Hi ljt,
“Feel” is very subjective and it’s much more effective to use your own testing and experience to see which one you prefer because like anything subjective or based on personal preference each person may have a different answer. I would keep in mind also that there are many types of innersprings and many versions of latex used in the support core of a mattress so there is no single “feel” in any category of mattresses. Much of the “feel” of a mattress also comes from the upper layers of a mattress not the support core underneath them.
Having said all that … there is more information about the differences between innersprings and latex in a support core in post #2 here but the biggest difference is that an innerspring is more “springy” or “bouncy” than a latex core and has a different response curve when pressure is applied to it.
Latex is a fast responding and highly resilient material and memory foam is a slow responding and very low resilience material. There is more about how they compare in post #2 here but once again your own personal testing is the best way to know which type of comfort layers you prefer. Fast response highly resilient materials (like springs, latex, or polyfoam) are more opposite to slow response materials (like memory foam) than they are similar regardless of what type of support core is underneath them (innerspring, polyfoam, or latex etc). Again … I would keep in mind that an innerspring can use any type of foam above the springs which is where much of the “feel” of a mattress comes from. The most common type of foam in most mainstream innerspring mattresses is polyfoam which is also a fast response material (although it’s not as resilient as latex) but in most cases is lower quality and less durable than latex. The comfort layers of a mattress above the support components are almost always the weak link of a mattress in terms of durability.
The Bamboo Bliss is a latex/polyfoam hybrid so compared to a mainstream “traditional” innerspring mattress that uses an innerspring with layers of polyfoam on top you would be comparing the “feel” of an innerspring with the “feel” of polyfoam in the support core (innersprings are more resilient than polyfoam) and the “feel” of latex vs the “feel” of polyfoam in the comfort layers (latex is more resilient and more contouring and pressure relieving than polyfoam) and in most mattresses what you “feel” when you first lie down is more the comfort layers than the support layers.
It would be a good idea to test some mattresses that use Talalay latex in the top few inches of the mattress with different firmness levels to get a sense of how Talalay latex feels to you compared to either Dunlop latex or polyfoam or memory foam which are the other main types of foam that are used in the top layers of a mattress.
Phoenix
PS: @ Everready073,
Thanks for your reply which you posted as I was writing this one and I think is “right on the money” as well 