Latex-pros and cons

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
33

Two years ago, using the information I learned here, I purchased a latex mattress.
The pros: My latex mattress is the most comfortable mattress Iā€™ve ever owned. The cons: Iā€™ve been struggling trying to correct the heat issues Iā€™ve been having at night ever since my purchase.

Iā€™ve read all the temperature regulating posts on this forum which have been quite helpful. Iā€™ve followed the advice I learned here and replaced sheets, comforters etc. I have experienced some cooling effect, but I am still very uncomfortably warm even during very cold nights. Recently, Iā€™ve been thinking that I may need to replace the mattress entirely. But, I donā€™t want to give up on latex because itā€™s so comfortable! If itā€™s helpful, here are some details of bedding that I use.

  • [li] The king size mattress was purchased from Dreamfoam bedding. The mattress is one layer and is made of Talay latex with a latex core. The latex layer is lined with pincore holes. The latex layer is placed in a mattress cover that is made of 100% bamboo.
    [li] The mattress sits on a box spring that has wood slats that are 2.5 inches apart.
    [li]We removed the mattress protector after speaking with the mattress seller about the temperature issues.
    [li]Our sheets are Sferra Percale Celeste made of Egyptian Cotton. Iā€™ve also tried Sferra Giza (which are too pricey) as well as 100% Bamboo sheets. I didnā€™t notice much difference in temperature regulation.
  • We are using a 100% pure wool comforter (light weight) purchased from Holy Lamb organics. The duvet cover is 100% organic cotton.

I am debating whether I should try a different latex mattress that might sleep cooler. Does one exist or is there another problem with my mattress/bedding Iā€™ve overlooked? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

34

Hi tisman91,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :).

Firstly, its a really good thing that you have a mattress that is really comfortable, as you see on these forums some people work really hard to find the right balance. I would be very cautious about a whole new mattress, as it could cause other issues that affect sleep, as you well know. The very good thing about latex is it now envelops your body so much better, which in turn means a higher sq/ ft of your body is touching the mattress, hence you sleep warmer.

Regarding the mattress cover, you mention 100% bamboo, and I am not accusing anyone of anything in particular, but many mfgrs, say ā€œmade with bambooā€, but in reality, the cover is may be a bamboo / polyester blend. May want to look at the law tag for that. Which by the way I am not saying this is a bad cover, as with many latex mattresses covers that are more stretchy and flexible, which is most likely a knitted fabric, and most knits are blended.

One interesting thing about high-quality sheets and comforters, they are not always the most breathable fabrics. Wool, a wonderful bedding material, is also a great insulator. Another fact about wool is regarding thermal conductivity. Thermal conductivity is a measure of the ability of a material to transfer heat. Given two surfaces on either side of the material with a temperature difference between them, the thermal conductivity is the heat energy transferred per unit time and per unit surface area, divided by the temperature difference. There is some more technical science on this but typically wool has a lower thermal conductivity, basically retains body heat, not allowing it to transfer as well as other fabrics.

I do not have any quick easy solutions, as you will need to try to affect the other variables in the bedroomā€¦temperature of room, air flow, quantity/density of blankets, etc. I am very sensitive to temperature at night, and I truly understand your dilemma. Good luck, I wish I had clearer answers.

Thanks,
Sensei

35

Following your advice, I found the law tag. Unfortunately, the tag did not list the materials used in the mattress cover. As a point of clarification, I am calling the mattress cover the encasing that the latex inserts fit into. However, the tag listed the name of the manufacturer. After a few phone calls, the manufacturer gave me the coverā€™s composition. You were absolutely correct! Itā€™s actually 57% polyester/nylon, 40% cotton and only 3% bamboo. I was a little surprised at the small amount of bamboo used considering this was a big selling point for me at the time of purchase. Also, the cover has bamboo written all over the outside. Iā€™ve attached pictures. I feel that the labeling is entirely misleading.

More importantly, I need help finding a solution. I believe thereā€™s a high probability that the mattress cover may be the culprit for my warm temperature issues. If I wanted to replace the cover (encasing), what materials would you recommend that would give the highest chance of reducing my temperature issues? Also, can you replace only the cover without buying new latex inserts?

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36

Hey tisman91,

Well, interesting about the cover, misleading and mattress industry sometimes go hand in hand, hence this is what makes TMU so great.

