Help with Latex mattress

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Just a little background, I basically grew up on a twin Latex Englander mattress purchased in probably the late 1950’s. Everyone whoever slept on the bed after it became a guest bed refused to leave. and it lasted forever! I have been searching for that big girl bed in a queen for years. Have purchased two different ones in the past 25+ years only to be disappointed. Ripped the wool off one, once it ended up with body impressions in the wool. Needless to say its in the spare bedroom,

I’m guessing from what I have read that it was probably Dunlop latex because of the age. Is Dunlop only available in 6"? Are there different softness levels of a solid Dunlop? Personally I can feel the softer latex and kind of “bottom out” when I hit the core. We weigh in the low to mid 200’s back and side sleepers, softer mattress based on memory of old mattress.

Thanks in advance for any help. Cost is an issue, started looking a couple of years ago, and went out this week to discover prices have about doubled in the past 2 years

2

Hi chinamama,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

Chances are this was using the Goodyear Airfoam Dunlop latex, as they partnered with Englander in the 1950s. Here’s an interesting television ad describing one version of the product. The Talalay process was invented by Joseph Talalay in 1935 and his sons brought the process over to Connecticut in 1946, but for latex foam in an Englander mattress in the time frame you specified I believe it would have been this Dunlop.

Latex is most commonly poured in 6" molds and then slit into different thicknesses (2" and 3" being the most common for component-style mattresses systems), although some Dunlop is poured in 3" molds (for example, the Dunlop Savvy Rest uses from Cocolatex).

Yes, there are different levels of plushness in latex, usually referred to as ILD (Indentation Load Deflection), for latex. The lower the number, the softer the foam. For example, a Dunlop piece of latex in the 19-22 area would generally be considered softer, while something in the 32-36 range would generally be considered firm.

While there was recently an approximate 10% increase in Talalay latex prices, I haven’t seen a “doubling in pricing” even in the past decade in latex mattresses, but I’m not sure what stores you might be visiting locally. If you’d like, you can provide your zip code and I can see if I am aware of any stores offering latex products closer to your home.

Probably my best advice would be to use the experience and expertise of the members listed in post #21 here who are all very experienced and knowledgeable and specialize in providing the type of help and guidance on the phone that can help you make good choices. There are a wide range of latex options included in the choices there and I believe that all of them compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.

I would phone any manufacturer you might be considering and explain to them that you are attempting to approximate an old Englander latex mattress from the 1950s and see what they have available that they could recommend. Some mattresses are available as a “component-style” system where you can configure the layers (here’s a samplehere’s a sample using 2-3" layers), and there are others where you may order a single 6" piece of latex (). The older mattresses tended to use 6" cores and were a bit firmer/higher ILDs, but that may not necessarily be what you prefer.

I hope that information is helpful in getting you started, and I’m looking forward to learning if you find anything that suits your needs, and of course answering any other questions that may arise.

Phoenix