Hi sweetandsourkiwi.
[quote]
I thought pure talalay only came from 1 or 2 manufacturs worldwide…how is this possible? …
SLEEP EZ / SLEEPING ORGANIC
Extra soft na / 14-19 (SleepEZ doesn’t seem to have extra soft…most companies don’t)
soft 19-20 / 19-23 (similar)
medium 30-32 / 24-28 (big difference!)
firm 38-40 / 32-35 (noting that SO’s “firm” is really more SleepEZ’s “medium”)
extra firm 44 / 32-35 (nothing that SO’s extra firm is almost the same as SleepEZ’s medium)[/quote]
Talalay is one of the 2 processes used for making latex foam, Talalay and Dunlop. There is no such thing as “pure Talalay”. It’s either Talalay or Dunlop. The 2 manufacturers of Talalay are Talalay Global (US) and Radium Foam (Netherlands). You can see the ILD range for Radium100%naturalandblendedtalalayhere.Forhttps://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/0https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/1https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/2https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/3https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/4https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/5https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/6https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/7https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/8https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/966/NewRadiumILD1_2014-04-17.gif]Radium0thetargetILD’sfortheirblendedTalalayhttps://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/0https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/1https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/2https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/3https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/4https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/5https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/6https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/7https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/8
In addition to all of this … the “word” ratings can vary widely between different sources and different people have different ideas of what firm or soft is so I would take these with a grain of salt. Either ILD in Talalay or ILD (if it’s accurate) or density for Dunlop (see post #2 here as a reference) would probably be the best way to compare relative firmness between different Dunlop layers and sources if they are the same type and blend of latex. If two layers are a different type or blend of latex then ILD ratings may not be comparable between different layers. There are also different testing protocols for ILD so in some cases the ILD would be tested at 40% compression instead of 25% compression which would also produce a different resuls.
The Xtra-soft Talalay material is very plush but lacks sufficient latex rubber material mass to provide much, if any, support. This range of material is generally considered “pillow” soft and, if used in a mattress, should only be used on the very top, and in 1-2" max. This is why many/most companies do not carry/sell it. Both Radium and Talalay Global make 14 ILD latex.
Sleep EZ’s ILD numbers reflect the range average of the +/- 2 ILD variation across the surface used by Talalay Global (e.g. a 28 ILD rated layer can have an avg. ILD between 26-30). SO does not carry Talalay at 36 -44 ILD (this is generally referred to as the firm – extra firm range). It appears SO wants its customers to use Dunlop for this range. Please see the attached screenshot for reference
The different companies use different qualitative terms; I suggest comparing the ILD ratingsfrom the same type of latex (NR, Blended, SR) from the same foam producers when making your decisions.
Phoenix