You mention that there is a high probability that this cover ā€œmay be the culpritā€ of the heat issues. I donā€™t see any data or facts that confirm this being the key reason. I am not saying you are wrong, just as an unbiased participant, and looking at the total scope, not sure is the main reason. But as far as mitigating the heat issues of your very comfortable mattress.

Regarding the solution, can you replace the cover, well I guess technically you can, but this is a non-zipper cover so you would be manually changing the by cutting it off or cutting the top part off, and then lose the warranty. Then you would buy a cover on the open market as most traditional manufacturers donā€™t sell "replacement covers.

Regarding what is the best fabric replacement to look for here are some good posts about cooling and fabrics, etc etc. Some of this information may be duplicated but worth getting caught up on.

This post #29 has some good information about heating/cooling/climate of the mattress and associated fabrics.

Additionally, the first half of this post #7 has some great links to more information.

All of this, of course, is separate from any environmental conditions in the bedroom (temperature and humidity levels with higher humidity adding to the perception of heat), on the physiology and tendency of the person themselves to sleep warmer or cooler and where they are in the ā€œoven to icebergā€ range, and on their weight and body type which will affect how deeply they sink into the foam layers of the mattress. And also the clothes that you are wearing to bed, as these are closest to the skin, and effect moisture wicking, and breathability.

Hope this helps, some of the members of this site do sell mattress covers and can help you get a new cover or mattress pad if you choose to remove your existing cover.

Thanks
Sensei

37

Hi Phoenix,

Iā€™m a side sleeper weighing about 225 lbs. Iā€™ve had a very hard time finding a mattress that is soft while also providing enough support to align my spine.

Can an all-latex mattress provide enough support for a side sleeper of my weight, or do I really need something with an innerspring support layer?

38

Hi HaDov. You are right, it is difficult to find a mattress for you because most are designed for the average person. We tried to address that problem by combining wood on latex with more latex on top of the wood. Our slat system can be used for a person of up to 350lbs without any modifications. What I have learned through a few customers that are in a similar weight range is that a heavier person (i.e. over 200lbs) starts to sink in too much on a softer mattress and therefore does not get proper spinal alignment. I am thinking of a particular person I had in Quebec (Canada), he ended up sleeping on the firm side of our mattress which fixed his trouble with proper spinal alignment. The trick though is that we use Natural Talalay latex which is softer then Dunlop. The Talalay combined with our slat system gave him a soft enough surface with a foundation that is firm enough to align his spine properly.

39

Hi HaDov,

Thanks for the post.

In addition to CBHā€™s input and details of how their systems work for high BMI individuals (Thanks CBH :)), Iā€™ll add that when considering an all latex vs an innerspring the simple answer is that both can provide appropriate support for a side sleeper of your weight. While Iā€™ll spell out some of the differences Iā€™d certainly keep talking to the expert members as they can guide you in this process of fine-tuning it for your own particular needs and preferences.

Both innerspring and a firmer latex core can be used as a support layer and each has very ā€œdifferentā€ characteristics but besides the more obvious ones the most important differences are the ones you can feel and that you personally prefer. Both of them come in softer or firmer versions and in many different designs so an innerspring could be firmer than a latex core or the other way around depending on the specifics of the components you are comparing. There is more about the 4 main types of innersprings in this article and in post #10 here and more detailed information about innersprings vs latex support cores in post #2 here and more about the different types and blends of latex in this article and in post #6 here .

Other technical differences are as follows:

Innersprings absorb less energy than latex which means they are more resilient. They ā€œpush backā€ more strongly than latex in other words but this is not the same as softness ā€¦ only about how much of the energy that is used to compress them is lost (or how high a ball will bounce when itā€™s dropped on them).

Latex has a similar or higher compression modulus than most innerspring spring rates and either gets firmer with deeper compression at a similar rate as an innerspring (Talalay) or at a faster rate than an innerspring (Dunlop) which means it can be more ā€œsupportiveā€.

Different innersprings have widely different abilities to take on the shape of the body (depending on the number of coils and how independently they function) while latex is much more ā€œpoint elasticā€ than any of them because it can flex in each part of the core with less effect on the area around it than an innerspring.

In general, latex will be more motion isolating than an innerspring.

Firmer latex will be more durable than an innerspring but neither of them would tend to be the weak link of a mattress.

Innersprings have more ā€œairā€ in them so they would be more breathable than latex even though latex is the most breathable of the foam materials but the deeper layers of a mattress also have less effect on the ventilation and temperature of a mattress than the comfort layers.

