Looking for a good King sized mattress in Waynesboro, PA

[phoenix]

Hi equestride,

I found it interesting that even though they asked similar questions etc…they seemed to have slightly different answers to what bed they think would be best for us.

Here is what the three companies recommended. Curious to see what you think…although I KNOW it’s all subjective you have been doing this for a LONG time and could possibly nudge in a certain direction based on your opinion of each company or things that have seen or experienced in the past. I do not hold you accountable as …like you have said…what I feel is very different from another but any light that can be shed would be appreciated.

Different suggestions from different manufacturers is more the rule than the exception because all the mattresses you are looking are different to some degree or another (see post #8 here). The truth is that this is as much of an art as a science and there will be many configurations or combinations of layers and covers that will work equally well for you and when you are dealing with knowledgeable and experienced online manufacturers I would go with the outcome of your conversation with each of them regardless of whether they seem to be different from another manufacturer that makes a different mattress. All of them have a great deal of experience with helping customers that are similar to you and will know much more than I do about their own mattresses (I haven’t slept on any of them). They also help customers make firmness and layering choices every day while I don’t do it at all (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here). They also have all been in the industry for much longer than I have. They are the experts about which of the options they have available that would have the highest chance of success for your specific needs and preferences.

Nature has 6" core but 2 toppers…it is a level 3 which is considered medium/soft and is their best selling bed but felt (to us) firmer because of the 2 toppers (I am assuming) and would soften over time.

Pamper has 6" core but 1 topper and is a level 7 and considered Firm by them. The core is firm (firmer then the nature) but 1 topper and felt softer to us. This could be because of just one topper OR just being more broken in.

Latex is also a very durable material and while any foam material will soften over time … latex will soften less and more slowly than other types of foam that are the same firmness level. On a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being the softest … Pure Latex Bliss rates their Nature as a level 7 and their Pamper as a level 4. The two layers of softer latex in the Nature would make it feel softer to almost everyone … not firmer … but of course what each person feels on a mattress can be very subjective and unique to them.

Both beds were not THAT much of a difference to me but I know I need a firm support for our weight but would like a softer top to support my hips and shoulders.

The softer top layers provide pressure relief for your hips and shoulders … not support. Primary support for the heavier areas of your body comes primarily from the firmness of the deeper layers and secondary support that “fills in” the recessed gaps in your sleeping profile along with pressure relief comes primarily from the thickness and firmness/softness of the upper comfort layers. There is more about primary and secondary support and their relationship to pressure relief in post #4 here.

He recommended the 13000 in the dunlap or talalay blend. Personally…with my research about OUR weight and Side sleeping I feel all talalay is probably better but he seemed to think the blend would support basically exactly the same. I was unsure of this but the 100% organic that they sell is way to expensive for us due that we have to buy the base too.

The choice between Talalay and Dunlop is a preference choice and I wouldn’t think of it as a “better or worse” choice in either comfort or support layers. Dunlop is a little bit more “supportive” than Talalay in the same ILD because it gets firmer faster than Talalay as it’s compressed more so some manufacturers tend to suggest it in support layers. Talalay is a little bit more consistent in terms of its ILD and tends to feel a little softer in the same ILD in comfort layers as Dunlop for the same reason so it’s often used in comfort layers but the choice of which type of latex is “best” for you is more a preference choice than a better worse choice with either pressure relief or support layers. Some people just prefer the feel of Dunlop and others prefer the feel of Talalay. There is more about the differences between them in post #7 here.

I would keep in mind as well that there are two types of Talalay latex which are 100% natural Talalay and blended Talalay. A mattress that uses either one of them would be “all Talalay” regardless of whether it used blended Talalay or 100% natural Talalay. The Pure Latex Bliss Natural line that you tested for example uses blended Talalay from top to bottom so they are “all Talalay” mattresses that use blended Talalay. If you were testing a mattress that used 100% natural Talalay in all the layers it would also be an “all Talalay” mattress that used 100% natural Talalay. SleepEZ’s Natural version gives you the choice of either blended Talalay or 100% natural Dunlop in any of the layers so you can either use one type of latex for all the layers or choose a mix of 100% natural Dunlop layers and blended Talalay layers. Their organic version uses the same type of 100% natural Dunlop in both versions but any Talalay layers would be 100% natural Talalay not the blend. It would only be worth choosing this if you preferred 100% natural Talalay vs blended Talalay because the Dunlop would be the same. There is more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here but it boils down to two different manufacturing methods (Dunlop or Talalay) and each of these can use either synthetic rubber, natural rubber, or a blend of both.

I also am concerned of just the one topper and it being too soft for us as time goes on and our weight softens it.

You may be overly concerned with latex softening over time. While it’s true that any foam material will soften and this will happen faster with higher weights … I would keep in mind that latex will soften less and more slowly than either polyfoam or memory foam which are the other two types of foam that you would otherwise be sleeping on with almost all other types of mattresses (with a few exceptions of mattresses that use natural fibers such as wool or horsehair or other much less common materials in their comfort layers)…

He suggested a firm 6" core and then a 3" topper that was a level 6 which seems rather soft to me. I also am concerned of just the one topper and it being too soft for us as time goes on and our weight softens it.

