We have found a bed frame that we truly love, but it comes with flexible, curved slats (not adjustable for resistance, just springy/curved). Our experience with this type of slat and a latex mattress is not great: on a king bed, we feel that there is too much variability in resistance between the center of the bed, where the beam sits, and the sides of the bed, where we sleep. Indeed, we had purchased a very comfortable latex mattress from Spindle a few years ago and put it on a similar bed frame, and we could immediately feel differences in resistance between the different areas of the bed. Also, within 5 years the mattress had worn into deep “valleys” where we sleep. We know that this is normal with a latex mattress, but we think the bed frame exacerbated it and would like to avoid a similar outcome going forward. However, we have slept on latex mattresses for many years and are hesitant to move to a different product! We both favor a soft mattress and are about 5’6" and < 130lbs.
So, we have a few questions:
Are there any latex mattresses that “work well” with curved, flexible slats? Would a thinner latex mattress be more advisable to cut down on the weight that’s on the slats, thereby actually benefiting from their “springiness”?
Aside from latex mattresses, what kind of mattress would we look for to achieve a uniform, soft feel across the king bed with these kinds of slats?
The bed manufacturer is more of a designer store only makes the bed and not mattresses, so would not be particularly helpful in recommending a specific mattress.
It seems that your original flexible slatted slate base and mattress were designed as a complete sleeping system. Replacing the original mattress with a different latex mattress that was not designed for curved flexible slats, would most likely result in undesirable side effects like the one you described and depending on the mattress manufacturer would probably also void the mattress warranty. At your Normal BMI range, unless there is a defective layer(s) … an all-latex mattress should not “had worn into deep valleys” where you sleep as this is not “normal with an all latex mattress”.
An all latex mattress generally needs and does best on a strong solid base with enough supportive surface to make sure that it doesn’t sink through any gaps and that the base is strong enough and supported on the floor well enough to hold the weight of the latex mattress and the people that sleep on it. Normally a slatted wood base with solid slats that are no more than 3" apart (or preferably less) is best for latex.
In some cases, … a more flexible slatted base with closely spaced curved more flexible slats or another type of flexing surface such as a box spring would be recommended by a manufacturer and can have some advantages only as part of a complete “sleeping system”. These will act like another layer of the sleeping system and can “give” under the heavier parts or pressure points of the body (like the pelvis/hips and shoulders) as long as the mattress on it is thin enough that this bottom “layer” of the sleeping system can affect the feel and performance of the mattress.
Trying to make your current slatted base work and trying to design a mattress around it may prove more problematic than it seems. Unless you get in touch with an experienced and knowledgeable manufacturer that worked extensively with flexible slatted beds and understands how the mattress layers and flexible slats would work together.