Latex vs. Memory Foam

Hi johnc3001,

The Sealy Springfree mattresses contained significant amounts of polyfoam in the comfort layers and also used much lower cost mostly synthetic Dunlop which IMO is a lower quality form of latex. Most people who bought them … even though they were a better choice than many other mainstream options they may have had … had no idea of the amount of polyfoam that was in their mattress or the price they were paying for lower cost/quality latex. You can see an example of the current Stearns and Foster “luxury latex” collection here that is similar and has 5" of polyfoam (and a bit of latex) in the upper layers over their mostly synthetic Dunlop core.

Latex is a very resilient material so it would be more “springy” than other materials such as memory foam especially which absorb energy rather than return it but your experience at OMF may have been exaggerated because they show their mattresses on box springs that have “active” springs in them rather than the more normal rigid base. This can change the feel and performance of the mattress significantly. To get a better sense of what this mattress really feels like “by itself” in terms of “bounce”, you would need to test it on a rigid base (such as their adjustable beds).

Different layering and types and firmness levels of latex would be different but in general latex is the most resilient of the foam materials.

There are some very good options and other local manufacturers in the Orlando area which offer a wider range of options and I think would be well worth including in your latex research. Post #2 here has the “list” including Fox Mattress which is a member here :slight_smile:

This depends on what you are comparing it to. It uses a lower quality of latex (blended Dunlop) and is a single layer with less options for customizing the design in terms of balancing pressure relief and support but it is also a better choice than many other options. In your case and in your area … it would not represent your best choice in terms of quality or value IMO.

As you can see in this article … I don’t recommend any of the larger brands so the one word answer is “NONE”. In most cases what they offer as a “latex mattress” … like the Sealy Spring Free you mentioned earlier or the Stearns and Foster latex are not all latex at all and even in the cases where they do offer an all latex choice … they tend to be significantly overpriced or use lower quality materials compared to smaller independent manufacturers. If they do disclose the layering (which can sometimes be like pulling teeth) … some of the major brand models may be a better choice compared to other major brand models but none of them are in the same value range as many smaller brands or local or online manufacturers unless they are priced at a significant discount to their normal “sale prices” and knowing this would depend on knowing exactly what is in the particular model you are considering.

Hope this helps

Phoenix