Latex mattress

Hi,
I’m looking at 2 company’s Airzona mattress, and sleepez, Airzona has 6in base and 2in of what ever my comfort level
Sleepez has 3, 3 in layers firm, med,soft
I spoke with 1 of the sales person at Airzona mattress and ask why they didn’t layer them like sleepez, he said the 6in base was better with 2 or 3in top, Airzona mattress was a little less but charge for shipping
What do you folks think

Hi rr1800,

You are certainly looking at two great options. As you probably know both Arizona Premium and SleepEZ are members of this site which means that I think highly of both of them and I believe that they both compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency.

There is some good information about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).

There is also more about the pros and cons of a single 6" latex core vs two separate 3" layers in post #2 here.

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 (which would certainly include both Arizona Premium and SleepEZ) who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) 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 or other mattresses you are considering 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 to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.

Once you are down to your finalists and you are confident that they would all be a good match for you in terms of PPP (or you have good options after a purchase if you aren’t) and that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in any of them in terms of durability (which there aren’t) then you would be down to finalists that are comparing “good to good”. If there are no clear winners between them at this point (which is usually a good indication that you have done some very good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely make a good quality/value choice and (post #2 here) can help you make a final choice based on your local testing or mattresses you have slept well on, your more detailed conversations with each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, your preferences, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. Sometimes a final choice may even come down to very minor differences or can sometimes just be a matter of “gut feel” or “educated best judgement”.

Phoenix

New member here. Thanks Phoenix for all the great info on this site. Just wanted to tag along this topic as I am shopping for a new mattress. Today I visited the Original Mattress Factory in Atlanta and tried out their Serenity Latex mattress. It’s a double-sided mattress with blended talalay latex comfort layers with a HD poly foam support core. My question is how would that mattress compare to something like a SleepEZ 10" that is 100% latex across all layers of the mattress? The price points are comparable but I assume I would be getting more value if I went with the SleepEZ. I am just unsure as how to compare them as I cannot try out the all latex mattress. Thanks in advance for your time!

Hi yixi,

I switched your post into a new topic of its own so that your questions and any replies don’t get mixed in with different questions in another member’s topic.

There is more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).

In terms of suitability … the only way to know how two mattress that have different designs will compare in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) would be based on your own careful testing or your personal sleeping experience. The OMF Serenity has the advantage of being able to test it in person to make sure that it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP while the SleepEZ 10000 has the advantage of being able to rearrange or exchange the layers so that if your first choice or layering combination doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for you can fine tune the comfort and/or support of the mattress by rearranging or exchange layers.

In terms of durability … both mattresses use high quality materials and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in either of them that would reduce the durability or useful life of either mattress. The latex in the middle layer of the SleepEZ would probably be more durable than the 2.5 lb polyfoam in the middle of the Serenity but the Serenity is also a two sided mattress (see post #3 here) so they would both make very durable choices. The SleepEZ 1000o is also a component mattress which also has the advantage of being able to replace a single layer if one of the layers softens or breaks down before the others or if your needs and preferences change over time without having to replace the entire mattress.

In terms of overall “value” this would really depend on how they compared in terms of suitability and PPP along with all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. In addition to the flexibility of being able to rearrange or exchange individual layers … SleepEZ also has a very good return/refund policy if in the worst case (which would be a very small minority of people) none of the layering combinations was a good match for you. Original Mattress Factory has the advantage of being able to test in in person before a purchase but if the choice you make doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for they only have an exchange policy (see here for the details) which allows you to exchange the mattress for a different mattress but there are higher costs involved. They also don’t have any other latex mattresses so you wouldn’t be able to exchange for a different latex mattress if you wanted to sleep on latex but the firmness level wasn’t suitable for you.

SleepEZ also has a wool quilted cover which would have an advantage in terms of temperature regulation and it also has 9" of latex rather than just the 6" of latex in the Serenity so the raw materials cost of the SleepEZ mattress would be higher than the Serenity but of course this isn’t as important as whether a mattress is a good match in terms of PPP and whether a mattress uses high quality and durable materials.

SleepEZ is also a member of this site which means that I think very highly of them and that I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency although I also think highly of the quality and value of the OMF mattresses as well…

Once you are down to a list of finalists and you are confident that they would all be a good match for you in terms of PPP (or you have good options after a purchase if you aren’t) and that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in any of them in terms of durability (which there aren’t) then you would be down to finalists that are comparing “good to good”. If there are no clear winners between them at this point (which is usually a good indication that you have done some very good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely make a good quality/value choice and (post #2 here) can help you make a final choice based on your local testing or mattresses you have slept well on, your more detailed conversations with each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, your preferences, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. Sometimes a final choice may even come down to very minor differences or can sometimes just be a matter of “gut feel” or “educated best judgement”.

