Latex mattress stores and selection?

[phoenix]

Hi the utahn,

Thank you for the very helpful post (and forum). I have read the posts linked above, and I’ve been browsing the forum for a few months in anticipation of this purchase.

I’m glad you’re finding the information on the site useful.

-First stop was R&S mattress (a part of Brooklyn Bedding). We liked the Best Mattress Ever in soft and medium, but REALLY liked their Tribeca in firm and soft. I can’t find it on their website for some reason (on the other mentioned above), but this one has:
Soft, 3" 19ILD Talalay, 3" 24 ILD Latex, and 6" 32ILD Dunlop Latex support core.
Firm, 3" 28 ILD Talalay, 3" 32 ILD Latex, and 6" 36 ILD Dunlop Latex support core

Yes, Brooklyn Bedding makes some mattresses that are specifically sold through their R&S stores. The middle layer in both mattresses you mention is a synthetic Dunlop latex.

-We then went to Bradleys and laid on the PUre Talalay Bliss mattresses. For some reason these felt very different than the other latex mattresses we tried out. VERY bouncy and more springy than the others, and not as enveloping. The salesman couldn’t tell us why. Any thoughts on what is different on these mattresses?

“Springy” and “buoyant” and common terms people use when describing Talalay latex, and an all Talalay latex mattress certainly can have a “more bouncy” feel than one containing other types of latex (Dunlop), other foams, and a different cover. Everything will combine to create the overall feel of the mattress. There are six total Pure Talalay Bliss models, and all of them use only Talalay latex.

-We then tried some mattresses by Diamond Mattress in UT. These we liked at a lot as well in soft and medium. Great feel, but more expensive in pricing than some of the others. And we didn’t like the ‘foam topper’ on one of them and the fact that the salesman couldn’t tell us if it had any certifications like ‘oeko tex’ or similar. His response was that even if it wasn’t, it will ‘air out’ quickly.

There are some comments about Diamond in post #2 here and the posts it links to that would be well worth reading. I had a conversation with someone from Diamond a half-year ago about some new mattresses they are designing and I passed on my thoughts that it would be very helpful if they were more transparent about the type and quality/density of the materials in their mattresses so I hope that they will take the comments to heart.

Your first stop for finding out about the componentry is indeed your local retailer, so it’s disappointing that they weren’t able to provide you much in the way of specifications about their mattresses. I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

There is more about the different types of organic and safety certifications such as Oeko-tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold, C2C, and CertiPUR-US in post #2 here and more about some of the differences between organic and safety certifications in post #2 here. These certifications will generally test for harmful substances and VOCs, and are different from learning about the actual quality of the foam. Additionally, odors and VOCs aren’t necessarily related and the presence of once doesn’t mean the actual presence of another. I know, it can be confusing! :huh:

-Lastly we tried Mattress Dealzzz and their ‘Perfect Bliss’ latex mattresses. They were comfortable, but although we were told they were 100% latex we found a spec sheet in the store and there was unspecified poly foam in various layers throughout the bed.

I can’t find out any information from their web site regarding their latex mattresses, but the specifications you mentioned you mentioned would tend to support that this isn’t a true all-latex mattress, as there should be no polyfoam present.

In any case, I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts on the Pure Latex Bliss, the Tribeca we found to like from Brooklyn Bedding, and if a similarly configured mattress from Sleep EZ, Flobeds, and Foam Sweet Foam would offer a similar level of comfort to the Tribeca.

You’re certainly considering some mattresses using higher-quality materials. All of the latex you encounter would be considered a durable material. The Brooklyn Bedding Best Mattress ever uses a good quality 2 lb. density polyfoam core with 2" of Dunlop and 2" of Talalay latex on top of that core, so it is a different product than the Pure Talalay Bliss product or the Tribeca mattresses (both these brands are all-latex products). While also providing a bit of a different comfort, using a polyfoam core instead of a latex core is one way for manufacturers to reduce the overall cost of a mattress.

One of the advantages you have is that you have these items available for you to test personally. I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general 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. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).

If you narrow down your choice to one or two finalist, then your next best option would be to phone the other online companies you are considering and tell them what you’ve found and like, and they will be best able to offer suggestions to you regarding items that they may offer which will be similar. Realize that unless a product is using the exact same foams with the exact same thicknesses from the exact same manufacturers and are assembled in the exact same manner using the exact same covering, they will be different in overall comfort. Following the steps outlined in the mattress shopping tutorial I listed in my previous reply should also prove helpful as you go through this process and rank your choices based upon your own personal value equation.

I’m looking forward to what you end up deciding to do!

Phoenix