Hoping for input on a Jamison mattress and/or advice on a better matress manufacturer in the Dayton OH area. My husband and I have been mattress shopping and have ruled out memory foam. We were not happy w/ Serta/Sealy/Simmons, but found a double pillow top we mostly liked at Original Mattress Factory (at less than half of the cost of the bigger name brands). We were set to purchase it, but then tried a Jamison mattress (i think it was this one: http://jamisonbedding.com/talalatex-conformer-collection/elegance), which we both really liked. It’s a combo of latex and foam.
Before we spend the $2200 for the king set, I wanted to get any input on this particular mattress. Or if anyone knows any independent manufacturer in the Dayton OH area (i couldn’t find any w/ a google search).
My husband is 6’, abt 200 lbs, and sleeps mainly side but rotates through stomach and back throughout the night. He likes a softer mattress, but not super soft.
I am 5’5" and 140 lbs, and i sleep only on my stomach. I like a firmer mattress, but not the concrete feel of our current one.
Jamison is a privately owned independent manufacturer that is over 100 years old so they have some deep roots in the industry. They manufacture mattresses that have higher quality and value (depending of course on the retailer that sells them) than most of the mainstream brands and are much more open about the materials they use in their mattresses than many other manufacturers. I have often suggested them as a better possibility in many posts on the forum. They are also now a Spring Air licensee.
While they may not be in quite the same “value range” as some other smaller manufacturers in an “apples to apples” comparison … because they are so widely available regionally … if they are purchased from a retail outlet that has good pricing and has the knowledge and experience to help you make a good choice based on personal testing and provides the service that adds to the value of a mattress purchase … the two together can represent good value and a much less “risky” purchase than many other competing choices.
Post #5 here has some of the better options I’m aware of within a reasonable distance of the Dayton, OH area.
Thanks for the prompt response. This website is a wealth of information - I am so glad I found it before we bought a mattress. Thanks for the link to the post w/ dayton area manufacturers - 2 are fairly close to us, Design Sleep and Sleep Tite. Do you know anything in particular abt either?
I looked onthe design sleep website and it seems that theu promote the wool top layer for better climate control and emphasize the individually wrapped coils for better movement (on their combo latex/coil beds). Are either of those actually true? I sleep very hot (part of why I don’t want memory foam), but not sure if the wool idea really holds true. They also make a “zoned” all latex bed w/ different zones of firmness based on where it hits your body. My husband and I tried 2 all latex models, and liked them a lot, but not as much as the Jamison latex/foam combo. Design Sleep also uses the euroslat system, which i’m not quite sure abt, but seems that it replaces the box springs.
My concern w/ the Jamison we found, is that I think it used more than 1" of foam abt the latex layers. The website doesn’t specifiy, and i didn’t pay enough attention in the store. The store (Cedar Hill Furniture in Huber Heights OH), carried 4 Jamison mattresses, two w/o latex and two with the combo latex/foam. We liked the combos better.
I looked at the Sleep Tite website also. Their website refers to latex as an all latex bed (or at least that’s the implication) but I think things are customizable.
We will probably try both stores (thanks again for the links) and see what we can find once we are there.
I have talked with the Design sleep and they are a direct outlet for Berkely Ergonomics mattress which are all good quality and better value than almost anything you would find with a major brand or at a chain store. They are also very knowledgeable and helpful and I wouldn’t hesitate to include them in your research if the mattresses they carry interest you. There are quite a few mentions around the forum about the Berkeley Ergonomics and a forum search (you can just click this) will bring them up.
I haven’t had a chance to talk with Sleep Tite but they make a whole range of mattresses (innerspring, memory foam, and latex) and certainly seem to fit the profile of the type of privately owned smaller manufacturers that makes good quality and value mattresses.
Yes … both of these we are true. Berkeley Ergonomics and their outlets across the country (there are only a few of them) are very focused on the ventilation of a mattress using wool and other natural materials which is the most effective form of temperature control. In addition to this … latex is a very breathable foam.
While a latex support core is a higher quality and higher performance material than polyfoam … if you prefer the Jamison for PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) then there is nothing that says that isn’t a better way for you to go. Polyfoam can be very durable in a base layer. The Design Sleep eiroslat syswtem is an option and there are some who will prefer it and some who won’t. One of our members (SleeplessinDallas) purchased one of their pocket coil mattresses with the Euroslats and ended up exchanging it for a solid slat foundation. Either will work well and the one that works best for you would be the best choice. The advantage of the Euroslats is that they can be adjusted in a range of firmness and softness to “fine tune” the mattress performance if necessary.
