Latex mattress in Atlanta, GA area

[phoenix]

Hi Kenshireen,

The better options and possibilities in the Atlanta area are in post #2 here. You have some good options in the area

First we want to try some different ones to see what we like. We have been to OMF who have 2 models a very soft one, which I did not like and my husband did not try it when I said tooooo soft. They had another which I would say was medium firmness had some softness but also some support. I realize theirs are blended latex BTW. We have found several of the online retailers who are members and have talked with them, we haven’t decided who to buy from yet.

The OMF latex mattresses are good value but are on the softer side. They also display them on an “active” foundation which is a little unusual (most manufacturers suggest a firm non flexing foundation for their latex mattresses unless they are quite thin) so it can sometimes make a difference if you ask to test them on a more solid base (like an adjustable bed).

I feel we need to get a bed that is customizable to his/hers so we can both get what we need comfort wise. We would love to try some more latex mattresses just don’t know where to go locally. Before we make another purchase we wanted to narrow down further what we each like, OMF unfortunately only offers the 2 options to choose from. He is ok and likes the firmer bed. I could probably live with it. We’d like something in the 9" range.

You have several latex options in the area. There are also several ways to accommodate the different needs of people with different body types (including as you mentioned a side to side split). You can read more about this in the first part of post #2 here. The most important thing is that you don’t “rule out” that some mattresses you test may surprise you and work well for both of you … even if you don’t know the reason why. I would also not prejudge the thickness of the mattress that may work best for you unless of course there are other reasons that 9" may be necessary.

I believe we have narrowed down some likes and dislikes. I like memory foam but would rather have a healthier bed that we can both sleep on. My favorite 2 are the Tempurpedic cloud luxe and supreme. I am not sure what layers of latex would offer a similar feel to those.

Memory foam and latex are about as close to “opposites” as you can get and there really isn’t a latex layering that approximates the feel of memory foam. while very soft latex may come the closest, they would still be very different because latex is a fast response and very resilient material while memory foam is a slow response material which has very low resilience. The choice between them is really a matter of preference but they are very different materials.

Regardless of materials though … the goal is always to make sure you match your needs (pressure relief and posture and alignment) and your other preferences (see post #46 here for the many preferences that may be more important to you). Even though the materials you may choose are a matter of preference, it’s important that no matter what materials you prefer that you use the highest quality of each that your budget allows … especially in the upper layers of the mattress which are the “weak link” of most mattresses.

We also just retuned a Sleep Science memory mattress from Costco,after 2 weeks. We were told it is supposed to be medium soft bed. I have to say they have a great return policy and we chose that route because we weren’t sure how we would like it. Needless to say my husband couldn’t fall asleep and played musical beds for 2 weeks. It was too firm for him. I was ok with the bed but it was on the firm side for me.i slept fairly well on it. I liked that it provided support and pressure relief but not the settling feeling that made it hard to get out bed.

Costco and the other big box stores are a good way to “experiment” and sometimes “roll the dice” if you are in an experimental mood because their return policies reduce the risk of an online purchase but they are not very knowledgeable or helpful about their mattresses they sell and it takes some knowledge to be able to tell the better quality from the worse quality (which are the majority) that they sell and in most cases you would need to get lucky to find a suitable mattress there because they don’t provide any guidance in making a choice that is suitable to your body types or sleeping positions…

Any help/ advice would be great taken into consideration. This is not a very pleasant shopping experience since we can’t agree on a sleeping surface.

If you haven’t seen this already … the best advice I can give you is to read post #1 here which has a series of steps (and links to information) that can help you find the most suitable mattress with the best possible quality and value. Most importantly it will provide you with lots of basic information and help you connect with the “experts” so that you don’t have to become one yourself

We went to Mattress Firm to see what options they offered. We felt like we had to walk out with a new bed that day. Won’t be going back there, but was a great way to try all the memory foam.

As you will see from the guidelines that are linked in the post I mentioned … walking into a chain store will do more to frustrate you and waste time than anything else. In almost all cases they are not worth any consideration compared to smaller local or independent manufacturers that are either sold factory direct or through better local sleep shops (or online if you are comfortable with the extra risk or there is not a lot of good value choices available locally).

I’m looking forward to hearing about some of your local testing and finding out what you end up with.

Phoenix