Latex bed.

[phoenix]

Hi ThePrincessAndTheGrainOfSand,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

(By the way, I deleted your duplicate post – no worries!)

Just want to start off by saying how thankful I am that this forum/website exists. Helpful to know that others are just as meticulous in their bed preferences, and to know that the choosing process has been perfected is extremely helpful.

You’re most welcome!

my only real question at this moment is: does latex stop being springy over time? This is a blend of talalay and Dunlop. I’m not sure of the specs… working on it.

Over time latex will lose a bit of its buoyant and “springy” feel, but it is a resilient material and is foamed rubber so it will always have that feel to some extent. Talalay tends to be more buoyant feeling than Dunlop latex. Latex has an unusual combination of surface softness and deeper firmness/support that comes from its elasticity, its point elasticity (ability to conform to the shape of a body) and its compression modulus (the ability to get firmer faster with deeper compression than other types of foam). This means that it can enhance the pressure relieving layers above it because of its surface softness and point elasticity but it is also very supportive and can “stop” the heavier parts of the body from sinking in too deeply. It is also very resilient (it returns a high percentage of the energy of compression instead of absorbing it like memory foam which has very low resilience) so it can enhance the “feel” of the mattress by making it more responsive and more adaptable to different body profiles and sleeping positions rather than the less responsive feeling of memory foam. Memory foam allows you to sleep “in” it more than latex, and has a very “dead” feel that minimizes motion transfer.

it has the ever so slightest bounce -not a secure and solid and motionless feeling like the memory foam- (entirely memory foam/foam, no coils) and it’s bothering me.

Coming from a memory foam product, it would be normal for there to be a period of adjustment to the different feel of latex versus memory foam on the surface. This usually dissipates within the first few weeks of use.

I also woke up with my arm asleep I’m assuming that will go away over time as the same thing happened on 2 other beds I’ve gotten in the last couple months.

This can also be common with a new mattress and sometime necessitates a slight adjustment of your sleeping posture or pillow.

This current latex mattress is a chemical free mattress

I should note that all latex foam (including 100% natural Dunlop and Talalay and organic latex) uses a small amount of chemicals to manufacture the latex (see post #18 here), but the manufacturers don’t release the specifics of their compounding formula which is a closely guarded secret. All of the latex you’re likely to encounter would be able to pass or would already be certified to standards like Oeko-Tex or eco institute for VOCs and harmful substances.

I guess I wish there was a mattress that was denser like the memory foam so I didn’t sleep as though I’m subconsciously scared to move lest the bounce jolt my neck/back, or feel like I’m suspended in the air like on the coil mattress, or sink so far at my waist like on the memory foam… and preferably no chemicals.

If you don’t end up “adjusting” well to the new feel of your latex mattress, you may wish to consider a slow recovery latex topper, which has some of the slower recovery properties of memory foam but is still latex. Another option to create a bit less of a buoyant sleep surface would be to use a thin wool topper on top of your latex mattress, which will help “deaden” some of the “springiness” of the latex. There are also others who prefer the feel of a 2"-3" memory foam topper on top of their all-latex mattress, but I understand your desire to stay away from this type of product.

Phoenix