Most latex is more expensive than most innersprings.

They ā€œfeelā€ very different with innersprings being more ā€œbouncyā€ or ā€œspringyā€ than latex (although latex has more ā€œspringā€ than other foam types).

There are many other more technical differences but the most important differences are the ones you can feel. Either of them can make a good choice for a support layer and in the end, it really boils down to which one you tend to prefer. Both of them can provide good/support alignment. There are so many varieties of both that itā€™s not really possible to make more specific comparisons outside of some of the more obvious and more ā€œgenericā€ differences that Iā€™ve mentioned.

Making more generalized assessments of a mattress only based on one component doesnā€™t take into account that all the layers in a mattress work together and will affect its feel and performance so either one could be part of a mattress that provides you with your pressure relief and alignment/support needs. Assuming that all the materials in a mattress are high quality ā€¦ everything boils down to which mattress design works best for the two basic functions of a mattress.

Good luck, and let us know if you have more questions.

Phoenix

40

Hi,
Iā€™ve often seen that latex is one of the more durable mattress materials, but Iā€™ve been having issues with that recently. About two years ago, I purchased a latex mattress - a flippable one with a 4" firmer support core and 2" of softer latex glued to both sides. I donā€™t know the ILDs, but I would have called them at least medium firmness out of the bag. To my understanding all the layers are 100% natural Dunlop latex, possibly GOLS certified but I was never able to find our particular model online. The mattress is a queen size, and is set on a narrowly-spaced wooden slat system that more than meets the specs Iā€™ve seen required by any manufacturer (3/4" boards, 3 1/2" wide, spaced about 1" apart, with a center rail).

My wife and I are both side sleepers. Iā€™m about 5ā€™9" and 175 lbs, sheā€™s about 5ā€™4" and 170 lbs. At first, the mattress felt too firm for her, and was causing pressure points on her shoulders and hips. We got a 2" Dunlop topper from the same manufacturer as the mattress (they donā€™t work in Talalay or we would have considered that). This helped a bit, but within a month or two it had developed soft spots around hip level, which led to a sort of ā€˜bowl-likeā€™ feeling when laying on the mattress since the shoulder and knee areas were still firmer. This uneven support was causing both of us neck, rib, back, and hip discomfort which progressed to pain as the unevenness increased. Since the topper was so new, we were able to swap the topper under warranty for a new 3" one in hopes that it would not wear out as quickly; it lasted longer than the 2", but soon started to soften around the hips as well.

We removed the topper one night to see how things felt, it turned out that by now, the mattress had softened up enough that we could sleep directly on it comfortably. However, even that only lasted some months before the mattress itself started becoming soft around the hips like the toppers had. We were able to get more use out of it by flipping and rotating the mattress, but we had to do so far more frequent than the manufacturerā€™s suggestion of a few times per year - once every week or two at first, later once or twice each night to try to get the pain and discomfort low enough to fall asleep. The visible impressions in the mattress are not more than 1/2", but the firmness (and consequently support) varies so much that we just canā€™t use it anymore. Weā€™ve gone back to the mattress we had previously replaced - a poly foam mattress that was showing similar support ā€˜dishingā€™ to what our latex is now, though to a lesser extent. That one took five years to get to that point, and the five-year lifespan was the reason we thought we should upgrade to latex, as itā€™s supposed to be more durable than poly foam. The old mattress is working for now but isnā€™t great and we want to find a replacement ASAP.

Basically, weā€™re at a loss as to why our current mattress and topper are acting like this. We had a previous 3" Talalay latex topper that lasted us for several years on a firm mattress before wearing out, and that mattress was wool and foam construction and didnā€™t actually lose support - we just had to sell it when we moved. Now, weā€™re left wondering why this material which seems to be so durable for everyone else is going from too firm to unevenly soft so quickly. Without any real insight as to why this happened, itā€™s making us question the durability of latex, or for that matter, other materials classified as ā€˜durableā€™. Itā€™s also making it hard to commit to buying anything, since we have no confidence anymore that a mattress that feels good now wonā€™t be painful in a year. And if latex wears out that quickly, will anything else last longer for us? Did we just get some products from a bad batch? Was it possibly partially synthetic latex or otherwise less durable than usual? Is it actually not worn out, and just broken in unevenly due to something weā€™ve done or something about us? Does Dunlop wear that much differently than Talalay, making it just the wrong choice for us? I donā€™t really expect that anyone is going to be able to answer all of these questions for our specific case, but I just wanted to illustrate our current situation and any insight into what might be going on would be greatly appreciated!

