My wife and I are using a 9" Stearns & Foster Blackwell firm mattress with a matched boxspring set. Several years ago, the mattress started to sag on both sides and became very uncomfortable, so we ordered a 3" memory foam topper and we’ve been sleeping on that ever since. It is a pretty good combination and we both sleep well, but the mattress is old and we’d like to move up to a king latex or latex hybrid bed. Unfortunately I cannot find my receipt or papers on the topper but I think it has either a 4 or 5 pound density. I know it is heavy and difficult to move when it comes time to flip the mattress.
We are in the Huntsville, AL area and I know from other posters and experience looking in the area that my choices for latex are fairly limited. While I know that the reputable latex bedding manufacturers recommended on this site work with their customers to customize a mattress to their needs, I was wondering how a similar latex mattress might be layered that would be roughly equivalent to my current mattress/topper combination? We are both 5’ 10" tall and weigh 190 and 150 pounds respectively. Building my own mattress had crossed my mind, but it might be too much for someone who doesn’t know very much about mattresses, but otherwise is trying to learn and is leveraging the wonderful resources this fabulous corner of the internet provides!
There are actually a fair number of choices in terms of latex in the Huntsville area and the better options or possibilities I know of are listed in post #2 here.
Latex and memory foam are very different materials and the layering of your mattress would be very different from a typical latex mattress as well (in the case of the Stearns & Foster they don’t provide any meaningful information about their layers) so the only way to really “match” a latex mattress to your current sleeping combination would be by personal testing and feel alone. Even then, because of the differences in layering and materials … this would also be an approximation at best.
If you are looking at latex mattresses … I would tend to match them against your more objective needs and preferences (such as those listed in post #2 here) rather than trying to match it to a more subjective “feel” of a completely different mattress that uses very different materials. You can also read more about the difficulties of “mattress matching” even with similar materials in post #2 here. Even with memory foam … there are hundreds of different types that can feel and respond very differently from each other.
The bottom line is that memory foam will never feel like latex even though both can provide the necessary pressure relief and spinal alignment in a layering that is appropriate for an particular person.
If it is practical for you … I would suggest a phone call or a trip to Pelham to visit Tom at Royal Bedding. I think highly of them and they make some high quality/value latex mattresses. If this is not practical then I look at some of the more local options that are listed.