I would share your concern with the Jamison quilting layers and if it uses more than an inch or so I would want to know the thickness and the density of the polyfoam that was used. They do have some latex mattresses where you are directly on the latex but the TLC line is quilted.
My husband and I checked out the Sleep Tite company in Franklin OH today. They have their manufacturing shop/warehouse on site. They sell a trizone Talalay latex (32-36 ILD in the middle, 28-32 ILD at the top and bottom), w/ 1 inch polyfoam on top (15 lbs, 30 ILD) and bottom. The latex layer is 6" but i think they use 2 back to back since it was considerably thicker than 6". Although the display model had the foam as a pillow top, he said they could sew it to make it all one piece. They also sold the latex w/o the foam but we didn’t like it as much.
As far as the latex, he said it was 94% “pure” and 6% synthetic. I can’t remember who their supplier was but it is not Latex INternational. They can make it all the same ILD instead of trizoned, if that is our preference.
Their price is $1350 for the king set if we go w/ the 1 inch foam above and below, and i think $1250 for just the latex. Which seems very reasonable considering the other prices we’ve seen.
We haven’t been to the design sleep shop in Yellow Springs yet (the one that uses Berkely and the euroslat system), but I wanted to see what you thought abt the Sleep Tite option. I will say that the feel of the Jamison was still better to us, but not sure if that’s b/c they used more foam on top (which i know is bad in the long run), or b/c it was latex over foam instead of straight latex.
Thanks for letting us know about your experience with Sleep Tite. I doubt that the mattress has two 6" layers (it would be remarkable value if it did and their site only mentions a single layer with an option for a quilting layer). The inch of quilting is quite firm and certainly thin enough that it would not be an issue for durability but would add to the surface feel and “shape” (fill in the quilting) of the mattress.
It would be very much an apples to oranges comparison with the Jamison which uses a completely different layering and has much thicker and softer comfort layers. In my last reply I mentioned quilting layers in the Jamison but in looking at the mattress you linked it is in the Conformer line which doesn’t have quilting layers they use in the TLC line and just has a stretch cover with no quilting. You would be sleeping directly on the 4" of soft talalay which would be much softer and have a different feel from the one you tested at Sleep Tite which would be firmer.
There are only two producers of Talalay latex that you would find in North America so if its not LI … then it would be Radium. both make natural and blended latex and are high quality materials.
I agree this is very reasonable and good value for a King set finished on both sides using natural talalay latex.
The Sleep Tite option seems to me to be very good quality and value … but of course how it “fits” your own needs and preferences is just as important. The main difference between the Jamison and the one at Sleep Tite is that the Jamison uses much softer and thicker comfort layers which would account for most of the difference in feel between the two mattresses.
It will be interesting to hear about your experiences at Design Sleep as well. They will have more options both in the comfort layers and support layers that you can choose from to customize the mattress to your liking both for pressure relief and support (and side to side if you wish) and use different components (including microcoils and pocket coils) and combinations of materials from what you have tried so far. they also use Radium Talalay in their comfort layers.
It was Radium as their latex supplier, i just couldn’t remember the name.
I should mention that Sleep Tite sells two levels of latex - firm and medium. We liked the medium, which is the one I think he was talking abt w/ the trizone and the ILD numbers i mentioned before, but I will have to clarify that if we buy from them.
In looking back through the Jamison website, I really am not sure which mattress we laid on at Cedar Hill Furniture. If we still like that mattress the best after our visit w/ Design Sleep, we’ll go back by and look at the components in more detail. For sure, Sleep Tite would be the better value.
It will be another week or so before we go to Design Sleep but I will update once we see what they have.
So we went to Design Sleep in Yellow Springs and tried out their latex mattress + euroslat system. Their all latex mattress is 2 layers, the thicker 7 zoned layer as a base topped by a 2 inch (i think) layer that you can vary the density on. All topped by the thin layer of wool. No foam. It was definitely comfortable, but not amazingly so. Not sure abt the euroslat idea - my husband thought the adjustments made more of a difference than i did. He’s bigger though, so that is probably part of it. It’s a pricey system to go for the King ($2450 i think) + slats ($720). Staff was very knowledgeable at the store, no pressure to buy, seemed genuinely interested in helping us find the best fit.
We also tried their latex over spring mattresses and didn’t like it nearly as much.