It sounds like he was suggesting a firm support core with a softer “level 6” comfort layer which would be 28 ILD. Just to put this in perspective … the Pamper you were looking at uses a 2" layer of 21 ILD which is softer and the Nature you were looking at uses comfort layers that are 2" of 21 ILD and 2" of 28 ILD so on average they would be softer as well (although they are thicker which also “feels” softer for most people).

The price tag as in our range at 2289.99 for everything but I was nervous because the only thing we can do is add a topper down the rd (but not under the zipper part). I figured I’d rather pay a little more now because I suspect this will be the case down the rd. I do wish they offered more variety in their layers and thicker beds (over all with more layers) to cater to heavier people. they seem like a wonderful company to deal with.

You would have the option of exchanging the top layer with either a firmer or softer version or adding an additional topper if you wish to do any “fine tuning” not just adding a topper and a mattress with 9" or latex inside the cover with an additional 3" topper would be the same thickness as a mattress that used 12" of latex inside the cover. There is also more about the difference between using a separate topper and having the same material inside the cover (as part of the mattress) in posts #3 and #4 here and in this topic.

I then called flexuscomfort but seeing the pricetag of a 13" that had dunlap as the majority of the bed I quickly decided that it was a bit to much for that. they only have a 3" talalay. While dunlap is probably totally fine for most people …my research on here and on the internet leads me to honestly think…at our weight of just under 500lbs …230 and 240 that 100% talalay seems the best route and there are places that sell this…so we crossed them out.

Again … the choice between Dunlop and Talalay would be a preference choice based on the different feel or properties of each. I would put 100% natural Dunlop and blended Talalay in the same durability range and in a similar price range as well. You can see a video here for example of a Dunlop mattress that was in use for almost 50 years. Flexus uses 100% natural Dunlop in their support and transition layers and then uses Talalay in their comfort layers which is a fairly popular design.

I only say all this to you because I KNOW you have developed relationships with many of these companies and if you have a chance to have a honest conversation about this you should because it could turn people away that could easily purchase from them. Not everybody has cookie cutter perfect bodies.

The mattress industry is somewhat unique because weight is such a big part of a mattress choice but each person will also have their own “style” with how they approach what for some can be a “delicate” issue. Sometimes the person you are dealing with will take certain verbal cues to decide how “direct” they should be and how to talk about their mattresses (and they may also misread the cues). I also have enough experience to know that some people “connect” more easily with certain styles that others would tend to avoid and vice versa. Some people prefer more “direct” or even “brusque” and others prefer a “softer approach”. In other words … some people prefer to deal with certain types of people or personalities for the very same reasons that they would make others uncomfortable.

All of the manufacturers you are dealing with are very successful and have a large customer base that thinks very highly of them and I tend to leave their “styles” or how they approach their customers up to them and I’ve never considered it my role to tell any of the members here how they “should” deal with their customers or run their business. Of course if they ask me about various things (which they sometimes do) or there are some clear issues or “patterns” in feedback from the members here that I become aware of from forum posts then I would certainly let them know more “proactively” but my approach is generally to let each of them run their business with the “style” that they believe is best and let the market decide whether it’s their most effective approach.

I couldn’t seem to reason why he suggest the dunlap topper instead of talalay and he never seemed to answer me.

If you are curious about any of their specific suggestions then it would be a good idea to ask a specific question about “why” they are suggesting what they are. It may just be a general feeling that their experience tells them would work better for you that they don’t have a technical reason for or he may have picked up on something you said that was the basis for the suggestion. Either way he would be in a better position to tell you about the “why” behind his suggestions.

He was a little “iffy” on the price of shipping and kept saying he’d throw in 2 free pillows or waterproof cover or 5% off mattress which is around$100 …all this nickel and dime stuff doesn’t matter when you are buying something that expensive to me. I just want the TOTAL cost of the bed …including shipping and minus whatever small discount or free things etc… doesn’t matter to much to me because it’s nothing massive enough to care.

I agree with you about the importance of knowing the price of shipping (and of course any discounts you are eligible for) because Arizona Premium adds the cost of shipping to the price while with most of the others the shipping cost is a “hidden” part of the quoted price which doesn’t tell you what it is but where you know the total cost up front.

Overall you are looking at some great options and I think highly of all of them as you know. If I was in your shoes I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from any of them. While I can’t help with which one would be the best match for you in terms of PPP or which choice you “should” make or even which one you should be “leaning towards” (and they may all work equally well) … when you are down to “good vs good” and there are no clear winners between them then post #2 here and your own “best judgement” or even “gut feel” can help you make the choice that is best for you based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including prices and the return or exchange options for each and any costs involved if you need them).

You have come a long way from not having enough good options to choose from locally to having four great options to choose from

Phoenix