Hi cowdocvt,
I switched your post to your own topic so that your posts don’t get mixed up with posts from other members and it will be easier to find.
I would suggest reading the information here like you would a good book rather than “studying it” like you would a textbook so that you don’t become overwhelmed with information or end up with “paralysis by analysis”. Just in case you haven’t read it yet I would also make sure you’ve read the tutorial post here which has the most important information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choice.
It’s good to see you were dealing with knowledgeable salespeople which are sometimes few and far between in the mainstream market. I’ve also added Burlington Furniture Company and Sleep Quarters to the Burlington, VT list. I didn’t add them originally since neither site listed what they carried but they are both on the Pure Latex Bliss retail store finder if you enter a zip code for the Burlington area and the PLB mattresses use good quality materials.
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Third, I’d like your opinion on two mattresses. The Natura Eco Refresh ( the only latex model at the Depo ) and the pure Latex Bliss Sustain.
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You can see the materials in the Natura Eco Refresh on the Naturaworld site here. It includes an inch of 100% natural Talalay latex and a 6" 100% natural Dunlop latex support core and a fairly thick layer of wool in the quilting. All of these are good quality materials and there are no weak links in the mattress.
You can see the materials in the Pure Latex Bliss Sustain here and it includes 4" of 100% natural Talalay latex and a 6" support core that is also 100% natural latex with a stretch knit removeable and washable cover. It also doesn’t have any weak links in the design.
The most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is how well it matches your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP because no matter what the quality or price of a mattress … if it’s not a suitable design for you to sleep on it would have little value to you. Careful and objective testing using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post will go a long way to helping you make a suitable choice.
The next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is the quality of the materials so you can make sure there are no weak links or lower quality materials that can soften or break down prematurely. If a mattress is a good match for you initially but the materials are low quality and soften or break down prematurely (as in your case with your previous mattresses) a mattress would also have little value to you in the longer term. Both of these use latex which is a high quality and durable material.
Once you have tested a mattress and you are confident that it’s a good match for you and you have confirmed that it uses high quality materials … then the “value” of each mattress would depend on how they compare with each other or the other options that you are considering or have available to you based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
While both of these are good quality mattresses … they are both in higher price ranges than other similar latex mattresses with similar materials and construction so I would make some careful value comparisons before choosing either one of them.
I completely understand and you are in the same position as many if not most other mattress shoppers who don’t have the information that they need to make informed choices or know how to make sure that there are no weak links in a mattress and make meaningful comparisons between mattresses. When you buy a mattress that uses lower quality materials (in the comfort layers especially) then the lower quality materials will soften and break down prematurely and the loss of comfort/pressure relief and/or support/alignment that goes with this isn’t usually covered by a warranty (loss of comfort and support is considered to be normal weak and tear not a defect unless there are impressions are deeper than the warranty exclusions which usually isn’t the case)
That would certainly be a long drive to do some mattress shopping unless you had other reasons to go there. The tutorial post includes a link to a list of the members here that sell online that includes many that make latex mattresses with a wide range of options, designs, and budget ranges that may also be worth considering or at least that you could use for comparison purposes.
Post #32 here also includes a list of retailers that sell PLB mattresses online and ship them anywhere in the country that you could also use as a reference (their listed prices are MAP prices (minimum advertised prices) not the actual selling prices so I would make sure you talk with them to find out their actual selling prices).
The New York list is in post #2 here and there is a more categorized list for Northern NJ with more detailed descriptions of some of the NY options in post #7 here. The manufacturers and retailers listed there also make or sell latex mattresses but they are not the same design or combination of materials and may feel or perform completely differently so I would make sure you did some preliminary research on their sites and on the phone before you drive there.
There are no factory direct manufacturers close to Burlington, VT but some of the other options that are a similar or shorter distance away than New York (in case you want to drive in a different direction) are listed in post #4 here for Topsham/St Johnsbury, VT. (there are no factory direct manufacturers here either), post #2 here for Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts (with several factory direct manufacturers), post #2 here for Connecticut (also several factory direct manufacturers), post #2 here for Syracuse/Bridgewater (two factory direct manufacturers), and post #4 here for the Albany/Schenectady, NY. area (also with no factory direct manufacturers).
Phoenix