Thank you, first of all for sharing your vast knowledge.
I have just spent a few hours reading as much information as I can on this site after mattress shopping for way too long. We are turned off by the low quality foams in the popular mattresses coupled with prices that don’t match what you actually get. We generally like the feel of the icomfort and Optimum mattress and would like to know where we can find a mattress with a similar feel but with better quality ingredients like a Dunlop latex core and Talay latex slow response upper layer.
We are located in Ocala, Florida 34480
We are considering Arizona Premium to build our own since I’m not sure what we are looking for is available near us and/or is probably cost prohibitive. I read your information about DIY mattresses which makes me unsure about that option as well.
There is more about the different ways that one mattress can “match” another one in post #9 here but these types of comparisons are somewhat subjective and different people with different perceptions, body types, or sleeping positions can have very different experiences on the same mattress and may have very different opinions about how closely one mattress “matches” or “approximates” another one.
Outside of a manufacturer that makes a specific comparison of one of their mattresses to a mattress you are considering or using as a “target” in their description, or that is familiar with your specific “target” mattress and how their mattresses compare in terms of firmness or “feel” based on their own personal experience when you talk with them on the phone, the only way to really know if another mattress is a reasonable “match” in terms of “feel” or firmness would be based on your own personal testing or sleeping experience. In this case I would also consider their return or exchange policy as a more important part of the “value” of your purchase and your personal value equation so you still have good options available after a purchase in case your own personal experience doesn’t agree with their description.
There is a link to a list of some of the better online sources for memory foam mattresses I’m aware of in the tutorial post (in the optional online step) but most online manufacturers that make comparisons of their mattresses to a major brand use Tempurpedic mattresses as a reference point because they are so widely available but some of them may also have some personal experience with how their mattresses compare to other mattresses made by other major manufacturers or use other major brand mattresses as a reference point in their descriptions (for example Novosbed compares one of their mattresses to the Sealy Optimum Destiny and another one to the Sealy Optimum Inspiration) but this is much less common.
In many cases … the time you spend testing a major brand mattress where there aren’t any online manufacturers that compare their mattresses to the specific mattress you have tested is often wasted unless you are planning to buy that specific mattress (see this article).
Latex international no longer makes their slow response latex because most people that preferred a slow response material tended to choose memory foam and while there are other companies that also make their own version of slow response latex it may be difficult to find. Latex is also a very different material from memory foam with a very different response and properties so a latex hybrid mattress won’t really compare to a memory foam mattress. There is more about how latex and memory foam compare (or don’t compare) in post #6 here.
The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Ocala area (subject to the guidelines here) are listed in post #2 here.
