Help picking out which layer configurations to purchase from SleepEZ

[phoenix]

Hi Rox1978,

We were able to find one store that carried Savvy Rest. They had 2 mattresses set up, one with layers of organic natural Dunlop and one with all natural Talalay layers. I was expecting us to prefer the Talalay based on what I have read on this site. Much to my surprise, this was not the case with my wife or myself. Both mattresses were set up originally from top to bottom as: 3" soft, 3" medium, and 3" firm. The owner could only provide me with the basic ILD ranges of the soft, medium and firm latexes. I assumed I would be able to find this online so I didn’t fret much over this while in the store. After searching their website, it seems that Savvy Rest does not like giving this information out. They state something similar to the following on their webiste: “using ILD is not a good way to compare mattresses. You should try each mattress configuration and not let the ILD’s of the individual layers keep you up at night.” This makes sense, but bothers me a little that they are not even willing to share the actual ILD’s, even though I know they can vary slightly.

I actually agree with their thoughts about not disclosing ILD’s. When you are testing a mattress locally … your own experience is much more meaningful than the ILD numbers that are attached to your experience and there are many people who pay too much attention to ILD numbers (which by themselves say little because other specs such as compression modulus, layer thickness, point elasticity and others are just as important to how soft or firm a mattress feels than ILD specs alone). There is more about this in post #2 here. They are probably also well aware that the only reason that a potential customer would need ILD information is to “duplicate” the mattress elsewhere because ILD is a “comfort spec” not a “quality spec” and has no bearing on the quality or value of the mattress. They are also right that trying to build a mattress by ILD specs alone can keep you up at night

ILD is also measured differently between polyfoam and latex and Dunlop and Talalay are also not “equivalent” in the same ILD (see post #6 here) so testing mattresses with a different design or layering may not be applicable to your experience with a different mattress other than as a very general indicator that you prefer soft, medium, or firmer mattresses.

Having said all that … the Dunlop layers that Savvy Rest uses would be roughly the same as the SleepEz Dunlop and would be in the same “range” of firmness levels. Both could reasonable be called soft, medium, or firm in other words although they may not be exactly the same because Dunlop is always a “range” of ILD’s and will vary from layer to layer.

1. Does anybody know the true ILD’s of Savvy Rest mattresses? Do their soft, med, firm correspond closely to online companies such as SleepEZ? I am thinking about the 10,000 series, which is also made up of 3 - 3" layers.

Based on feedback from various customers … the Savvy Rest ILD range is approximately …

Soft Dunlop: 22-30
Medium Dunlop: 31-39
Firm Dunlop: 40 and above

Soft Talalay: N2 Soft 20-24
Medium Talalay: N4 Medium 30-34
Firm Talalay: N5 Firm 35-40+

So they would be in the same “range” as SleepEz.

2. Is it a bad idea to put soft layers deeper down in the mattress? I think I remember reading on here that it is ok to place it in the middle layer, but that putting it on the bottom is a bad idea. Somebody please straighten me out on this or tell my why it is a bad idea.

I don’t think this would be “harmful” but it wouldn’t be ideal because it may result in less supportive base layers which could affect your alignment. The upper layers to some degree could “bend” into the soft bottom layer and increase the riak of alighment issues although by the time the compression forces reach the lower layers most of them have dissipated and spread out into the layers about the bottom layer. it would also depend on your weight (heavier weights would affect the bottom layer more than lighter weights).

3. Based on all the above information, are there any other layer configurations I should have tried at Savvy Rest. I think we would both prefer a mattress that is a little firmer than soft / med / firm, yet a little softer than med / soft / firm. Again, the entire mattress was organic Dunlop. I think I have read that Med Talalay would be in between soft Dunlop and med Dunlop. Would it be worth trying in the place of the soft dunlop layer?

It may have been worth testing (top to bottom) soft/firm/medium. This would increase the firmness of the support and would also result in a slightly firmer surface (for most people depending on their weight and sleeping position). There are different types of softness in a mattress including the hand feel (very slight compression), pressure relief softness (the depth of your pressure relieving cradle in the top layers) and support softness (based mostly on the firmness of the deeper layers which are primarily to help keep your spine in alignment). Different people may be sensitive to one of these “species” of softness vs another although to different degrees every layer in a mattress has some effect on all the other layers.

It seems to me that you tended to prefer a softer top layer but may nave needed just a bit more firmness underneath this.

In general there are two effective ways to choose the layering design that works best for you. One of these would be through your personal testing or experience on a very similar mattress with a similar design (which would describe Savvy Rest) and the other is with more detailed conversations with the retailer or manufacturer who can use the “averages” of their customers with a similar body type and sleeping style to help you make the choice with the highest odds of success.

In the large majority of cases … choosing S/M/F falls in the range where either this combination or some re-arrangement of it would be suitable for the large majority of people of average weight or even slightly above average weight. Of course they know more about their own design than anyone so I would base your decision on a more detailed conversation with them on the phone. One of the values of their system as well is that not only can you re-arrange the layers to fine tune them … if it is necessary you can also exchange one and I would “build in” the possibility of this into your expectations so that it becomes a “bonus” if you don’t need to use it.

Hope this helps … and you are certainly looking in a good quality/value and very versatile direction

Phoenix