First time poster. I’m in need of a new mattress and was hoping to get some advice. I found a local dealer but the prices are over my budget. It looks like buying online may be my only option, but the idea of having to make a confort exchange is less than appealing.
I’ve narrowed down my decision to talalay latex, either natural or blended. I’m 5’8" - 140lbs, and my girlfriend is 5’6" - 135lbs. I sleep on my back and side, and my girlfriend sleeps on her side. She tends to toss and turn a lot because her limbs go numb after a couple of hours of being in the same position. Any ideas of what comfort layers to get?
Hi lindroid,
There is some generic information in the mattresses section about height and weight here, along with different sleeping positions here, and how different layering will affect these here but these are not specific to any individual and only meant to give you some basic information that may be helpful and help you ask better questions to the manufacturers or retailers you are working with.
Unfortunately there is no specific formula that can take different specifications and circumstances and turn them into the “best” mattress design unless perhaps you are choosing between more limited options instead of any possible combination. There are many different layering combinations that can work for any individual and the most effective way to know which one is best for you is either personal testing in a showroom (hopefully with some good guidance) or through conversations with specific manufacturers or retailers on the phone who can use your local testing along with their knowledge of the specific models they make and/or sell and the experiences of their customer base to help you make the best choice between the models they have available (rather than any possible combination that is theoretically possible).
Post #1 here has a set of steps and links to information that can greatly increase our odds of finding the most suitable mattress for your needs and preferences with the best possible quality and value in your budget range.
The step before actually starting to narrow down your mattress choices is to identify the better retailers or manufacturers in your area (or online if you are comfortable with the added risk of an online order).
Once you have eliminated the worst possibilities and know some of the better ones … then you have some people to work with and can begin to narrowing down some of the mattress choices abvailable to you.
If you let me know the city you live in I’d be happy to let you know of some of the better possibilities I’m aware of in the area or if you do decide to go in the online direction then there is a link to a list of the members here who sell online in the post I linked to earlier.
So to recap … I would first research and choose some retailers/manufacturers to work with (locally or online) … then start choosing specific mattresses based on your testing experiences or on your conversations with each online merchant you want to include in your research.
Phoenix
Thank you Phoenix for responding. I am in northern California in Concord. The local place I went to is The Natural Mattress Store in Walnut Creek. That was my first and only experience laying on a latex mattress, and my first impression was that they’re much softer than conventional mattresses. Their extra firm felt more like a medium when comparing to a conventional mattress. Is this the norm with all latex mattresses?
The Natural Mattress Store has comfortable mattresses, but as mentioned earlier, they are out of my budget. I’m looking to stay under $1,500, and I know that’s going to be a challenge if I want to buy local, or even online.
Online I’ve been looking at Sleep EZ, Rocky Mountain Mattress, Plush Beds, and Mattress 24/7. Do you know if Sleep EZ uses 100% talalay latex, or a blend? I noticed that the description of the mattress I was looking at is contradicting.
Hi lindroid,
The better options I’m aware of in and around Concord are included in the San Francisco list at the end of post #2 here (including one right in Concord itself that I think highly of).
this would vary depending on what each manufacturer called “extra firm” (which may not be consistent) and on the perceptions of each person. Latex itself in all it’s versions comes from very firm to very soft (and there are as many people who would say that latex itself is firmer than “regular” mattresses as there would be people who are convinced the other way around but it all depends on the specifics of the materials in each mattress because any material can be either soft or firm. Latex is certainly more elastic and “shape conforming” than polyfoam and for some people this may “translate” into feeling softer. If I knew the ILD’s and type of latex in the layers of the mattresses you tested then I would have a better idea of what you consider to be soft or firm relative to others but your “rating” may be very different from someone else’s “rating”.
It depends on which of their models you choose and on the layer choices you make. They have blended Talalay, 100% natural Talalay, and 100% natural Dunlop available.
Phoenix