King-size latex mattress firmness

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

My husband and I have decided to get rid of our old and quite decrepit mattress and buy a latex mattress. Your web site has so much information and it has allowed us to zero in on what we are hoping is a mattress that will “fit” our different bodies. He weighs 200 lbs and I weigh 120 lbs. He sleeps on his stomach or his side. I sleep on my side or on my back. After reading a lot of stuff on your web site and talking with Sleep on Latex people, we are thinking of a core of 6" firm Dunlop [Sleep on Latex says is 44 ILD] with a top of 2" of 30 ILD. I thought this would work perfectly.

Then I went to an Ergo store near where we live. I tried out a mattress with what the salesperson said was a firm core [but he could not tell me the ILD] with a 2" soft [no ILD] top, then a medium core [no ILD] with a 2" soft top. I could not tell any difference between the firm and the medium core even when I got off the bed and pressed down on each side. [The bed was a split king.] I then asked to try the bed with a separate topper of soft latex placed over the mattress. I felt as though I had truly reached Nirvana. However, the price is $4,200.00, quite a bit out of our price range. Ergo’s latex is Talalay.

So back to Sleep on Latex, where I had been working with an extremely helpful and patient sales person, Addy. She had originally referred me to your web site so that I could learn some basic stuff. Now I am not so certain about my decision. By the way, my husband said he will sleep on anything I buy – but I want him to be comfortable and to get enough support from whatever mattress we will buy. My husband thinks I couldn’t tell the difference at the Ergo store between their firm and medium cores because my weight isn’t going to get much past the 2" topper (actually 3 inches with wool top). Should I stay with the firm 6" core and 2" soft top mattress? Should I consider a medium 6" core and 2" topper? Or would it be best to buy the 6" core and 2" soft (actually 3") top, and if I need more softness, buy a 2" topper from Sleep On Latex? I don’t want to make a mistake. I want to stay with Sleep on Latex because: 1. I pestered Addy with so many questions during this process – that’s when she gave me your web site information – and she has the patience of a saint. She is really trying to help me get the right mattress. 2. Their prices are very good. I know you can’t tell me, “Buy this one.” I am hoping that you can give me some factors to consider that I haven’t yet given enough weight to.
Frances

2

Hi Frances,

It’s very likely that he is right although some people are just more sensitive to smaller differences between two mattresses than others because they are closer to the “I can sleep on anything” than the “princess and the pea” side of the range so it’s possible that some people that are in a similar weight range to you may feel a difference that you wouldn’t notice.

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … as you mentioned I don’t make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

I’m assuming that you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial (which is the first place to start your research) but two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for … especially if you can’t test the mattress before a purchase).

While I can’t speak to how any mattress will “feel” for someone else because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances … outside of PPP the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the quality/durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

Since both of the mattresses that you mentioned are “all latex” mattresses then they would both be very durable choices and there would be no lower quality materials or weak links in either of them that would compromise their durability or useful life and I would treat them as being closely comparable in terms of durability (although of course they would probably be different in terms of how they feel).

The choice between Talalay and Dunlop is also a preference choice vs a “better/worse” choice and there is more about how they compare in very general terms in post #7 here but the only way to know which type of latex you tend to prefer will be based on your own local testing and/or your own personal experience.

When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart (which would certainly include Sleep on Latex) and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs and any firmness level options they have to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.

As you probably know Sleep on Latex is one of the members of this site which means that I think highly of them and that I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency.

I or some of the more knowledgeable members of the site can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer many of the specific questions you may have along the way that don’t involve what you will “feel” on a mattress, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress, manufacturer, or combination of materials is “best for you” based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix

3

Thanks, Phoenix. I re-read post #2 and several other posts from you and have decided to go with the rule that if decision wavers between firmer core or less firm core, it is safer to go with the firmer core because softness can be added by adding a topper but having a core that is not firm enough cannot be corrected except by changing the mattress itself. This is also the suggestion of Addy at Sleep on Latex, so I am going to order the king with firm core and 2" topper at 30 ILD. Your site is loaded with valuable information and I have returned to it more than several times to read and re-read, sometimes just to assure myself that I am on the right path to finding the best mattress choice for me and my husband and sometimes to re-read to pick up information that passed me by on the first (or even second) reading. Everyone who is hunting for a new mattress should know about your website and I am so grateful to Addy at Sleep On Latex sending me links to some of your posts. Of course, once I started reading them, I read even the ones with information that I already "knew "about because they are so well written and maybe there would be something I didn’t know about in those posts – and there usually was. Thank you for this site and your always interesting and informative posts.

4

Hi Frances,

Thanks for the kind comments … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

Your reasoning certainly makes sense to me. It also makes more sense as a starting point because of the weight differential between you. People with different weights will sink into a mattress differently and “come to rest” on different layers in a mattress. If you find that you need to add a softer top layer with your lighter weight the top layer can provide most of the additional pressure relief that you may need and the middle transition layer would “act” more as a support layer for you while for your husband the same two top layers would “act” more as comfort layers (he would sink into them more deeply and they would “feel” softer because of his higher weight) and his primary support layer would be the bottom layer in the mattress (which would have less effect on you because of your lighter weight).

A combination of soft and medium top layers would be less risky for him than if you were to initially choose a 2" soft layer on top of the firmer support core and then discovered that you still needed to add an additional 2" or so of soft latex on top of that (you may still “feel’ to much of the firmness of the very firm support core with only 2” of soft latex on top of it) and ended up with soft/soft/firm instead of soft/medium/firm. This is one of the ways that the same mattress can be suitable for couples that are in different weight ranges and have different needs and preferences (see the first part of post #2 here).

I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback once you receive your initial layers and have had the chance to sleep on them for a bit.

Phoenix