Latex--now I have no idea!

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

I was nearly convinced of the mattress I was going to buy. I had it narrowed down to the SleepEZ Organic Latex 9". I wanted to try a latex out just to be sure so I went to a local latex manufacturer (Tucker Mattress Co) and got totally conflicting info from everything I’ve read online. Basically here is what I learned there that has me confused:

  1. They don’t like 100% natural latex because it breaks down and because the smell is stronger.
  2. They don’t layer the latex–only use a core and that’s it.
  3. They only use the Talalay latex.

So this is pretty different than the 100% natural organic layered latex that I was about to drop $2000 on. Am I missing something?

I guess my questions are as follows:

  1. What are the advantages of 100% natural latex vs synthetic blends?
  2. Why would he use just Talalay?
  3. With regard to Sleep EZ, is the natural organic latex superior to the regular natural latex?
  4. He doesn’t layer the latex. What would the pros/cons of both be?

Thanks in advance for any insight you have for this very confused shopper!

2

  1. “In general terms NR is more durable than SBR by most definitions of durability (depending on which property of latex you are measuring) but the natural version of Talalay latex in low ILD’s is likely to be less durable in real life than the blend.”
    -Phoenix

  2. Because he has no distributor/manufacturer for Dunlop?

3

Hi yoshi,

This depends on whether you are talking about Talalay or Dunlop. You can read much more about natural vs synthetic latex and blends in post #2 here and post #2 here as well as more about all the different types and blends of latex (including organic) in post #6 here as well as post #6 here.

It could be his sources as yoshi mentioned or it could just be based on his personal preferences or beliefs.

My reply to #1 links to the information about both of these but it depends on how you define superior. In terms of feel or performance then no it wouldn’t be. If an organic certified material was particularly important to someone based on their beliefs or principles or just because they felt better or more reassured buying it then by this definition it would be “superior” yes because of the certification. It would be similar to buying food from a local farm that wasn’t certified organic but used natural farming methods compared to buying food that was actually certified and cost more but may be no better or different.

The main pros would be less latex and lower cost (possibly offset by using a box spring instead of a rigid foundation and possibly finishing the mattress on both sides) and no softer latex comfort layers on top (softer is less durable than firmer in any material) and possibly having a two sided mattress which is also a more durable design than a one sided design. The main cons would be having less “room” to design and layer the mattress to customize it to particular individuals in terms of the balance between pressure relief and support/alignment and possibly a mattress that was a little less “adaptable” to different weights, shapes, and sleeping positions than a thicker mattress (see post #14 here about thicker layers and mattresses).

Keep in mind that the “end result” which is what I call PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) and your own personal value equation based on how the mattress actually feels and performs for you is always more important in “real life” than any theory or any of the many conflicting opinions or ideas that you will come across about almost anything concerning mattresses.

Asking some why they believe what they do or do what they do can also be revealing to see if it’s just an idea that they’ve never questioned or is based on real information or experience :slight_smile:

Hope this helps.

Phoenix