So glad to find this site. I really want to buy all latex, but money is a problem.
So I am considering an Amish made innerspring from a local Amish business who uses high quality materials, including certapure certified foam which (according to the mattress maker I spoke to personally and the certapure website) has minimal to no odors left to outgas. Their mattresses are flippable and have a 20 yr. warranty.
What is your opinion about putting a 100% dunlop or talalay topper on top of an 8" or 11" innerspring in such a case. The innerspring is pretty firm, so I’m not sure whether 2" or 3" of latex would be needed (body weight is between 140-50).
I’ve read some of your posts on optimal purchase situations, but I have no way to test what the latex toppers might feel like and would have to order online.
Some of the Amish manufacturers make some very good quality and value mattresses.There has been some good feedback about them in the forum (see this thread about Country Bedding as an example).
CertiPure can also be important as well but it’s a “safety” certification primarily (for VOC’s and harmful ingredients in the foam) and the quality of polyfoam and memory foam is expressed in density.
Having a two sided mattress is also a durability bonus and it can be especially important when there is polyfoam in the comfort layers. Many of the smaller manufacturers do this and if I was looking at a more traditional innerspring mattress I would certainly lean in that direction.
I think this can be a great idea. The latex topper will extend the life of the foams in the mattress (just like the ability to flip them) and with firmer mattresses this can be a great component system and has the flexibility to change or replace the topper down the road without having to change or replace the entire mattress.
The softness and thickness of the topper would depend on your body type, sleeping positions, and on how much soft foam was already on top of your mattress. The comfort layers in the mattress and the topper combined would become your comfort layer so thicker and softer layers in the mattress would lead to a thinner topper while very thin firm layers in the mattress could use a thicker topper. Since you are on the light side … softer latex would generally be the preference for most people. Side sleepers generally need thicker comfort layers than back sleepers and stomach sleepers need the firmest thinnest comfort layers of all the sleeping positions.
A good guideline would be 1" for “just a bit” more softness, 2" for a “little to a fair bit” and 3" for lots more softness although all of this of course is very subjective and will vary person to person. Keep in mind that the more soft foam you have in the top of your sleeping system (mattress and topper combined) that the further away you are from the support system and the more risk there may be for support and alignment issues. A good average guideline is about 2". The firmness would be dependent on your preferences but 19 ILD would probably be in the range for most at your body weight with some people maybe going a little firmer into the upper end of the “soft” range of about 24 ILD. Dunlop will feel a little firmer than Talalay in the same ILD because it gets firmer faster with compression than Talalay.
So it may be helpful to know the layering of the mattress you are considering and more about your sleeping positions and how the mattress feels without a topper (so you have a better sense of how much more softness you may need) before deciding on the specifics of a topper. There may be other manufactures near you that carry latex that you could test as well (if you let me know what city you’re in I’d be happy to let you know of any I’m aware of).
Overall though … a high quality two sided firm mattress with a high quality topper can make a good quality, flexible, and durable sleeping system IMO.
An Amish furniture store in NW Ohio near to where I live is where the mattresses are sold. The Amish company is called Upland Industries or Manufacturing. I had a hard time searching for them–they are in Sugarcreek, Ohio in Holmes County. The furniture dealer had me on a voice call with someone at their factory to get information about the foam they used. Usually it is difficult to communicate with these sorts of Amish companies because of lack of phone etc.
Phoenix posted a link to a thread about Country Bedding, which is also nearby these folks in NE Ohio. The big problem with both without going through a middle-man furniture store is that the drive there and back is lengthy and hauling mattress components gets to be prohibitive, too. So a consumer would have to buy the products from the furniture stores the Amish folks sell through in order to not worry about transport/delivery.
Thanks for the information, Phoenix. After researching some of the latex mattress dealers mentioned on this forum, I was able to locate a very reasonably priced 100% latex set from SleepEZ to purchase. My husband’s worries about ordering blind and online were resolved with their return policies, quick shipping, and great customer service.
We had wanted very much to support the local folks (in this case a rural furniture store near us in NW Ohio who sells mattresses from an Amish business in Holmes County), but I really wanted latex. When I sat down to actually crunch ALL the numbers involved, we only ended up paying about $100 more for the mattress set by ordering online than we would have by purchasing an Amish innerspring and foundation from the store and a latex topper online.
Our old mattress is a 20 year old innerspring that I can truthfully call “shot.” We have never been able to afford a decent quality new mattress, but we decided the investment now was really worth it for the sake of our backs and overall health. I can’t wait to try out my new mattress when it arrives!
As you know … I think very highly of SleepEz and with the options they offer and their help and guidance they certainly make an online order a lot less scary.
For the sake of those who are in the same area and who may be looking for some of the local Amish options … the ones I’m aware of are listed in the Columbus thread in post #2 here.
I’m looking forward to any feedback you’d like to share once you’ve had the chance to sleep on your new mattress.