Phoenix

Have you looked at FoamSweetFoam? I just purchased a 12" 4 layer latex bed from them and my husband and I love it. Their actual price was less than on the first page since they always have coupons that take the dollars off. I found their mattress covers (we bought two Twin XL’s) were of a very high quality. Well made, perfect fit, a sturdy zipper and really nice to the feel. The cover is made of cotton and wool.

The beds were easy for me to assemble and I am a 51 yr old woman who isn’t in the best shape. :frowning:

The beds took seven business days to arrive, a tad longer than the website initially showed, but that wasn’t a big deal to us. I would assume the bed feels like any build yourself 100% natural latex bed with the same ILD specs.

We are very happy with this decision except that I have lost my “woman cave.” My husband despised our old mattress so much that he always watched TV on the reclining couch. Even though I wasn’t found of the old bed, I tolerated it enough to enjoy my DIY shows in the evening. That is now over. He loves the new bed, loves having an adjustable foundation with massager and loves to hog the TV remote. Apparently the bedroom TV only gets SEC football at this moment… :frowning:

Thank you very much Phoenix for the in depth explanation. The OMF representative mentioned that the blended latex in their mattress offers more longevity than 100% natural latex. Is that an accurate statement?

Hi yixi,

Yes it’s accurate for Talalay latex … particularly in softer ILD’s. There is more about blended Talalay latex vs 100% natural Talalay in post #2 here. SleepEZ will tell you the same thing.

Phoenix

Hi, Phoenix,

Had a chance to go by a specialty mattress store earlier today with the wife to test out some 100% latex mattresses (Omi and Pure Latex Bliss). The wife was a huge fan of the Omi (100% dunlop) while I preferred the Pure Latex Bliss (100% talalay). I was convinced that 100% latex was the way to go until I started looking at Brooklyn Bedding. The only reason BB caught my eye was because of the price. I am just having difficulty justifying spending almost twice as much for 6 inches more of latex. My wife is pushing for a mattress that is both made of natural materials (environmentally friendly) with the least amount of animal fibers (ethical). I am still struggling with the decision to go with 100% latex however. My question is, comparing a bed like Sleep EZ to BB, will the BB sleep hotter because of the foam? Will it trap heat and moisture (thus be less efficient at fighting bacteria)? Also as someone with allergies, will BB be more likely to accumulate dust mites? And lastly, the owner of the mattress store we went to told us that talalay cannot be made without some synthetic ingredients whereas dunlop can. Is this true? Do either contain synthetic ingredients? Oh, and also, Flo Beds claims that dunlop is less durable that talalay. Any links you can provide to an explanation of the difference in durability and longevity of these two types of processing?

Hi yixi,

That’s a lot of questions so I’ll try and answer them one at a time :slight_smile:

There is more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).

There is also more about some of the differences between a latex/polyfoam hybrid and an all latex mattress in post #2 here.

There are also many different types and blends of latex that can vary in their properties and their prices. There is more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here. There is also more about the general differences between Dunlop and Talalay in post #7 here. The Pure Latex Bliss mattresses use blended Talalay latex, the OMI mattresses use 100% natural and certified organic Dunlop, and the BestMattressEver uses 2" of blended Talalay on top of 2" of synthetic Dunlop on top of their polyfoam support core. All of these use high quality and durable materials and there would be no weak links in any of them in terms of durability but of course they will be very different in how they feel because they all have different types and blends of latex and different designs.

While it’s not possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person with any real accuracy because there are so many variables involved including the type of mattress protector and the sheets and bedding that you use (which in many cases can have just as significant an effect on temperature as the type of foam in a mattress) and on where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range and because there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials … there is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types of materials and components that are most likely to keep you in a comfortable temperature range.

Wool is among the best temperature regulating materials so a mattress that has a wool quilted cotton cover would have an advantage in terms of temperature regulation vs a cover that was quilted with polyfoam or a cover that wasn’t quilted at all but latex in general is the most breathable and the most temperature neutral of all the foam materials so it’s unlikely that most people would have any issues with sleeping temperature on any of the mattresses you mentioned.

I don’t think any of the mattresses you mentioned (or for that matter most mattresses) would have any issues with bacteria because most people would be using a mattress protector on their mattress anyway which can be easily removed and cleaned.

