Hi Littlehouse,
I would keep in mind that the better manufacturers and retailers don’t generally “negotiate” (see post #6 here) or have “fake sales” with large discounts based on the time of year or holidays (see the guidelines here and post #5 here). While they may have sales with smaller discounts … I would treat retailers or manufacturers that negotiate their prices or have “major holiday sales” as a red flag because manufacturers or retailers that sell good quality/value mattresses don’t need to negotiate or have “fake sales” with misleading discounts to create a false sense of urgency and they sell good quality/value mattresses every day of the year at prices that are already very reasonable.
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Greater Los Angeles region (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your criteria and the quality/value guidelines I linked in my last reply) are listed in post #2 here.
I don’t keep a record of the individual mattresses or their specs that the retailers and manufacturers in the hundreds of forum lists throughout the forum carry on their floor or have available online (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) but checking their websites and making some preliminary phone calls to the retailers/manufacturers that are on the lists is always a good idea before you decide on which retailers or manufacturers you wish to deal with anyway. This will tell you which of them carry mattresses that would meet your specific criteria, are transparent about the materials in their mattresses, and that carry the type of mattresses that you are interested in that are also in the budget range you are comfortable with. Once you have checked their websites and/or talked with the ones that interest you then you will be in a much better position to decide on the ones that you are most interested in considering or visiting based on the results of your preliminary research and conversations.
It certainly doesn’t include every online latex option no … just many of the better ones I’m aware of.
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would be very cautious about about using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because again … a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person (including me) or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on even if they are in a similar weight range or have similar sleeping positions (see post #13 here).
Having said that … you can see the details of my mattress in post #4 here.
Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article). It can sometimes be very surprising which type of mattress someone does best with in “real life” vs “theory” even if their body type, sleeping style, health conditions, circumstances, or preferences appear on the surface to be similar to someone else.
This would depend entirely on which combination of layers your testing indicated was the best “match” for you in terms of PPP. Some 3 layer or 4 layer combinations may work well for you and some may not. There is more about the pros and cons of a thicker mattress in post #14 here and having more layers in post #2 here but when you can’t test a mattress in person then they will be your best source of guidance about which of their many options would have the best odds of success.
Their website lists 100% natural Talalay as one of the options in their Organic Select line and you can choose one of 4 firmness levels for each layer.
I or some of the more knowledgeable members of the site can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress relative to your weight that you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer many of the specific questions you may have along the way that don’t involve what you will “feel” on a mattress, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress, manufacturer, or combination of materials is “best for you” regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or whether anyone else would have the same criteria or circumstances or would make the same choice.
Phoenix
