Latex mattress

[phoenix]

Hi yixi,

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

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.

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.

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)?

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.

Also as someone with allergies, will BB be more likely to accumulate dust mites?

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.

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?

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)

Oh, and also, Flo Beds claims that dunlop is less durable that talalay.

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