Latex Matress Configuration

This website has been invaluable to me for a couple weeks now as I have been reading as much as I can. Thank you very much for all the info. My wife and I recently purchased a new house and the timing has it that we will be getting a new king mattress for our new bedroom. I am 5’11" 200lb (stomach/ side sleeper) and my wife is 5’3" 130lb (side/ back sleeper). After reading the general construction info, we took a trip yesterday from our home outside of Providence, RI to a Jordan’s Furniture basically just to try out the different types of mattresses available as neither of us had ever even laid on anything but a traditional innerspring mattress. We both liked the tempurpedic cloud, my wife more so as I thought the memory foam made it feel a bit too “dead”, but we both liked the pranasleep vinyasa most of all (not counting the ridiculous price tag!) This experience has narrowed down my search to a fully latex mattress.

I’ve researched the other recommended retailers nearby and I think will be making a trip to Worley’s and possibly the Mattress Maker. I’ve also researched the Boston Bed Company but I couldn’t find a latex matress without their “Thera-Foam” core, whatever that is. I’ve also been researching online retailers and like (both in construction and price) the Natural Escape from my green mattress and the natural 9000 from sleepEZ, but I’m certainly a liitle apprehensive about buying a mattress without first trying it. My question is basically what type of configuration (layer thicknesses / firmness, etc) would you recommend bases on our body size and sleep positions? I know there is no magic formula, but your best suggestion and if any of the options above seem appropriate would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
Anthony

Hi antRI,

The Tempurpedic cloud uses a combination of 4 and 5 lb memory foam which is mid to good quality/durability but you are also at the borderline where I would be little cautious of using 4 lb memory foam, especially in thicker layers. Of course the Tempurpedic is also poor value compared to other similar quality memory foam mattresses with similar configurations.

The Vinyasa is also a poor value IMO and worse yet you would be sleeping on 3" of polyfoam rather than latex. You can read a little more about the Vinyasa in post #3 here.

The Thera-Foam is a polyfoam support layer so these would be a latex/polyfoam hybrid. Good quality polyfoam (or an innerspring) with a latex comfort layer can be a good choice for those who are not in the budget range of an all latex mattress. In this case … knowing the density of the polyfoam base is important (it should be 1.8 lbs and up) so I called them and they will check with the factory about the density and they will email me the answer (probably tomorrow) and I’ll post it here for future reference.They don’t carry all latex mattresses although some of the Therapedic licensees across the country do.

As you probably know … these are both members of this site and I think very highly of them and consider them to be among the best quality/value and service in the country. The members that specialize in online or “on the phone” help and guidance for their customers and ship across the country are also very good at making layering recommendations.

There are some general guidelines about body type here and about different sleeping positions here and a section that talks about how different types of construction and layering can affect both of these guidelines in this section but these are general guidelines only and may not apply to any specific individual. All 3 of these interact together along with every other component of the mattress and the person sleeping on it and with the many variables between different people and mattress constructions it wouldn’t be possible for me to provide more specific recommendations without much more lengthy and detailed conversations on the phone.

The good news though is that there are two ways to find the more specific layering and recommendations that have the best chance to work for your unique circumstances …

The first of these and the most accurate is local testing on a mattress with the help and guidance of an “expert” that has the experience and knowledge to help you make your best choices for your particular needs and preferences.

The second is with more extensive conversations with an online manufacturer who knows every detail of the mattresses they make or sell (not just the foam basics) and how each of their options interact with different people. With good feedback about any local testing you have done in combination with “averages” and a customer base which would include customers that were similar to you … they can be surprisingly accurate and this can go a long way to reducing the risk of an online purchase and making more “accurate” choices.

With all the unknown variables and without a reference point of customer feedback on specific mattresses and knowledge of every mattress component and layer in a mattress you are considering, any recommendations I could make would not be nearly as accurate as either of these two methods in helping you make your best choices.

The most effective source of specific recommendations is always always to “connect” with the people who make and sell a mattress you are considering and work with them to use their knowledge and experience to your advantage rather than trying to learn all the variables you would need to know and risk becoming overwhelmed and frustrated with the process of designing or choosing your own mattress based on what I call “theory at a distance”.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix!
Thank you for your in-depth and incredibly fast response! I really appreciate your legwork with the Therapedic Thera-Foam at Boston Bed Company. If it is in fact a high quality polyfoam then I think it will make my choice that much harder as the price is very reasonable and I can be onsite to test those mattresses pretty easily. I am definitely planning a visit to Worley’s now more than ever to really discuss and try out as many combinations of latex as may be available. I will then use that info and talk to the online retailers to find out how I want to proceed. Thanks again for your time and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Hi antRI,

I confirmed today that the base foam is 2.2 lbs which is a high quality polyfoam base (in the range of tempurpedic base foam).

Sorry to make your choices more difficult :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix,
I ended up purchasing a mattress yesterday and wanted to let you know the outcome of our search and thank you again for your advice. We knew we were considering the mattress from Boston Bed Company which was $1569 for the king with 6" of talalay over the 2.2lb foam core that you found out for me (thanks again for that). We decided to take the drive out to Brockton to visit the Mattress Maker. It was great timing because they had just moved into their new facility and were offering a grand opening promotion of 20% off mattress sets. After trying out several latex combinations (all latex, memory foam, poly foam, gel, etc.) we narrowed it down to two. There was their top of the line organic all latex mattress which was 10" of all natural talalay and a king with box spring came to $1780 with the discount. Our other option, which is the mattress we purchased, was thier Visco Latex mattress which is a 7" 100% natural talalay latex core with 3" of 5.3lb visco memory foam as the comfort layer. The king mattress with box spring came to $1360. Before hearing the prices, both my wife and I agreed we preferred the Visco Latex and so after hearing the prices, it was a pretty easy decision. We are very confident with our purchase with the 15 year warranty and their excellent customer service in that if a few days go by with our new mattress and we decide maybe we should have gone a little softer or firmer, they will come out to get the mattress and make whatever changes necessary to make us happy, all for free except a delivery charge because we are about an hour away. I wanted to thank you again for this extremely helpful website because I know I would have never even heard of the Mattress Maker and would have certainly overpaid for a far less quality mattress.

Hi antRI,

Well it certainly seems to me you made a great choice in terms of quality, value and of course your own personal preferences.

Congratulations on your new mattress and thanks for sharing your experiences and final choice with us :slight_smile:

Phoenix

antRI,

It sounds like you were able to visit and test out mattresses at Therapedic’s location in Brockton?

I am about 30 minutes from there and would like to go check out their mattresses. I went to Boston Bed Company today and after looking on Therapedic’s website I noticed that they have many more mattresses than were available at Boston Bed Company.

I think I’ll be calling them as well. Their web site is not super user friendly, just listing many models and leaving it to us to check each one to see what it is…

times two…or three.

I just found this site the other day and it feels like info over load…

but good to see some local places that I can drive to too check out!

Hi sammy,

I’m glad you found us … and welcome :slight_smile:

[quote]I just found this site the other day and it feels like info over load…

but good to see some local places that I can drive to too check out![/quote]

Just in case you haven’t read it yet … the tutorial post here includes the most important information, steps, and guidelines all in one place that can help you with how to make the best possible choices.

Phoenix

I just got an email back from Therapedic informing me that their location in Brockton is only a factory and not a showroom for consumers to test out mattresses.

Bummer!!!