Hi,
I’ve been reading great things on your web site. My wife and I have been shopping for a new mattress for quite a while, I’m sure you hear that a lot and are leaning towards natural latex. The hardest part is finding a local company, we live near Seattle, WA., that carries this product so you can test different combinations of firmness. I’m hoping you can help us reach our goal of a great new sleeping experience. Here’s our information:
Looking for a King size.
Me: 58 yrs young
Height: 6’ 2"
Weight: 250
Sleep style: side
Medical: I’ve had back surgery and knee replacement both successful. I do occasionally wake with back stiffness.
Mattress likes: Firm but not hard
Mattress Dislikes: overly soft sagging lack of support
Wife: a few years younger than me…
Height: 5’ 10"
Weight: 145
Sleep Style: side
Medical: Starting to have hip and lower back pain due to arthritis. (Main reason for new mattress purchase)
Mattress Likes: Support but not to firm?
Mattress Dislikes: same as me
We are also shopping for a mattress for our son. Maybe a full xtra long?
Height: 6’3" (14 yrs old and still growing)
Weight: 140
Sleep Style: side
Medical: none
Mattress “comfortable but supportive”
Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to working with you and your suggestions.
Regards,
Nwbruin
Hi nwbruin,
I normally leave the mattress designing and specific recommendations to the manufacturers and retailers you decide to work with who all have a database of customers they can use as “average” reference points for their specific mattresses and designs and who each know much more about the specific mattresses they make or sell, all options they have available, and which of their models would be most suitable for a specific person than I do. This is particularly true when I don’t have any information about the layering of specific mattresses you have tested and how each one feels and performs in terms of PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) which I can use a reference point. There are far to many variables involved to do this just “out of the blue” based on what I call theory at a distance which is never as accurate as your own personal testing.
There are however some general height and weight guidelines here along with some sleeping position guidelines here and some further information about the effects of different types of layering and construction here but these are designed to give the members here a better sense of the interacting factors involved so that they can work more effectively with the manufacturers and retailers they choose to deal with.
In other words … my goal is to connect the members with retailers and manufacturers that offer good quality, value and service and have the knowledge and experience to make specific recommendations and help you make the best possible choices. You may find that each one has a different suggestion … each of which may work equally well for you but use different designs to get to a similar end result.
I would first read post #1 here which has a step by step process and links to information that can help you find the “best” mattress for your individual needs and preferences. It seems you have decided on latex as your preferred material (or at least are leaning in that direction) so the next step would be to test various combinations locally to see which types of layering and mattresses you tend to prefer. There is a list of the better options in the Seattle area in post #2 here and the next step would be to talk with some of these on the phone to see what they have available that may interest you and then visit the ones you are most attracted to. There are many latex options available to you on the list which will give you a much better idea of your own needs and preferences than any theory.
Of course if you have the confidence once you have some personal testing under your belt and if the value online is significantly better than anything locally (I usually use about a 20% difference as equivalent value between a local purchase and an online purchase) then I would more seriously consider online options as well but of course each person may have a different risk tolerance for purchasing online and a different number for “equivalent value”.
Of course if you have questions along the way you are always welcome to post them here along with your feedback about the places you visit. If I become your mattress designer and tried to “work with” all the forum members that specifically … I would quickly become a bottleneck and the hours it would take on the phone with each one would quickly overwhelm me. I much prefer to leave that part to the people who have already been doing this in many cases for decades 
Phoenix