Latex Mattress Options?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi, first off, thank you for the abundance of information on this site and your willingness to help!

My fiancée and I are getting married this summer and are in the market for a great mattress to start our lives together on. We are young and active and seek a mattress to promote our indoor activities :wink:

I am 6’3 about 190 lbs and she is 5’6 and 140 lbs. Our main criteria in our mattress search are durability, comfort, and bounce. We have researched somewhat and found that latex is maybe our best option. However we thought we might enjoy the bounce of an innerspring mattress better.

We are looking to spend somewhere under $1500 if possible (queen size). I understand full latex models typically run for more.

The Casper mattress has stood out to us because of their incredible return policy, however it is latex over foam mattress which makes me suspect to the longevity of the mattress. In addition, they have only been selling for just over a year so no one really knows the durability.

I have also noticed there are hybrid mattresses that combine latex layers and coils. I figured this might be more suitable as it will provide the bounce we are looking for as well us the latex support and comfort.

Please, if you have any idea that could point us in the right direction, that would be very beneficial.

We are located in Edmonton, Alberta, however we are not against travelling to Calgary to purchase and test.

Thank you!

2

Hi inputchip,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! … and I’m glad you found us.

The first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for that are involved in each of them and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability, durability, and value.

The choice of materials and components in a mattress is primarily a preference choice and not as much a “better worse” choice (assuming that you are only considering good quality and more durable versions of the materials and components you prefer). If you tend to prefer the “feel” and “bounce” or even the “familiarity” of an innerspring mattress then as you mentioned it may also be worth considering an innerspring/latex hybrid which uses an innerspring as the support core and latex as the comfort layers.

There is more about innerspring/latex hybrids in post #13 here and the posts it links to.

There are a few all latex mattresses that are in your budget range and posts #3 and #4 here include some links to some of the lower budget latex and latex hybrid mattresses I’m aware of.

The Casper mattress doesn’t really qualify as a “latex” or even a “latex hybrid” mattress since it only has 1.5" of latex which isn’t really enough to include it in a latex hybrid category although the latex they use is the top layer in the mattress so it would have a bigger effect on how the mattress “feels” than the memory foam or polyfoam underneath the top layer.

You can also see some comments about the Casper mattress along with some of the other “simplified choice” mattresses that also have a similar return policy in post #3 here.

The most reliable way to assess the durability of a mattress or know whether it has any potential weak links is to make sure that you find out the type and quality of the all the materials inside it (see this article). There is also more detailed information about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to each person in post #4 here that can be a much more reliable indicator about the durability and useful life of a mattress than the name of the manufacturer on a label, mattress reviews, or the length of a warranty.

The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Edmonton area (subject to the quality/value guidelines I linked) are listed in post #136 here. The Calgary list is in post #2 here.

Post #21 here also includes some of the better online options or possibilities I’m aware of that ship across Canada as well.

Phoenix

3

Phoenix, you are great at what you do! Thanks for the quick reply. A couple more questions for you.

We visited TMASC here in Edmonton and we tested a variety of latex and latex coil hybrids. We decided pure latex was the best for us following your guidelines and our preference. We liked the 10" Green Sleep Vicence mattress the best.

Taking the info we gathered from TMASC, we are looking elsewhere for a more affordable option as we were quoted $3700 on the Green Sleep. We are looking for a 10" all natural latex mattress (no preference for organic wool/cotton as I assume this won’t make a noticeable difference in comfort).

I am compiling a list of options that are available online and have came up with the following. Please can you give any insight on the similarities and differences of each between them and the Green Sleep Vicence.

1.) Spindle Abscond: 10" all natural latex with 1" organic cotton cover and natural wool. $1350
2.) SleepEZ Natural: 10" all natural latex with 1" natural wool/cotton cover. $1665
3.) Arizona Premium Mattress: 6" core + 3" talalay topper #19 ILD $1380

One of my concerns is not comparing similar varieties of latex. I know that the Spindle is all dunlop latex. But I have read that it is processed in a different way possibly making it softer…? The problem is is I don’t know what type of latex that is used in the Green Sleep that we liked so much when we tried it.

Being located in Edmonton, we are willing to order from anywhere in the US and take advantage of many of the Free US Shipping options most retailers have and then use a border shipping service to get it across the border to us. This is cheaper than getting the mattress companies to ship to us directly.

Thanks for any help!

4

Another mattress I forgot to add to the list is:

4.) Dormio Classic 10": 2" firm organic latex split layer, 1" soft + 4" medium/firm + 1" soft or 1" soft + 4" medium + 1" soft , G.O.L.S. Certified Organic latex split core, 2" soft G.O.L.S. Certified Organic latex layer. 1" wool and organic cotton cover. -$2000 CAD which is what the Spindle works out to with shipping to Edmonton. So the Dormio could work out to be cheaper in fact.

5

Hi inputchip,

[quote]I am compiling a list of options that are available online and have came up with the following. Please can you give any insight on the similarities and differences of each between them and the Green Sleep Vicence.

1.) Spindle Abscond: 10" all natural latex with 1" organic cotton cover and natural wool. $1350
2.) SleepEZ Natural: 10" all natural latex with 1" natural wool/cotton cover. $1665
3.) Arizona Premium Mattress: 6" core + 3" talalay topper #19 ILD $1380

4.) Dormio Classic 10": 2" firm organic latex split layer, 1" soft + 4" medium/firm + 1" soft or 1" soft + 4" medium + 1" soft , G.O.L.S. Certified Organic latex split core, 2" soft G.O.L.S. Certified Organic latex layer. 1" wool and organic cotton cover. -$2000 CAD which is what the Spindle works out to with shipping to Edmonton. So the Dormio could work out to be cheaper in fact.

One of my concerns is not comparing similar varieties of latex. I know that the Spindle is all dunlop latex. But I have read that it is processed in a different way possibly making it softer…? The problem is is I don’t know what type of latex that is used in the Green Sleep that we liked so much when we tried it.[/quote]

There is more about the different ways that one mattress can “approximate” or compare to another one in post #9 here.

In terms of quality and durability … all of the mattresses you are considering use hi9h quality and durable materials and there aren’t any weak links in any of them so they would all be comparable in terms of durability.

Having said that … they are all completely different designs that use different types and firmness levels of latex and different layer thicknesses so the only way to compare them in terms of “comfort” and PPP would be based on your own personal experience.

All the different types and blends of latex come in a range of firmness levels so the 100% natural continuous pour latex that Spindle uses may be firmer or softer than any other types and blends of latex depending on the firmness of their layer and the latex you are comparing it to although it’s true that the Mountaintop ILD ranges for their different firmness levels don’t correspond well with the ILD ranges of other types and blends of latex. There is more about comparing ILD’s between different types and blends of latex in post #6 here and ILD itself is also only one of several variables that can affect thefirmness and feel of a latex layer or a mattress “as a whole” (see post #4 here).

Green Sleep uses 100% natural molded Dunlop in their mattresses.

There is more information about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here.

There is more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP in post #2 here that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for once you actually sleep on your mattress.

There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability, durability, and “value”.

When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences or even to other mattresses that they are familiar with than anyone else.

Phoenix