So then we went back to Cedar Hill Furniture to try the Jamison mattresses. It is from the TLC line, i was wrong w/ my earlier link. The two they sell are in the links below (sorry, not sure how to make it clicky).
I liked both equally, my husband liked the Silk Essence better. I am concerned that both use > 1" foam/quilting in the comfort layer (the density is not listed in the store or on the website). The EQ latex model uses abt 1" of quilting w/ 1" of foam, whilc the Silk Essence uses abt 1" of quilting w/ two separate 1" pieces of foam stacked underneath. Since each component is an inch or less, does that make it better, even though the total volume is still higher than an inch?
We are down to either the Jamison or the once from Sleep Tite in Franklin. At the cost of the one in Franklin ($1350 for a king set), it seems we could always buy a mattress topper to add the plushness if we wanted more of that feel after trying out the mattress alone for a few months. THat way, if there are impressions in it down the road or the foam breaks down otherwise, we are only out the cost of the topper. And the Franklin mattress in flipable. On the other hand, it seems a little silly to buy a mattress with the intent of buying a topper to get it to the feel we want.
Anyhow, just wanted to update re Design Sleep and get your thoughts on the Jamison vs the Sleep Tite + topper idea.
The Jamison quilting layers are made up of a very soft polyfoam and synthetic/natural fibers which are there both for moisture wicking and breathability and to lower the softness and surface resiliency of the mattress (what is called the hand feel). The thickness of the polyfoam/fiber layers varies with the mattress. the polyfoam will soften while the fiber layer will compact and firm up so they will develop some impressions. In a choice between the two, I would tend to stick with the thinner (2") quilting layers which have an inch of polyfoam (very soft 10 ILD) because this way the softening of the foam and the compression of the fibers will have less effect. With a very soft quilting foam that is only an inch … further softening will have little effect on the performance of the mattress. The thicker 2" + fiber layer would be a little riskier in terms of softening and impressions because it’s the total amount that will make a difference not the thickness of each layer. They also told me that their new line of mattresses coming out a little later in the year won’t have quilting layers at all.
As an added note (which really isn’t really relevant to you but I thought I would include for the benefit of others who may read this) the Spring air mattresses that they also make are “in between” the specs of Jamison mattresses and the major brands in terms of quality. They also told me that they will use higher spec foams in their Spring Air on occasion because they have it available from their own supplies (depending on where in the mattress the layer is).
The Design sleep mattresses can be ordered both with and without the Euroslat system and whether it is worth it to add it to the sleeping system would depend entirely on how the mattress performed with and without it for any particular person. There are some who prefer it with the euroslat and some without. This of course would also be affected by body weight and sleeping position (heavier weights will tend to notice the effect more). The guideline here would be “is the extra cost worth any extra benefits for a particular person”. these are also very high quality mattresses but how they perform and feel for any particular person is of course important.
There are many benefits to going in this direction and it is a more “European” concept that is gaining popularity in North America. One of the benefits is that the comfort layer of the mattress (the topper) can be exchanged without replacing the mattress istelf (in the same way that a zip cover mattress allows individual layers to be replaced) and also that both the topper and the base mattress can be rotated and flipped which will add to durability … even with a durable material such as latex. These types of “sleeping systems” may seem a little odd for those who are used to finished mattresses but they are very flexible in design and the options they provide both initially and down the road.
Of course which direction to go would depend entirely on how well each fit your needs and preferences both in terms of the mattress and the options provided by the outlet you are buying from and of course the relative price of each because they are really an apples to oranges comparison (and which “fits” you best in terms of PPP or Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences are just as important as price).
When you are comparing apples to oranges you are looking at making tradeoffs and decisions based on which best provides the benefits that are most important to you. The SleepTite uses a higher quality base foam (latex is a higher performance, more costly, and more durable material than good quality polyfoam) and this plus a topper would result in a higher quality sleeping system than a polyfoam/latex hybrid although this is only important if the benefits are important to you. IMO you are at least down to choices between “good and good” but in terms of “value”, depending on all the many factors involved including the price of the Jamisons which I don’t know … the Sleep Tite would probably be a little better “value” IMO.
Thanks again for your prompt and thorough response. And for moderating such a great website.
I think we are ultimately going to go w/ the Sleep Tite latex mattress from Franklin. We’ll try the mattress alone for a few months, and see if we even want a plusher topper at some point. I will update after we’ve had the mattress for awhile in case it helps anyone else who might live the Dayton/Cincinnati area.
