Help w/ my Mattress Choice

[phoenix]

Hi jsjs54,

1. The PJ’s latex mattress which is 6 inches of dunlop latex w/ .5 inches of wool and cotton on each side. It’s flippable, which strike me as a major advantage. It’s also the cheapest of my 3 options. It’s made for them locally in LA. It’s the one in the picture above. They sell it in firm and medium firm and the difference between the 2 in the latex. Any questions I should be asking here?

You already know the materials and the type and blend of the latex and there are no weak links in terms of quality or durability so if you are confident that this mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP then the only other things that I would want to know would be all the “other” parts of a mattress purchase such as any return or exchange options, anything else that is included in the price of the mattress, or any of the other parts of your personal value equation that are important to you. You can also read more about the pros and cons of a two sided mattress in post #3 here and the posts it links to.

2. The Berkeley Ergonomics all latex model: www.berkeleyergo.com/mattresses/natural-talalay-mattress.html This feels very comfortable to me and I have tended to like the look and feel of these mattresses in general. I would get one without the slatted base or the “topper” which I worry are gimmicks. I want something simple that will last a long time.

I wouldn’t consider either the slatted base or the topper as gimmicks but more as optional parts of a sleeping system that would work better for some people, not as well for others and for others yet may make little difference one way or the other. For me they would be no different than any other component in a mattress or sleeping system that can have an effect on PPP and on the “value” of a purchase.

3. Foam sweet foam or Flexus Still thinking about the right combo of layers but these both seem like good companies offering very similar products. I’ve been looking for contrary opinions on the internet and some seem to say that even the best latex can sag and form impressions. I guess you can always replace a layer with this.

Anything can sag or form impressions to some degree if it isn’t a suitable choice for a particular person (such as choosing latex layers that are in a very soft range for a 300 lb person instead of firmer layers that would be more suitable) but latex will soften and sag and in general is more durable than any other foam material. There are also many online reviews where someone believes that they have an “all latex mattress” but in reality there are “other” materials in the mix and they don’t realize that the impressions in their "so called’ latex mattress are really coming from some of the other materials. There is more about the many variables that can affect durability and the useful life of a mattress relative to each person in post #4 here.

As you mentioned … the advantage of a component mattress is that you have good options after a purchase to fine tune the support or comfort of the mattress either by rearranging or exchanging layers and if one layer softens sooner than the others or if your needs and preferences chance down then single layers can be replaced without replacing the entire mattress.

You are looking at some great final choices (see post #2 here) and if you are confident that all of them would be an equally good match for you in terms of PPP and how well you sleep then none of them have any obvious weak links and you are in the fortunate position that any of them would make a good quality/value choice.

Phoenix