Hi Craig9939.
Welcome back to our Forum all the way from 2013. Great to have you back!
Typically, the useful life of an all-latex mattress can be a couple of decades (or more in some cases) provided that the balance of comfort/support is correctly chosen for each of the sleepers to begin with, and provided that the uppermost layer is medium, medium-firm (soft or x-soft latex being less dense is especially prone to wear out over the years for high BMI range sleepers). It also helps if some level of maintenance is performed at regular intervals of time through rotating and flipping before any level of indentation starts to set in.
[quote} My main concern is that the modern beds seem to be too soft. I have a medium firmness Aurora Hybrid in my guest room and it is MUCH too soft. [/quote}
In general, you are quite right, too many people tend to select mattresses based on the initial “comfort”, and an “enveloping” mattress feel. Many advertisers capitalize on an uninformed consumer’s “wishful thinking” and the impact the mattress has when trying it in the shop without prompting the potential customer to look at the suitability and how well the mattress may perform over the course of a few nights of sleep and after the body has the chance to adjust to the new sleeping environment. Specifically, Aurora Hybrid is a taller mattress with different materials (poly, memory foam, and pocket coils) which will feel different to different people. The two different types of mattresses you own will also perform differently so it’s difficult to make apples to oranges type of comparisons.
Although it can be tempting to send you off in the direction of an all-latex bed that can closely resemble the construction and feel of your 2013 mattress, the real solution may not be that simple. As some or more of your mattress latex layers softened it is important to do a retrospective evaluation to see if, and how much of your personal stats, health conditions, and other variables concerned with your needs and preferences may have changed over these 10 years. These variables would greatly affect any similarity in feel (even for exactly the same mattress that has not been used. For example, did your BMI change to any significant level? The type of your chronic health condition and degree of discomfort are also important factors. The sleeping positions and type of pains you are experiencing in each of them will also give you good clues in terms of support/comfort you may need. This said if you have some of these answers and can reach out to a knowledgeable manufacturer or retailer.
Knowing the type of mattress, you do well with is essential. I am glad you have the time to go out and try some of the all-latex beds. Even though in your case the budget is not an issue as the latex price has steeply increased you’d still want to get good value for your money. I would certainly suggest to you to rely on the advice of the manufacturer themselves (provided that they are knowledgeable, experienced, and have a historically long third-party track record of good customer success) They would be much more familiar with their own mattress designs and materials than anyone else (including me) and be able to compare their products with other well-known similar products. They can use the information you provide them about your body type and sleeping positions, your preferences, your history on different mattresses, and the results of your local testing to make suggestions based on the “averages” of other customers that may be similar to you. The more accurate and detailed the information you provide them the better you will help them to help you make the best possible choices out of the options they have available.
A good starting point is the filtered all-latex mattress search of Trusted members ~ directory of the site. I’d definitely make a few phone calls, talk, and/or visit those closest to your area to narrow down to a few good finalists that meet your criteria.
Good luck and let us know how it goes along the way. We’ll be here for any additional Qs you may have.
Phoenix