Latex is a PAIN! Need Advice, Please

[phoenix]

Hi madinsomniax,

I looked at Ariz Premium again and didn’t see a 3" talalay king sz. topper for less than $427, no cover. He does have a Dunlop on clearance, though.

You can see their different topper options listed here and here. They have Dunlop as well as blended and 100% natural Talalay in 2" and 3" thicknesses.

Here’s an idea we’d not considered before: what if we get a replacement mattress cover in some sort of stretchy fabric?? I wonder if it’ll make enough difference that we wouldn’t then need a topper. It’d certainly be a much cheaper option than a king size topper!! :ohmy:

The cover can certainly make some difference … but only your own experience will know if it will make “enough” difference. There is more about quilted vs unquilted covers in post #12 here.

Phoenix: I thought I’d read it somewhere on here, but I may well be mistaken. I was under the impression that density in latex, while not an indication of softness, was something to be considered regarding durability? Perhaps it was elsewhere I saw that.

With polyfoam and memory foam density is the most important factor in the durability of the material but is not related to firmness/softness because any density can be made in a range of firmness levels. With latex it’s the other way around. Latex density is related to firmness (higher densities are firmer) and is a “comfort spec” more than a “quality spec”. Talalay latex is in a lower density range than Dunlop latex and synthetic latex has a lower density than natural latex so it’s not really possible to use density to compare different types and blends of latex because they each have their own density range.

Anyone know if Amazon has a way to rank sellers like ebay? Anyway, I’m sure there are good products to be found there if you do your homework on the seller.

Amazon listings include reviews that range from 1 star to 5 stars but reviews aren’t really a reliable way to make any kind of assessment about the suitability of a mattress in terms of PPP because a mattress that works well for one person may be completely unsuitable for the next. They also aren’t a reliable way to assess the quality of a mattress or the materials inside it because most reviews are written shortly after a purchase and most consumers have little to no knowledge about the quality of the mattress they purchased or the materials inside it. There is more about mattress reviews in post #13 here. When you are doing your due diligence with online businesses then I would want to know who the supplier was in the “real world” and have contact information that was more than just an email address so I could make sure they were part of a reliable business and not one of the dozens or hundreds of “here today and gone tomorrow” businesses that are so common in the anonymous world of online shopping.

Phoenix, I’d also thought I remembered you saying that in most cases, a 2" topper was sufficient for cushioning and that you usually wouldn’t advise a 3" topper as a comfort layer. Exceptions apply, of course. Am I misquoting? I know I saw this somewhere because up until that time, I’d been set on a 3". It made me seriously question a 3" topper since alignment is a big priority for me.

This certainly wouldn’t be something that I would write. The choice of the type, thickness, and softness of a topper would depend on the person, the mattress it was going on, and the amount of additional softness and pressure relief you are looking for. You can read more about choosing a topper in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to.

perhaps Phoenix is correct that we’re only going to know for sure by trying the options out in person.

The best you will be able to do when you are choosing a topper that you can’t test on your mattress in person before you buy it is to tilt the odds in your favor. The best way to do this would be a combination of personal experience on different mattresses where you know the specifics of the materials and layers, more detailed conversations on the phone with reliable, knowledgeable, and experienced suppliers, and using the topper guidelines, along with factoring in the importance to you of any return or exchange options available if you aren’t confident about your choice so you still have good options if in spite of everyone’s best efforts your “real life” experience doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for. There are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” to be nearly as reliable as your own personal experience except as a very generic guideline (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

In the end once you have done the research, you are familiar with different materials and options you have, and you have made the phone calls … then the only thing left is to actually try the topper that you believe appears to have the best chance of success and then use your actual sleeping experience to find out how close you came to your “ideal” choice in terms of PPP in “real life”.

Phoenix