Latex Mattress Longevity

[phoenix]

Hi Ginger,

Has anyone owned latex mattress on this forum for several years? How does it hold up to sagging? How long have you owned it and what brand is it? What type of firmness layers does it have?

There are many thousands of people that have slept on latex mattresses for many years (in some cases decades) so hopefully some of the members here that are one of them will see your post and share their comments (although most forum members don’t stay on the forum once they have purchased their mattress). Latex in general is the most durable of all the foam materials that are used in mattresses.

I would keep in mind that the brand name of a mattress has nothing to do with the durability or useful life of a mattress because in terms of durability a mattress is only as good as it’s construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it (see this article and the quality/durability guidelines it links to) regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label.

While there is no way to quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when you will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for you (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the durab9ility guidelines here then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or in the case of the mattresses you are considering the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.

There is also more detailed information about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to different people in post #4 here and the posts it links to.

@amyO and ginger,

Did you end up getting a latex mattress? I know your post was from a while ago, but I am also looking for reviews about this.

Undecided’s post was only written about half an hour before yours

There really are only 5 main possibilities that would account for your experiences which are either a defect in the mattress, something in the mattress changed, something in the support system under the mattress changed, something that you were using on top of the mattress changed, or something in you and/or your own needs and preferences changed.

1. While defects are fairly uncommon … they certainly do happen so it’s possible that one or more of the layers in your mattress are defective. You can test this by putting the mattress or the individual layers on the floor and then either run a string from edge to edge or use a straight edge (such as a broom handle) across the mattress or layers and then measuring the depth of any visible impression from the bottom of the straight edge or from the string to make sure that they aren’t more than the depth of the exclusion in your warranty. If you have a defect then it would be a warranty issue so you would need to contact the manufacturer of your mattress.

2. All mattresses change over time and gradually lose their comfort and/or support as the various materials and components start to soften and/or break down or natural fibers in the mattress (such as cotton or wool) compress and become firmer but these types of changes are quite gradual with higher quality and more durable materials. Since latex is a very durable material these types of changes normally wouldn’t make a significant or meaningful difference to your sleeping comfort or to the support of the mattress for many years assuming that the mattress was suitable for you in the first place in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) but if a mattress was “on the edge” of being too soft when it was new then even relatively small amounts of softening can put you outside of the range that would be suitable for you in terms of PPP more quickly (see post #2 here). The firmness of any foam material and whether it is suitable for your body weight can also affect its durability.

3. It’s very possible that the issue could be caused by any sagging or soft spots in the bedframe or foundation you are using or if the foundation doesn’t provide a suitable support surface for your mattress and the mattress is sagging into any gaps in the support surface. If the support system under your mattress no longer provides suitable support for your mattress it could certainly make a significant difference in how well you sleep. You can test this by sleeping on the mattress on the floor to see if it makes any difference.

4. If you are using a mattress pad or a topper and it has started to compress, soften, or break down or if you added something to the top of the mattress that affects how it feels or performs then it’s possible that this could be the reason for a change in your sleeping experience as well.

5. The last possibility is that something changed in you that affected your comfort or support and which could have changed the type or firmness level of a mattress that would be the most suitable for you to sleep on (developing a health issue or a back issue for example or a change in weight among many other possibilities … some of which could be more “sudden” and some of which could be more gradual).

It may take a little bit of detective work to confirm which of these may be happening in each specific case and how to best correct it if you are one of the relatively small minority that is experiencing the type of issues you are experiencing.

Phoenix