King size latex (Mattress Makers) vs foam (Tuft and Needle, Sleep Innovations, Luxtouch): my experience

[phoenix]

Hi John Arbuckle,

Thanks for taking the time to share your comments about the mattresses you purchased … I appreciate it. I’ll also add a few comments in this reply for the sake of clarity and for the benefit of others that read it as well because many of your own personal preferences may be very different from other people so your comments and preferences and “ratings” would only apply to your own personal experience and preferences and not to others that may have very different needs and preferences and may have very different opinions about different types of mattresses than your own.

While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about about using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because most consumers have little knowledge about mattresses and mattress materials or how to assess the quality of the materials in a mattress and any mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews in general certainly won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).

Just for reference and for the sake of others that may be reading your comments … the Tuft & Needle mattress doesn’t contain any memory foam.

Also, the major detractor from latex is that they are poorly suited for those with allergies.

The most common allergies are to dust mite particles and other airborne small particles rather than the materials in a mattress. There is more information about dust mites and allergies and methods that can be used to control dust mite populations or other allergens in post #2 here and in post #3 here. There is also more about allergy encasements in post #2 here.

I would certainly disagree with your comments here about latex being poorly suited for those with allergies unless you are one of the very small percentage of people that have a type I latex allergy in which case I would avoid any product with natural latex. There is also more about latex allergies in post #2 here.

It is not only the weight, but the fact that the mattress has almost no form that can stand on its own (ie. standing it on its side is essentially impossible), so it’s like trying to move an amorphous 200 lb mass of latex. The movers needed to use an odd contraption to even get it from the truck to my first story bedroom, and it literally took them hours. I had to put a piece of solid wood under the mattress (after they left) as my slatted frame was not compatible with the latex (it is so amorphous it would have “oozed” through the wood bars, per the sales folks). Getting this done by myself took an entire day, and I am a 200 lb 6’ athletic guy.

You’re certainly right that latex is both heavy and very elastic or “floppy” as well as highly resilient but this is just part of the properties of latex and is one of the reasons that some people love it and some don’t. An experienced mover with two people certainly wouldn’t need “hours” to deliver a latex mattress to your bedroom.

You’re also right that latex needs a suitable foundation or support system underneath it. An all latex mattress will generally do best with a firm, flat, and evenly supportive support surface underneath it that has minimal to no flex under the mattress and for larger sizes with at least one center support beam that has good support to the floor to prevent any sagging in the middle of the mattress. The components need to be strong and durable enough to support the weight of the mattress and the people sleeping on it without some of the parts bending, sagging, or breaking over time. The support surface under the mattress should have enough surface area to prevent the mattress from sagging through any gaps or spaces in the support surface over time but still allow some airflow under the mattress. I would suggest that in a slatted support system (either a foundation on a steel or wooden bedframe or a platform bed with a slatted support surface) that any gaps between the slats are no more than 3" (with 1 x 3 slats) although less than that would be better yet.

There is more information about support systems (bedframes and foundations or platform beds) that are generally suitable for different types of mattresses and some examples of each of them in post #1 here.

My point is this: it is nearly impossible to put on an encircling mattress protector around the king size mattress, so dust mite protection in that way is essentially impossible. You can put an enclosing mattress cover (ie. open bottom), but the barrier is obviously incomplete. Also, moving the mattress for cleaning is essentially impossible, so not good for closed bedframes (ie. not open from the side), at least as far as cleaning.

This is a job that only needs to be done once since a mattress encasement generally won’t be removed from the mattress once you have put it on. If you have two people and you roll up the encasement (like a sock) and then unroll it around the mattress starting at one end (with one person on each side) rather than trying to slide it over the mattress then the process of putting the encasement on the mattress is much easier.

If you have a good mattress protector (in addition to the allergy encasement) that can easily be removed and washed then it’s not necessary to clean your mattress and occasional vacuuming or spot cleaning in the case of stains is all that’s necessary.

The second issue I’ve had with the latex is this – the layers of the mattress slide about against one another, so that by the morning the top layer of the bed is literally sliding off the bottom layers onto the floor. This is especially a problem if I’m sitting up in bed for a few hours working or reading a book (the pressure of my feet against the mattress and my back against the bed board gradually slide the top layer of the mattress onto the ground). A space then opens at the top of the bed, and my pillow slides out from underneath me – very awkward.

I’m not sure why this may be happening because latex is very “sticky” and don’t generally slide on each other so if latex layers are enclosed in a tight fitting suitable cover then it would be very unusual for the layers to shift.

If you have a topper then your fitted mattress protector and sheets that go over your topper and mattress would generally be enough to prevent the topper from sliding without having to remove the topper cover. An adjustable bed may also be well worth considering if you sit for long periods of time on your mattress since it will more evenly distribute and support your weight on the mattress when you are sitting.

When I asked Mattress Makers why they allowed the mattresses layers to slide against one another like that, the salesman told me it was in case I wanted to modify the mattress it allowed it to be more customizable. This makes sense to a degree, but it was an incredibly annoyance.

This is certainly one of the advantages of having a component mattress with loose layers vs a mattress with glued layers and a cover that doesn’t have a zipper. There is more about the pros and cons of a “finished mattresses” that has glued layers vs component mattresses with unglued layers and zip covers in post #15 here and post #2 here.

Also, while removing the fabric enclosure on the latex, I accidentally caused a full thickness 1-2 inch tear in the top layer of the mattress.

Considering that the latex mattress was about 3 times as expensive as the foam, overall a silly decision that I will not be making again.

Memory foam is hands down the better mattress, winning slightly in comfort, and overwhelmingly in convenience and cost.

Latex certainly requires and can rip easily if you pull or tug it.

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to your weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article).

There is also more about the pros and cons of memory foam vs latex in post #2 here. I can certainly understand that your own personal preference appears to be memory foam but again … other people may have very different preferences than your own.

There is also more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here 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 suitability, durability, and all the other 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).

Phoenix