Initial bed test

[phoenix]

Hi doshspy,

It seems that polyfoam in general is a less attractive material and should I be concerned in this bed? Also, how can I tell that their inner spring is better than the sealy/serta’s of the world?

There is high and low quality polyfoam and you will need to find out the details of what is in the mattress to know which this is. This includes the thickness of all the layers and the density of any polyfoam and the type and thickness of any latex. Density is the most important factor in the quality/durability of polyfoam and memory foam. Once you know this you can make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses.

2. Original Mattress Factory. I liked their latex foam bed (support ILD 30-34 and comfort layer ILD 17-21) and the ortho luxury firm.

This uses good quality materials (latex) and there is less than an inch or so of polyfoam in the quilting layers so this mattress doesn’t have any obvious weak links in terms of quality/durability. Of course it’s also important to make sure you’ve tested the mattress using the testing guidelines in post #1 here to make sure that it’s suitable for your body type and sleeping style in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences). This also has all the other basic information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices and comparisons.

3. My parents had a “Nature’s Form Restoration Firm” made for Sleepys, which they said is all latex. I found that my back hurt after sleeping on that bed. Felt soft to me.

It’s unlikely that this was all latex (and you could look at the law tag on the mattres to make sure) but either way … the types of materials have much less to do with the softness or firmness or the suitability of a mattress than the specifics of the design. Any material can be used to make a suitable mattress in the right design although some people will prefer the “feel” of some materials more than others.

It appears in these mattresses it was the middle of the range firmness that we liked. I think ILDs in the comfort layer in the low 20’s suits us. In general, I found that as a side sleeper the firmer mattress compressed my shoulder too much and the softer ones sunk in too much.

This is fairly typical and side sleepers tend to need thicker and softer comfort layers than back or side sleepers. A mattress is always a combination of the “right” amount of thickness and softness in the comfort layers to allow the lighter parts of the body to sink in enough (usually the shoulders) and the “right” amount of firmness in the deeper support layers to “stop” the heavier parts of the body (the pelvis) from sinking down too far. There is much more information about all of this in the guideline post I linked.

Do latex comfort layers not sink in like polyfoam/memory foam layers?

This depends to some degree on the type and softness of the latex and the type of memory foam you are comparing it to. You can read more about the pros and cons of memory foam in this article and the pros and cons of latex in this article and more about how they compare in post #2 here but these are only generic comparisons because there are many types of latex and memory foam and they are not all the same. Your own personal testing will tell you more about they feel for you though than more general descriptions.

Phoenix