Houston Mattress Factory - Talalay Latex Mattress

[phoenix]

Hi sylvezter,

As for the bottom Dunlop layer, I need to ask what the blend is or if it is 100% Dunlop. We are tempted to just remove the Dunlop layer and go with a thinner 9" mattress. Do you think there is a noticeable difference?

Every change in a mattress can affect the “feel” and performance of a mattress to some degree but how much of this can be felt by specific people will vary widely based on their body type, sleeping positions, and individual sensitivity and whether they are closer to the “I can sleep on anything” or the “princess and the pea” end of the range. This is something that only each person can answer based on their personal experience.

Thank you for clarifying the types of Talalay. This concerns me some, since he stated that organic Talalay is an option. Michael stated that his latex comes from a company in California.

Almost all the latex you will encounter is a high quality material but there are differences between the different types and blends and there is certainly some misinformation or misunderstanding about the specifics of the different types throughout the industry. In some cases this can come from a sales rep that supplies the latex to a manufacturer or can be from some initial source of misinformation or “misinterpreted” information that is perpetuated over time and is never “corrected” over the years.

As you read in the links I posted in my earlier reply … there are two main types of processing methods used to make latex which are Talalay and Dunlop.

Talalay is made by two manufacturers (Latex International and Radium) and comes in either 100% natural or a blend of “about” 30% natural and 70% synthetic rubber. Both are high quality materials.

Dunlop is either made in a mold or in a continuous pour process and can come in a wide range of blends from 100% natural to 100% (or almost 100% synthetic) or any blend in between. The only one that comes in an organic version is some of the 100% natural Dunlop.

Since all latex needs other compounds or chemicals to foam and manufacture the latex … the final product will always be less than 100% rubber and will contain other substances in the final product. Some people sometimes understand this to mean that there is less than 100% natural rubber in the final product (which is true) and that the rest is synthetic rubber rather than “non rubber” chemicals or substances (which may not be true).

If a latex core is certified as organic then they should also be able to show you the organic certification that goes with that specific product. This doesn’t make it “better” in terms of performance … but the certification may be important to some people for personal reasons. Some people are happy to pay the extra cost for the organic certification and for some people the certification isn’t nearly as important or worth the extra cost vs a Dunlop core that uses 100% natural rubber and no synthetic rubber in its formulation.

Michael adds a zone layer of firm perimeter foam around the edges of the support core. He cuts out the perimeter of the support core and puts in place a piece of foam that is 6" thick, ~3" width and runs along the perimeter of the mattress at the core layer sitting underneath the top layer. After reading your Zoned construction article, you mention this type in the second to last paragraph. So it sounds like that this would be unnecessary and could lead to durability problems. I will ask about the density of the foam used and the type of foam.

OK … this makes more sense and I was confused when you mentioned “rods” rather than a foam surround or edge support. The use of edge support in latex is a personal choice and preference and while most people wouldn’t need it and if the polyfoam is lower density it can present durability issues … for those who are more sensitive to the firmness of the edge (especially with softer support layers) or who sit on the edge of their mattress and want a firmer edge … it can be worth the risk of using a lower quality material for edge support. Latex can “sink in” more deeply when you sit on it because of the more concentrated weight and its “point elasticity” compared to polyfoam which is “stiffer”. There is more about edge support in post #33 here and in post #3 here but in the end it’s a personal choice based on each person’s preferences and any durability tradeoffs involved in the material used to provide a firmer edge.

Thanks for the info about the pros/cons of gluing and zipper options. I will ask him if he can provide a zipper cover and not glue the layers as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages IMO.

This may not be possible and there are many local manufacturers who only provide a tape edged cover in their mattresses because they believe in the advantages of a “finished” mattress with a tape edge. I would also keep in mind that the cover and how the mattress is finished is part of what provides the “feel” of the mattress and using a different cover will change the mattress which may not be what they wish to do when they can still change out the layer if necessary (by removing the glued layer which they would be able to do).

Phoenix