There is more information about dust mites and allergies and methods that can be used to control dust mite populations or other allergens in post #2 here and in post #3 here. There is also more about allergy encasements in post #2 here.

Whether a mattress accumulates dust mites has more to do with your mattress encasement and mattress protector than with the mattress itself.

Latex can be made using either the Dunlop or Talalay method and either one can use either natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or a blend of both. Even latex that uses 100% natural rubber though (either Talalay or Dunlop) will have some additional ingredients in the formulation outside of the rubber itself (see post #7 here). Even Dunlop latex that has an organic certification only has to have 95% natural rubber (see post #2 here for more about the different types of organic certifications and post #2 here for more information about organic and “safety” certifications)

Outside of blended Dunlop latex that has high levels of fillers (which you generally won’t find) or 100% natural Talalay in the softer ILD’s … I would treat all the types and blends of latex as close equivalents in terms of durability and they would all be more durable than most other types of foam materials.

Phoenix

Hi - I’m new member here mostly doing a lot of reading and research. Since one of the brands you are looking at is OMF we currently have 3 OMF beds and are very happy with them. All 3 are innerspring. What prompted us to research mattresses is that we made the mistake and tried out an adjustable bed and had to have it! Unfortunately our current OMF mattress is not made for an adjustable bed. After much reading, going to multiple stores to reacquaint ourselves of what is out there, we are going to stay with OMF and getting the OMF Serenity, hubby liked the Serenity Latex and I preferred the Serenity Plush (memory foam). It’s our first all foam beds. We did try all latex (Savvy Rest) but if we like the foam beds maybe we’ll spend the $$$ in an all latex. Previous to OMF we had a Sleep Number bed which was the worst bed we ever owned - what a waste of money IMO! Anyway we have all good things to say about OMF and highly recommend them. Good luck with your mattress shopping. Also thanks to Phoenix and this site - lot of helpful information! :slight_smile:

Hi meriflower,

Thanks for taking the time to share your comments and feedback about OMF … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

Like you … I also think they are a source for some good quality/value mattresses which is one of the reasons that I include them in any of the local lists where they have a store.

It sounds like you have decided on two versions of the Serenity mattress (although it also sounds like you may still be considering a component latex mattress) and assuming that you decide to pull the trigger … congratulations on your new mattresses :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Hello, just an update. We decided to go with Sleep EZ. Thanks to Geekymom1 for the suggestion on Foam Sweet Foam. They are a bit more than Sleep EZ, but they did have a great labor day sale. Considering Sleep EZ’s own labor day sale plus the discount for being a member at Mattress Underground, Sleep EZ was a better value. We were also really impressed by the transparency of Sleep EZ, especially with their in depth information about the manufacturing process of their latex on their site. And thank you Meriflower for your information on OMF. We were definitely sure we did not want another innerspring mattress as that is what we had previously and did not give us the pressure relief we needed. We received our Sleep EZ talalay mattress on Monday and have been sleeping well on it. No back or shoulder pain so far. It is not as soft as plush as the OMI mattress we tried locally, unfortunately. We may eventually buy a plush mattress topper (we were looking at the flo bed twice shredded talalay topper, for example) to give a more luxury feel. We also made the mistake of ordering a low profile foundation which has made our bed much lower than we are accustomed to!

Hi yixi,

Thanks for letting us know what you ended up deciding … and congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

As you know I think you made a great quality/value choice.

As you also probably know there will be a break in and adjustment period with any new mattress so I would wait a few weeks before making any changes or additions to your mattress (see post #3 here and post #2 here).

It may be worth talking to SleepEZ as well about your low profile foundation as well to see if they can do anything for you.

Phoenix

I am glad I could help, even if you didn’t find the best deal at FSF. I think a lot matters with the type of configuration one chooses. Had I bought my same configuration at SleepEz I would have paid approximately $400 more, taking into account the 10% sale at SleepEz and the Labor Day sale ($400 off each mattress) at FSF. (I went with 100% Talalay for the top layer, which would have only been available with the Organic line at SleepEz.) Had I gone with blended the prices would have been a little closer.

I love the different shopping options that the Internet provides. It is also nice that there are a number of well-regarded mattress companies that one can choose from and save a lot of money with instead of being stuck with the brick and mortar stores that may not have the best choices and deals.

Case in point: a co-worker was loudly bragging about her new Tempurpedic mattress and adjustable foundation she got at Mattress Firm over the Labor Day weekend. She was telling everyone that she got a great deal and really made them drop the price and only paid $4100 for her mattress plus the foundation plus tax. I didn’t want to bust her bubble so I just told her I hope she enjoys it and kept quiet about my purchase. I am thankful for sites like themattressunderground and sleeplike thedead that helped me make, what I consider, a better value choice.