41

Hi huliyska,

Welcome to our mattress forum :).

Thanks for the post. That is very interesting, and a bit unusual. I assume you purchased the mattress at a local retailer? What store? By any chance do you mind looking on the law tag, it may give us some information about the manufacturer, which in turn, we may know about the source of the latex they use or used in the past? Flippable mattress meant that the 2" soft latex was the same ild on both sides? Was the cover a sewn shut cover? What was in the quilt? No ILD or denstiy information on the topper either? 4" Latex firm piece? was this one-piece or two two-inch pieces, most latex comes from the factory in 6" heights, so this means that many times they use 2 layers to make up the 4"ā€¦

Seems like a mattress that some of the Factory Direct stores in the midwest. Possibly you donā€™t want to mention the manufacturer, I understand, itā€™s your choice.

Summary of latex complaints:

Generally speaking, as we know from thousands of consumers, and industry info, we know the data is very good about latex durability. I totally understand why you would be gun shy, makes sense, as your description is not normal. Also, to be technically correct, all foam, latex included, will soften some % over time. In almost all cases this is very gradual and subtle and not noticed by consumers.

One thing that has happened to all latex manufacturers in the past is an very very small % of timesā€¦an issue with ā€œcuringā€ of latex, no matter Dunlop Talalay 100% Natural or Blended. Some latex factories around the world are better at this than others, itā€™s a technical process, some Asian companies will let them sit for 48 hours after production just to be safe.

Think of queen mold as a waffle makerā€¦one pours in liquid, close mold, add heatā€¦if one removed the waffle too early, what part is too soft? The middle!!! Right where your hips are.

I have been in and around a lot of latex factories, and many times this is not noticeable until the quality department can cut the core open and look at the foam. It can seem like a first quality foam, but there was some issue in the vulcanization process.

Let me know if you have any of the other info about the mattress.

Thanks,
Sensei

42

Hi Sensei,
Thanks for the reply. Iā€™m going to hold off on naming the mattress for now as Iā€™m still discussing the situation with the manufacturer. Iā€™ll try to answer some of your other questions:

The mattress is one single firmer 4" piece in the core sandwiched between two equally soft 2" pieces. The cover is a zippered cotton knit cover. I believe the topper is 30 ILD.

This is exactly why weā€™re confused as to whatā€™s going on. Quite a while ago, we had an old polyurethane foam mattress that had softened relatively evenly over several years, and only got rid of it because moisture and mold problems in our home at the time forced us to throw it out. After that, we got another polyurethane foam mattress which softened somewhat unevenly over about 4 years before we decided to replace it. We attributed the lifespan to having chosen a less durable material, but even that lasted longer than our latest mattress. Weā€™re now sleeping on the support core of that polyurethane foam mattress and using thick Therm-a-Rest mats as toppers, which is actually rather supportive and hasnā€™t left us in pain in the mornings, though I canā€™t say itā€™s the most comfortable bed Iā€™ve been on.

Anyway, itā€™s left us wondering if thereā€™s something about our setup or sleep behavior thatā€™s particularly hard on mattresses, or some normal ā€˜wearing inā€™ that weā€™re particularly susceptible to and so a mattress that would be fine for most other people is bad for us - we had a couple guests sleep on the latex recently and they said it was comfortable, though they have rather different builds than we do. Or maybe it was just a bad batch like you described.

43

Hey huliyska,

Thanks for getting back to me, I really appreciate it.

Itā€™s so hard to say exactly what may be occurring. And I totally understand why you donā€™t want to list the brander name the brand right now no worries whatsoever. Thank you also for the description of the mattress thatā€™s a lot clearer and I understand what theyā€™re trying to do.
The descriptions you use for poly/memory foam beds you had; one mattress gradual softening and another more uneven is really quite commonplace with traditional polyfoam.

