Thanks so much for all of the information on here. I have been reading quite a few posts and am ready to ask some questions of my own. I live in Wichita, KS and am looking for a queen size latex mattress for my 16 year old daughter. She is mostly a side sleeper and weighs 100 pounds. She currently has a memory foam topper on her bed which she really likes so I know she would like a mattress with a cushy feel. She has quite a few health problems and allergies so I would like to get a mattress with as few outgassing/chemical issues as possible. I don’t want to add to her problems. After reading your mattress forum, I’m looking for a natural latex mattress. Because of cost issues, I’m also looking at the possibility of a natural talalay latex topper on an innerspring mattress.
Questions:
I'm looking at the sleep ez 8 inch latex mattress (6 inches of dunlop with 2 inches of talalay). This would be at the limits of but within budget. There is a sale on this mattress through the end of the month. After reading comments about it, I am wondering if this mattress would be too hard for her even if we ordered the top layer in soft. Would an all talalay mattress be a better choice or one with a thicker top layer? Would one of the latex mattresses at Denver Mattress be comparable in feel to try before we order? Other suggestions?
I have also looked at 3 inch natural talalay toppers to put on an innerspring mattress. They sound like they would be very cushy, though a little scary because it looks like these are not returnable. I have looked around town for an affordable but good innerspring mattress to put the topper on. I assume I should be looking at a fairly firm mattress to put the topper on? I have looked at Beautyrests, which I know you don't recommend. My reason was the Beautyrests have been the only mattresses that I have found locally that I know for sure are Certipur certified. The salesmen don't seem to know what I am talking about when I ask about foams being Certipur certified. We do have a Denver Mattress outlet here with good prices, but I can't find anything on their website about the safety of the foams in their mattresses. Do you know if their mattress materials have any certifications?
There are two manufacturers in Wichita included in post #2 here but only Denver mattress would be in a more reasonable value range (the other sells more premium mattresses). The post also includes a link to some of the other retailers in the area that may also be possibilities. With a few calls … you should be able to find out which have some latex on their floor that your daughter could test and if they can provide any information about the ILD of the latex you would be testing.
Both of the Denver mattress “mostly latex” mattresses use 24 ILD talalay in the comfort layers which would be similar to the “soft” used by SleepEz … but they also have an additional inch of polyfoam in the upper layers which will change the feel and performance of the mattress compared to a 2" latex layer without other polyfoam in the mix. The Denver mattress lower talalay layers are 32 ILD which would also be similar to the SleepEz medium but again … because the overall layering is different, they would not be a “match” … only a guideline.
At 100 lbs … 24 ILD may be a little on the firm side for some people … particularly with only 2" for a side sleeper that is used to memory foam, but personal testing is always more accurate than “theory”. I would suspect that a slightly softer latex layer (and softer than the “standard” 22-24 soft may have to be custom ordered) and perhaps 3" instead of 2" may work a little better. If I did go with a 2" top layer … I would tend to go with lower layers that were a little softer than normal to “help” the comfort layers a bit more and better “match” her weight.
Overall though … the best place for guidance with a particular mattress is the manufacturer or supplier themselves and they are much better at specifics and guidance with the particulars of their own mattresses than the more general guidelines that I can provide which aren’t specific to all the components of any particular mattress. Sometimes even smaller differences in construction can make a bigger difference than many people would suspect.
The SleepEz special has been available for a long time (several years) so I wouldn’t worry about the sale ending although of course this could happen
Talalay will feel a little bit softer than the equivalent Dunlop if you are sinking into a particular layer more than about 25% (where ILD is tested) but using Talalay in the support layers would put you into a different mattress lineup (The special only uses Dunlop in the support layers).
Almost all foam that is poured in North America is CertiPur certified so mattresses that use American foam would be “safe” for most people even though they may not be an official part of the CertiPur program (which costs them money). Even the few US based foam pourers that aren’t I would consider to be safe. Almost all the latex sold here would also be “safe”. All the talalay is Oeko-Tex certified and most of the Dunlop would have a reputable certification as well. If you are buying from a reputable supplier … then latex “safety” is not an issue IMO.
Since she is already sleeping on the “worst” of the types of foam in terms of offgassing and any harmful substances it may contain (memory foam), I doubt that there would be an issue with most good domestic polyfoam although “safety” is relative to the person and there are some people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for example that can’t use any polyfoam in a mattress (ar anything else) at all until it has aired out for months.
Given her weight, sleeping position, and circumstances … I would tend towards softer than average or even softer than most “standard” layering.
Arizona Premium Mattress also has some “all talalay” mattresses in 8" which may also be worth considering in a similar price range. They are also excellent value but they use a single 6" layer for the core and then a 2" (or 3" custom ordered) comfort layer so they are not quite as flexible in terms of layering possibilities. They also have a wool quilted cover instead of a stretch knit cover for those who prefer wool in the quilting of their mattress.
Thanks for the information. I will look into the options at Arizona Premium Mattress for latex choices. I will also look at the innerspring models at Denver Mattress if I decide to go with a latex topper over innerspring. I do want to clarify on the foam used by Denver Mattress. Is the foam in their mattresses American made? I had read your post on the Green Choice bed at Denver Mattress and you said those beds were imported from China, so I just wanted to clarify.
I’ve been lurking on this forum for a while and was about ready to pull the trigger on the 8" special from SleepEz, but this comment made me curious. Normally I’m skeptical of specials, particularly those that are more permanent than “special.” Is there any reason to be leery of this one if I am happy with Dunlop support layers and a $400 savings on the 8" queen-size?
No I wouldn’t be at all skeptical of this and it’s definitely good value. The savings on the 8" queen overall are primarily because there is no wool in the quilting and because there are fewer options in the layering and also because they sell this with a lower margin. It also has 100% natural Talalay in the top 2" layer which is a more costly material than blended Talalay. They used to list it as just “Special” but now it has a month connected to it and the 6" twin size for $595 that is referred to on the main page is the same price as their older pricing before latex prices went up some time ago. Because of the special pricing and lower margins for the Special lineup … they don’t offer the 5% discount for forum members here on the special and they offer a “bonus pillow(s)” instead.
Even smaller manufacturers need to do some “marketing” sometimes (and sometimes have legitimate specials which really are unusually good value) … and at least they are not claiming that it’s 50% off (which are the types of specials I treat with a huge dose of skepticism).