Thanks for reporting back yixi on your purchase and experience so far. OMF’s Serenity mattresses are all foam there are no innersprings. I would suggest calling SleepEZ like Phoenix said and see if they are able to do anything for you.

You get no great deals from Mattress Firm! When we went there they tried selling us a very expensive foam bed that blew hot or cold air called Atmos, over $9000 - we said goodbye!

*** ADMIN EDIT: This post was split into a new topic and was originally a reply to post #13 here. ***

Phoenix or others, can you tell me what latex mattress Yixi bought?
I can’t figure it out from reading the earlier posts.
I’m trying to figure out what might be a good (Talalay) latex mattress that’s not too expensive.
The “Pure Latex Bliss” brand seems pretty pricey.
I know how long something lasts affects the value.
Any guidance is appreciated.
Thank you.

Hi Gail J,

Hopefully Yixi will see your post and let us know the mattress they purchased but he/she didn’t mention it in their post.

I would also keep in mind that while other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be 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 a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (see post #13 here).

There are also no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness as well and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.

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 and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc) 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 or other mattresses you are considering 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 to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.

[quote]I’m trying to figure out what might be a good (Talalay) latex mattress that’s not too expensive.
The “Pure Latex Bliss” brand seems pretty pricey.
I know how long something lasts affects the value.
Any guidance is appreciated.[/quote]

The best place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to 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 “comfort” and 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 when you sleep on it in “real life” 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 and PPP (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).

If you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of that are close to you.

If you are also comfortable with an online choice then the tutorial includes this link to a list of the members here that sell mattresses online (in the optional online step) that compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency and many of them also make component latex and latex hybrid mattresses that use different types and blends of latex that have a range of different designs, options, features, return and exchange policies, and prices that that would also be well worth considering.

The “best” suggestion I have is to follow the steps in the tutorial one at a time which will give you the best possible chance of making the best possible choice.

I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding … and of course any comments or more specific questions you may have along the way.

Phoenix

Phoenix,
Thank you so much for your reply.
My zip is 95482. Any recommendations you have for trying out latex beds in this area and the surrounding areas will be appreciated. I do see that FloBeds is in my county and that they seem to have a good warranty policy that seems to include being able to buy new latex layers over the years at a substantial discount.
https://www.flobeds.com/guarantee/goldilocks-guarantee.htm

I will be delving into the research on your site. Very much appreciated!

Hi Gail J.

Unfortunately you are somewhat out of the way and there isn’t a forum list for your area. I took a look around your area and made a few phone calls to see what was available and there aren’t any other retailers that carry latex and Flobeds would be your closest option to try a latex mattress.

As you probably know Flobeds is also a member of this site which means that I think very highly of them and I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency so even though it would involve a drive … it would probably be well worth the time for a purchase that is as important as a mattress. You are also fortunate to live fairly close to them because you would have the chance to try them out in person and most people that purchase a Floveds mattress purchase them online.

A component mattress certainly has advantages because you can customize the firmness before a purchase by choosing the number and firmness of the layers (and they have a zoned option that has customizable zones as well) and you can also rearrange or exchange a layer after a purchase if your original choice turns out to be either too soft or too firm. Having individual layers also means that if one of the layers in the mattress softens or breaks down before the others (usually the upper layers because a mattress will tend to soften or break down from the top layers down) or if your needs or preferences change over time you can just replace a single layer instead of replacing the whole mattress.

Phoenix

Phoenix,
Thank you so much for looking into this for me. I appreciate that you even made calls about this!

Are some of your mattress forum lists for specific geographic areas?

Santa Rosa, CA is 60 miles away and has the most shopping. If there is anything there it would be very easy to go there. I know that Sleep City there carries Pure Latex Bliss. Although, I would much rather work with one of the commercial members on MU. We could even go further afield (San Francisco, etc.).
Going to FloBeds will be an enjoyable drive and we are motivated to find a good mattress. This is a whole paradigm shift for us. Somehow it’s hard to break out of the corporate force field. Your site lets us know that there is another world out there, even thought it appears hidden otherwise. Thanks for your empowering knowledge. It’s like finding out about a hidden economy and an alternate way to do business, as well as learning about mattresses.

The component concept for latex mattresses seems like a great way to go.

We’ll be out of the area and internet free for awhile, but this is first on our list upon return.
Thank you so much!
Gail