latex which is probably firmer … perhaps in the range of 28 - 32.
Under this is 3" of Dunlop which would be the firmest layer of all.
Finally under this is 1" or so of very firm “base foam” which is an ultra firm layer of polyfoam often used on the bottom of a mattress for stability and to make it easier to handle the mattress. This makes little difference in the feel or performance of the mattress. This would conform to the law tag which shows 88% latex and the remaining 12% is polyfoam (a little on top and a little underneath).
If you are testing thicker mattresses (like the 12" you tested) then what happens is that the pressure is spread out over thicker layers and you will sink in more deeply into the mattress as a whole while you will also sink in slightly less deeply into the upper layer of the mattress. This results in a feeling that is slightly less comfortable in terms of pressure relief (the top part doesn’t compress quite as much) but also has a feeling that it is too soft that comes from sinking “down” deeper into the mattress as a whole. This sinking “down” feeling comes from the support layers which as you mentioned feel too soft. This has more to do with having 12" of latex instead of 9" of latex which completely changes the feel of the mattress.
The closest layering pattern at foam sweet foam would be 9" of latex with softer on top and then increasing as you go down. This would be something like soft medium firm, or medium firm xfirm, or even soft firm xfirm. The wool on the top of this in the quilting would be very roughly equivalent to the 1" of quilting foam in the Aireloom quilting. The bloc foam on the bottom of the Aireloom wouldn’t really make much difference and can be ignored.
In general … 9" of latex is all that most people need and actually has a better feel for most people. It allows the upper layers to be more pressure relieving while the lower layers are more supportive. It would be rare in most types of layering schemes that more than this was necessary unless there was a specific reason for it such as certain types of zoning or very heavy weight and then the layering should take this into account with a much firmer layering underneath the comfort layer.
The reason that the foam sweet foam Dunlop is more expensive is because it is actually organic (certified) rather than just 100% natural. While the actual material is not “better” between the two … the process that is involved in certifying the latex is long and the certification itself and what is necessary to achieve it results in greater cost … even if the actual material and “purity” is exactly the same.
So I strongly suspect that 9" of latex … with perhaps a “side to side” split (each of you may do best with different layering) with either all Talalay (with 3" layers each with increasing firmness levels to take into account the need for support for both of you) or with a Dunlop support core (either two 3" layers of Dunlop or a single 6" core would be fine here) under a Talalay comfort layer and then quilted with wool will be much closer to the feeling of the Airloom than almost any layering scheme which uses 12" of latex. Of course you could also use the exact same layering (in ILD’s which feel similar) which is 3" talalay over 3" talalay over 3" of Dunlop but this would not really be necessary and the ILD’s would play an important role here in how closely the “feel” matched the Aireloom.
You could also choose a non quilted cover with 9" of latex and then use a wool mattress pad instead of having wool in the mattress itself.
So I would highly recommend 9" of latex in all with appropriate layering patterns for your testing and then use a higher foundation to get the height you want.
I would also consider a call to Flexus to see what they have in this type of layering (soft Talalay over a thicker firmer layer of Dunlop totalling 9" of latex and possibly zoning in the support layer to help keep the hips up a little bit).
Phoenix
