Hi The Toddler,
In many cases … a rep for a company or the company itself will provide the specs of a mattress to a retailer even though the same company may not provide the specs to a consumer so a retailer really has the best chance of finding out the specs of a mattress … not to mention that finding out this type of information is part of their job. One of my “tests” of a good retailer is their willingness to track down the information that their customers need to make an informed choice … even if the customer is more informed about the importance of this information than they are.
[quote]Conforma Cool Perfection Luxury Firm Gel 5.0
(This choice was Phoenix-approved in post #6 here, although the specs were just slightly off, but approval was given for the accurately detailed firmer 3.5 version in post #6 here, which uses the same quality ingredients.)
-Super heavy weight lycra knit ticking with Outlast technology
-100% natural and chemical free barrier sock, wraps the entire foam core (Not sure why the term “sock” is used only on their memory foam models.)
-A layer of H.D. gel-infused cool memory foam: 1" @ 3.7 lb (Please note this is not the same as the biomedical gel used in their Biomedical Gel Rx Series)
-A thick layer of H.D. memory foam: 1.5" @ 5lb
-A layer of H.D. transitional memory foam: 1" @ 4lb (specs actually say 1" of VX13400, but this was Phoenix-indicated as 4 lb in post #6 here.)
-A thick layer of H.D. memory foam: 1.5" @ 5 lb
-A 6" foam encased soy-based H.D. foam support core: 6" @1.5 lb / 28 ILD: (not sure what they mean by foam encased foam)[/quote]
I don’t see any weak links in this mattress. The 3.7 lb memory foam is “close enough” to 4 lbs and is only an inch thick so this wouldn’t be an issue either way.
The rest of the foam densities in the comfort layers are fine and even though the base layer is 1.5 lb polyfoam … there is 5" of foam above it so the slightly lower density shouldn’t be a durability issue for people that are in more average weight ranges. For those that are in higher than average weight ranges (in the mid 200’s or higher) the 2" of 4 lb memory foam in addition to the 1.5 lb base layer could be a weak link in the mattress.
[quote]Biotemp Ambiance Luxury Plush Euro Top
(I realize the two top layers of quilt foam come close to or perhaps surpass the limits of being acceptable. And while I realize there can be good latex hybrid mattresses with minority latex content, the fact that there’s just under 2" of latex in a 13.5" mattress of multiple layers of regular foam gives me pause. Still, it felt comfortable, and as I said, it’s apparently popular.)
-Heavy weight circular knit cover infused with Outlast technology for temperature management
-100% natural and chemical free fire barrier
-A layer of hyper-soft soy-based quilt foam: 7/8" @ unknown weight / unknown ILD (The Sherwood rep told me they don’t use any foam below 1.5 lb, but when I asked if that included the quilting layer, he said “no”; based on a Phoenix estimate on the Harbor Plush model described in post #6 here, it could be 1.2 lb. And while the Harbor Plush is a lesser model than the Ambiance, the other specs listed in the above post seem to indicate it would be the same quality stuff.)
-A layer of hyper-soft soy-based quilt foam: 7/8" @ unknown weight / unknown ILD (See above comment.)
-A thick layer of natural phase change celsion latex: .9" @ 21 ILD
-A thick layer of H.D. super soft soy-based comfort foam: 1.5" @ 1.5 lb / 15 ILD
-A thick layer of natural talalay latex: .9" @ 19 ILD
-A super-thick layer of H.D. soy based support foam: 1.75" @ 1.5 lb / 23 ILD
-A super-thick layer of H.D. soy-based support foam: 1.75" @ 1.5 lb / 23 ILD
-A 3.5" layer of super H.D. soy-based upholstery grade convoluted foam: 3.5" @ 1.8 lb / 32 ILD
-A layer of H.D. firm soy-based support foam: 7/8" @ 1.45 lb / 40 ILD (The 1.45 lb spec seems weird being taken out to the hundredths place, especially given the Sherwood rep’s comments about not using below 1.5 lb. Same thing about some thicknesses being listed as 7/8" and .9". Apparently .9" qualifies as “thick” but 7/8" does not in Sherwood’s books. Even the 1" layers in the Conforma Cool above are not described as “thick.”)[/quote]
I would be very cautious about this mattress as it definitely has what I would consider to be some weak links.
If only the 1.75" of quilting foam was below the guidelines it would still be less than 2" and even though it is a little thicker than I would normally like to see … quilting foam will be a bit more durable than an unquilted layer and its at least “not too bad”.
Unfortunately this is not the only question mark in this mattress.
If you look at the next 7" or so of the mattress … 1.8" is good quality material (the latex) and the rest of it is 1.5 lb polyfoam. Even if you look at only the top 6" or so of the mattress … over 4" of it are below the guidelines I would suggest for a one sided mattress (see post #4 here). This means that the lower quality materials are considerably more than I would be comfortable with (even though it’s probably better than many mainstream mattresses made by some larger manufacturers).
I would tend to avoid this one unless it is in a budget range where there are no better quality options available to you and the durability of the mattress is not as important an issue and there is a compelling reason to buy it that offsets its weaknesses.
Phoenix