Additionally, in some cases, people can be very hard sleepers on some materials and that can affect the durability of the material. But my gut says this probably isnā€™t the case especially as you describe the polyfoam mattresses. Itā€™s really difficult for a retailer to talk to the manufacturer who then has to talk to the latex producer to try to ā€œfigure outā€ what may be the problem with latex cores or layers. Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Thanks again,
Sensei

44

[quote=ā€œPhoenixā€ post=77072]

Purple uses a unique bucking column gel they call Hyper-Elastic Polymer. There is more about buckling column gel in this article and in post #2 here and the posts it links to and a forum search on " buckling column gel" will also bring up more comments and feedback about it as well.

The Purple mattress has been discussed quite a bit on the forum and it is covered in the Simplified Choice thread here and you can also perform a search on Purple here for other posts mentioning this product.

Phoenix[/quote]

Iā€™ve been searching the site but havenā€™t found the complete story on the purple mattresses. Sounds like the materials are good from a quality standpoint and that there is a bit of a love/hate with the buckling column gel. I noticed a lot of negative reviews around sagging with the original purple mattress straight from their site. Sounds like they had some defects and I was curious if those quality issues have been resolved in the new purple hybrid premier beds? I am a side sleeper that is currently in physical therapy for shoulder pain and I think my current too firm mattress may have something to do with it. Iā€™m very interested in the bucking gel but want to make sure I know what Iā€™m getting into with purple. Any thought or other recommendations would be appreciated

45

Hi I am new to this forum and thinking of going with a latex mattress because I too suffer from shoulder pain. I am guessing that a dunlop construction would be preferable over talalay because it offers more support in terms of PPP. My boyfriend prefers a firmer mattress too. I currently have boxspring system. I am wondering if It is possible to use an all latex mattress with the current box spring or would I have to go to a platform foundation?

46

Hey Rosenthal311,

Welcome back to the TMU Forum :slight_smile: ! Thanks for your question.

Purple is one of the Bed-in-a-box companies using Buckling column gel, you can read more about this technology in TMU Mattress comfort layersarticle. To quote Phoenix from Canā€™t beat buckling gel post #2: Buckling column gel is certainly a unique material and is also very durable. Itā€™s one of those materials (much like memory foam) that tend to generate strong feelings either for or against it depending on preferences but for those who like how it feels and performs it can certainly make a great choiceā€¦

I canā€™t advise on whether those things have been worked out or not but would be cautious about using anyone elseā€™s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance. Only you can feel in a mattress what would be a perfect choice in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences). I would encourage you to find a local resource that carries Purple in their store (the website lists available retailers in their ā€œShop> Try in Storeā€ link near the bottom of the Home page) and spend some quality time reviewing each of their three models. Would be interested to hear more about your mattress shopping research, keep us updated when you can.

Thanks,
Sensei

47

Hi there and thank you for this wonderful site!
Unfortunately, I have to report that despite doing a fair bit of research after purchasing a king size latex bed from North Shore Linens in Vancouver, Canada, both my husband and I have increased lower back pain, shoulder pain and hip pain.
We purchased this bed just over a year ago. At first, we thought it was great! (The springs in our old mattress were literally poking us in the ribs). During the past six months, however, we both started noticing increased pain and stiffness upon waking. I wonā€™t go into the details of the latex mattresses here, as I know you are familiar with what North Shore Linens sells, but I will say that I am 5ā€™2" and 125 lbs. and my husband is 6ā€™ and 210lbs. I chose the twin 6" soft mattress and he chose the twin medium 6". This is covered with the king size latex 3" topper. When we tried the mattresses in the store, there was no topper on the mattresses.
The other day, while mulling this over, we decided to try our mattresses without the topper to see if the mattresses felt more like what we thought we experienced at the store but in fact, the mattresses felt even more ā€œrock-likeā€.
We are quite desperate at this point and are considering trying to sell the mattresses and frame. The frame was purchased from K&D frames in the U.S. (Charleston Platform Bed ā€“ KD Frames). The slats are 2.8" apart and it seems to be absolutely fine. I notice they seem to no longer sell the King size frame unless itā€™s perhaps by special order only.
Any information you can provide to us would be most appreciated. We basically dread going to bed, have terrible sleeps, and look forward to feeling somewhat better once we move around a bit in the morning.
I am about to begin researching what type of mattress - brand, style, etc. would be best for people with low back pain and pressure point issues. Some of your trusted companies on here are either unavailable in Canada or too costly with the exchange and shipping so it narrows the options somewhat.
Thanks so much for any enlightenment you can provide,
queenbeee

48

Hi, I should clarify that we did lots of research PRIOR to buying the mattresses at North Shore Linens so we felt relatively safe with our purchase. Also important to note that although we didnā€™t notice a huge problem until after the usual 3 month guarantee, North Shore Linens has no such guarantee or trial period of any kind. So, itā€™s quite a risky purchase.

