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

I have had experience with the following mattresses in memory foam: Tuft and Needle, Sleep Innovations, and Luxtouch (all purchased through Amazon).

And with a latex mattress that I purchased at Mattress Makers in San Diego, a store that seems highly regarded around here from what I can glean, and which is highly reviewed on Yelp.

Side by side comparison:

Memory foam (9.5/10): Comparing the three brands I listed, Tuft and Needle has been the best combination of price and quality. Strong, firm mattress with more inertial dampening (ie. less elasticity and bounce recoil than the latex). Also, by comparison to the latex, far easier to move. Not as easy to use for bedtime activities (reading, lying in bed, etc), more comfortable for sleep. Overall my pick between the two. Cost: $

Latex (8/10): As far as comfort, similar to memory foam, though more elasticity, so more suited for ‘in bed’ activity like reading, et al. Not quite as sedating for sleep as the memory foam mattress. The Tuft N Needle is like a glove, where as the latex has a more trampoline-like feel, if that makes sense. Cost: $$$

Also, the major detractor from latex is that they are poorly suited for those with allergies. Most peer reviewed studies have not found much difference between latex and foam for dust mite allergies, etc (the only one I found actually said box springs had lower concentrations of mite feces on their surface, so there is a component of advertiser claims on this that may be, well, advertising). And the latex mattress is nearly impossible to move by yourself, and still extremely difficult even with two people.

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.

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.

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 called Mattress Makers and asked for suggestions on what to do. They told me to remove the sewn mattress cover that covers the top latex layer so that the friction of the latex will stop the sliding. I did this, and it worked.

My understanding is that this may predispose the sleeping surface of the mattress to develop “splits”, but I have a partial mattress enclosure on top and, to be honest, the trade off is more than worth it. Retrospectively, perhaps I should have ‘declothed’ the second layer, but it would have been considerably more difficult.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

To clarify, I was referring to dust mite not latex allergies. There are no peer reviewed scientific studies that show latex to be at all more effective for reduction of dust mite allergy symptoms. In fact, the only study out there I could find showed box spring mattresses to be more effective overall than memory foam, which goes against the vast majority of marketing out there:

If you are aware of other peer reviewed research, I would certainly appreciate it, but that’s all I’ve found.

Later you stated,

Please feel free to call the store, one of your recommended sites on here, if you are unsure about how this could be possible or have doubts as to their experience/competence moving mattresses. There were 5 steps to my front door, and a short walk to my bedroom. At king size, the latex is insanely heavy and impossible to manage. Perhaps the way mine was constructed was of unusual density.

My Tuft N Needle foam mattress, on the other hand, I can easily move by myself. Also, yes, you are correct TNN is not technically memory foam, as their website asserts, but it is extremely similar in feel to my Sleep Innovations and Luxtouch, and quite subjectively different from the latex.

This may work with a full or maybe even a queen, but is literally impossible with the king size latex mattress that I received. Far too heavy to lift any of the edges up to move things under it (I am 6’1" and 210 lbs so not a small person) let alone “roll it up like a sock”.

It is because it was done as a ‘component mattress’ as you later described. It felt like I was sleeping on a stack of cards. Huge design flaw in the piece. However, no issues with this since removing the cotton cover.

Quite a bit of language in your post about how this is an anecdote and not a scientific study. This is an unfortunate necessity because the peer reviewed research that has been done in the mattress industry thus far is nearly absent, and most assertions about mattress advantages/disadvantages are made based on inductive reasoning, straw man arguments, or opinion surveys with heavy marketing motives, as opposed to the scientific method. Until this changes, we have to rely on anecdotes.

So yes, my ratings and cost assessments were my own summative experience and not an absolute truth. My best attempt to share the advice and insights that I wish someone had given me earlier in my process so that I could have saved myself some time and money.

Having spent countless hours on here, it is certainly one of the reasons I am appreciative of the site. In that vein, this post is my best effort at providing the purest objective opinion that I am able to give.

You stated in the post that you linked above that you did not want this site to “degenerate” into a review forum which is really an odd statement to me, as I think that is this site’s major strength, and the major reason I spend time here. Honest discussion in an open forum is more reliable than inductive reasoning by mattress industry marketing.

I’ve noticed that most “expert” opinion is self-qualified, and usually comes from people trying to sell me mattresses. I would rather hear from other consumers and develop a consensus. In my experience, this has been a more effective way to handle nearly every aspect of consumerism in my life.

If I was interested in buying a car, should I listen to the car salesman, or other people who’ve already bought the car? There is an argument to listen to the salesman (usually coming from the salesman), but the vast majority of people would prefer to hear from other customers. The same reasoning applies to mattresses for me.

Hi John Arbucklee,

There are links to a number of studies in the posts I linked in my last reply (here and here).

You can see the reasons for this in the post I linked in the previous reply (and the posts it links to as well). Mattress reviews can be among the worst ways to choose a suitable mattress.

I agree with your thoughts about most of the so called “expert opinions” as well (see post #1 here and post #12 here and post #404 here and post #11 here and the rest of the same topic along with many other replies that have been posted in the forum along the same lines). This is one of the reasons that I help with “how” to choose and “how” to identify retailers and manufacturers that are more knowledgeable and experienced and are more “legitimate experts” rather than suggesting “what” to choose and helping the members to focus on more objective and “fact based” information that is either based on more objective research or on the preponderance of the evidence in the industry. The “best” information is the information that can be validated by each person for themselves so they don’t have to rely on “opinions” or preferences that may not apply to them (including mine).

Of course I always welcome discussion and disagreement on the forum but I will always do my best to help the members here realize that whether a mattress is a good match for someone in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP is always relative to the person sleeping on it. Of course assessing the quality and durability of the materials in a mattress is a completely different and separate matter and is more “objective” and quantifiable than “comfort” but most mattress reviews say little to nothing about the quality or durability of the materials in a mattress.

I think the best source of information would be someone like a mechanic who knew what to look for and what to check and had a broad base of “expert” and legitimate knowledge and experience in the industry.

Phoenix