Hi the utahn,
Thanks for the update.
[quote]In Sleep EZ, we are looking at the Organic Latex 13".
- Soft Talalay, Medium Talalay, Medium Dunlop, Firm Dunlop (both sides)
or - Soft Talalay, Medium Dunlop, Firm Dunlop, Firm Dunlop (hers) and Soft Talalay, Medium Talalay, Firm Dunlop, XFirm Dunlop (mine).[/quote]
The second set of configurations are obviously closer to each other than the first recommendation.
The first recommendation for the both of you will be a little softer in the deep down support, with the second layer from the bottom being a medium Dunlop as opposed to a firm. You stated that you like “enough support” in your mattress, so there is a potential with that configuration to feel a bit “less firm” deep down. Layers closest to the top of the mattress will have the most impact upon your overall comfort, while the deeper layers will tend to be the ones that people notice the differences in support.
There is more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.
In the second suggestion, your wife’s side will have a softer feel on top and the transition layer of a medium Dunlop will still provide a bit of a softer feel, but the Dunlop will tend to be a bit “firmer” feeling than a corresponding medium Talalay layer, so this may be assistive to her when she is on her stomach where you don’t want as much deflection. Your side would certainly contour well when you sleep on your side with the upper layers of soft and medium Talalay, but the deep support would be a bit firmer feeling with the addition of the extra firm base layer. The attractiveness of the second option is that you have a combination of different materials on each side of the mattress that would allow you to experiment at home should you find it necessary with alternate configurations should you find it necessary to make a change.
Obviously, this configuration is close to your side of the mattress in the second configuration suggested by SleepEZ. Different companies will use slightly different descriptors for their ILD ranges, and different latex suppliers, so there can be slight differences in comfort even if the names used for the foams are similar. Of course, the only way to know for certain would be your own actual experience testing out the mattress. THe good news is that both SleepEZ and Sleep on Latex have generous return/exchange policies.
Phoenix