49

The greatest minus of latex mattresses is that they sometimes cause allergies and itā€™s not a joke. It is really dangerous.

50

Hey queenbeee,

Welcome to the TMU Forum :slight_smile: ! Thanks for your kind words on the site and for your question.

Sorry to hear that you both are experiencing lower back, shoulder and hip pain after an initial 6 months of good rest on your North Shore Linens mattress, that must be terribly frustrating.

According to North Shore Linensā€™ web site, they offer Dunlop Arpico 100% latex components of which both your 3" king topper and 2/ 6" twin king support layers are made. As their site offers no information in terms of construction, it would be speculation on my part to suggest from a quality/ technical standpoint why you and your husband are experiencing a change in the mattressā€™s support. With your mattress being ā€œjust over a yearā€ old, and the initial ā€œbreak-inā€ period being a ā€œgreatā€ experience, but that you both have ā€œstarted noticing increased pain and stiffness upon wakingā€, it seems unlikely that the foam would be the sole problem. Just curious, have there been any lifestyle changes in your routines over the past 6 months? You may want to check out Phoenixā€™s thoughts on breaking in of mattresses and lifestyle changes, as well as the bodyā€™s adaptability to smaller changes, perhaps other consumers following your post would find these of interest too.

Here is a listing of Canadian and US manufacturers/retailers who are TMU Trusted Members, carrying Latex or all Latex mattresses and who ship across Canada that you may wish to consider. They are very seasoned in providing good guidance over the phone and fitting their customers with a suitable product in terms of comfort/support needs:

CBH Wood Furniture: Canadian Manufacturer with an European tri slat system bed deign with natural latex mattresses which is great for proper alignment.
Dormio:Canadian Manufacturer specializing in organic/natural latex mattresses with options that fit all budget ranges.
Memory Foam Comfort:]Canadian online retailer with a very good selection of latex mattresses and hybrids.
Bedmasters:US based manufacturer that ships to Canada(free shipping).
Arizona Premium Mattress:US based manufacturer that ships to Canada(shipping charges apply).
FloBeds: Is a US-based manufacturer that ships worldwide.
Flexus Comfort:US based manufacturer that ships to Canada(free shipping).
Luma Sleep:US based retailer that ships to Canada ($50 added shipping) with very good options.
My Green Mattress:US based manufacturer that ships to Canada.
Nest Bedding:US based manufacturer that ships to Canada (free shipping).
Sleep EZ:US based manufacturer who ships to Canada, shipping charges may apply.
Sleep On Latex:US based manufacturer, who ships to Canada).

Feel free to ask any of these or other trusted members questions, they are here to help consumers make informed decisions, providing transparency on their product exchange/ return policies and offer excellent support post-purchase. FIY: these manufacturers/ retailers offer a small discount to TMU consumer subscribers who have posted at least once to the forum, a little something to consider :wink: .

Looking forward to more on your updates,
Sensei

51

Hi Lisummer,
yes latex allergies can be quite serious (but so can many others be). The important this is to ensure that the supposed latex allergy is an actual latex allergy. We find that in almost all cases (I can remember one exception from the various people that I dealt with) the allergy is caused by the chemicals that have been added to the latex. We would always recommend a touch test for anybody that is concerned.

52

Hi Queenbeee,
here is some information that may help in your search to either improve your current mattress or to help you find a better combination of mattress and base.

If you google the term ā€œsuspended slat with latexā€ and then select ā€˜booksā€™ in the menu near the search window, you will have a very good resource appear: International Encyclopedia of Ergonomics and Human Factors - 3 Volume Set

Google will give you a few pages of preview and because this is a rather thick book, you will get lots of pages of preview. On page 922 you will find a little table that give you a suggestion on what mattress type works best with a certain type of base. I have attached that table to this message.

The experts on ergonomics suggest that you are probably best of sleeping on either a combination of latex and movable slats (though here they say that the latex mattress cannot be too thick otherwise it will negate the effect of the movable slats.
The second option is a pocket spring mattress on a spiral base. Here you need to be aware that if these springs and spirals are made out of metal, they may not last very long due to the high fatigue level of metal springs and spirals.