I need of a new mattress

Greetings to All,

So my wife and I are on the search for a new mattress and through the process we ran across this site. After spending a bit of time reading many of the article and posts posted here, I would like to thank everyone who dedicates their time here expanding the knowledge base of us newbies and preparing us for success.

A little background

We purchased a memory foam mattress 6 years ago and loved it - well, at least for the first 4.5 years. Over the course of the last year or so, we have been tossing and turning throughout the night. Since the mattress was only 4 - 5 years old, we didn’t think that could be the cause of our poor night’s sleep. For a while we attributed it to getting older but of late we have been waking with aches and pains in our shoulders and hips.

We have finally realized that it was the mattress. With a bit of research, we have decided that memory foam is not the answer but perhaps Latex is. We have a few questions we hope someone can assist with:

We have recently stopped by a local bedding store and tested savvy rest / natura / ergovea / sleepteck - almost every sample was a Dunlop mattress (we weren’t able to test Talalay core layers), Is the relative firmness of Talalay equivalent that of Dunlop for given ILDs? Ex. firm Talalay = firm Dunlop or does a xfirm Talalay = firm Dunlop)?

We have experienced significant impressions with our memory foam mattress. Can someone comment on the resistance to impressions for each? Is one type of latex better than the other for resistance to impressions for med/firm/xfirm cores? I think we have read that softer ILDs are susceptible. Is that correct?

One trait we did like about our mattress when it was new was the motion isolation. The Dunlop samples we tested seem fine in this regard. Would a Talalay mattress exhibiting a springier character pass significantly more motion on to our spouse?

Any help provided in regards to these questions would be most appreciated,

Thanks,

Hi Tourguide,

Welcome to the site … and I’m glad you found us :slight_smile:

[quote]We purchased a memory foam mattress 6 years ago and loved it - well, at least for the first 4.5 years. Over the course of the last year or so, we have been tossing and turning throughout the night. Since the mattress was only 4 - 5 years old, we didn’t think that could be the cause of our poor night’s sleep. For a while we attributed it to getting older but of late we have been waking with aches and pains in our shoulders and hips.

We have finally realized that it was the mattress. With a bit of research, we have decided that memory foam is not the answer but perhaps Latex is. We have a few questions we hope someone can assist with:[/quote]

I’m not sure of the specifics of the memory foam mattress you purchased but it’s possible that it used lower density memory foam which could be the reason that it only lasted you for 4 - 5 years. If you slept well on your mattress for 4.5 years it’s certainly possible that a more durable memory foam mattress could be a good choice.

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to your weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article).

Latex and memory foam are very different materials with very different properties but the choice between them is more of a preference and budget choice than a “better/worse” choice. There is more about some of the differences between memory foam and latex in post #2 here but the best way to know which type of materials or mattresses you tend to prefer in general would be based on your own careful testing and/or personal experience with each material in a range of different firmness levels.

Dunlop and Talalay both come in a wide range of firmness levels so either one can be firmer than the other depending on its specific firmness but if both of them are the same ILD (and the ILD is measured in the same way which isn’t always the case) then Dunlop would tend to “feel” firmer because it has a higher compression modulus than Talalay (it gets firmer faster as you sink into it more deeply).

There is also more about some of the differences between Talalay and Dunlop in post #7 here but the best way to know which type or blend of latex you tend to prefer will be based on your own local testing and/or your personal experience. If you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area so you can check to see if there are any Talalay latex mattresses available to test in your area.

Any type or blend of latex (either Dunlop or Talalay and made with synthetic rubber, natural rubber, or a blend of both) is a high quality and durable material so the choice between them would also be more of a preference and a budget choice rather than a “better/worse” choice. There is more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here. Softer versions of any material would tend to be less durable than firmer versions of the same material.

Latex in general (both Talalay and Dunlop) is “good” with motion isolation because it’s a very point elastic material that can compress in one area with little effect on the surrounding area but it’s not as good as memory foam which is “excellent”. The specific design of a mattress will have more to do with motion isolation than the type or blend of latex but there is more about latex and motion isolation in post #4 here and there is more about motion isolation in general in post #18 here.

I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding … and of course to any other comments or questions you may have along the way.

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix,

Thank you for the quick reply. After reading my first message, I realize I may have left a fair amount of pertinent information out of the story.

Our current mattress is a Tempurpedic clone with 10" memory foam manufactured by Anatomic Global Inc. back in 2009. The marketing name was i bamboo. As I stated earlier, we were quite happy with the bed for the first 4 years but it seams to have broken down pretty quickly in the last 1 -1.5 years.
I am 6" 190 lbs and my spouse is 5’8’’ about 170.

Our attraction to Latex are the natural aspects coupled with the long life expectancy. Our recent stop at a local bedding store in NorthEastern Illinois (that carries multiple high end latex mattresses) seemed to assure us we would be happy moving in this direction. The reason for the Talalay v. Dunlop inquiries is the store in question advised that they are believers in Dunlop support cores and Dunlop or Talalay comfort layers. We weren’t able to try a bed with Talalay support cores so I was trying to gather some insight as to how they might change the equation.

Thank you for the links in your response. They have been very helpful.

Regarding budget, we are interested in high value but there is room in the budget to find the perfect bed.

Any further comments or insights you can offer would be most welcomed.

Thanks.

Hi Tourguide,

[quote]Our current mattress is a Tempurpedic clone with 10" memory foam manufactured by Anatomic Global Inc. back in 2009. The marketing name was i bamboo. As I stated earlier, we were quite happy with the bed for the first 4 years but it seams to have broken down pretty quickly in the last 1 -1.5 years.
I am 6" 190 lbs and my spouse is 5’8’’ about 170.[/quote]

It’s very possible that your mattress contained some lower quality/density foam layers that would be the biggest reason it didn’t hold up longer.

While there is no way to specifically quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when they will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for them (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) and because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines here then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.

There is also more detailed information about the variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress (and the materials inside it) in post #4 here and the posts it links to as well.

If you are near the Chicago area then the better options or possibilities I’m aware of (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here) are listed in posts #2 and #4 here.

The basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the “best possible” choice are in the tutorial but I’m certainly happy to answer any other specific questions you may have to the best of my ability.

Phoenix

Actually buying a new mattress is so turf. At first time of buying mattress I was so much confused. I searched again and again and have found a site where have excellent instructions http://numattress.com/how-to-buy-a-mattress/ I think these will be helpful for the new couple :slight_smile: