Looking for a mostly natural mattress for around $1000?

Hello,

We are looking for a new mattress. I’m so glad I found this forum and have been trying to read-up!

Any recommendations are appreciated. We prefer springs & natural materials (mostly for health/safety vs. environment) and leaning towards the soft/plush side (average weigh, side sleeper with hips and back sleeper) but only have a budget of about $1000. I’m considering the SULTAN HEGGEDAL from Ikea but have heard that it can be rather firm. Looking to drive to Atlanta to test it out. Are there any stores in Atlanta we should visit while we’re there?

Any thoughts on the “natural-ness” that this mattress claims to have? Is it a greenwash or fairly legit?

Incased Pocket spring coil: Steel
Comfort material: 85 % natural/ 15 % synthetic latex, Wool wadding, Natural latex , Coir and natural latex, Polylactide (PLA) fiber wadding
Ticking: 100 % cotton, 52 % cotton, 30 % lyocell, 18 % linen, 73 % cotton, 27 % polyester
Ticking: 100 % cotton
Ticking: 52 % cotton, 30 % lyocell, 18 % linen

I know that $1000 is chump change when trying to buy a mattress but that’s what we’ve got!

Currently have a latex mattress from Ikea several years ago (my first attempt to find a natural mattress) and it feels too firm. My housing limitations restrict the use of a box spring because we can’t get it up the stairs. So I have a platform frame with no box spring. We have a some kind of topper but it’s pointless.

My zip code is 35205 for Birmingham AL but am willing to travel to Nashville or Atlanta.

Am also considering this one: Pure Echo, Latex Enhanced Organic Cotton and Natural Wool Mattress from MyGreenMattress. Anyone have experience with that one?

Thank you.

Wow. I just searched “birmingham al” in the forum and there is so much!! Why did i think I was the only one in Alabama looking for a natural mattress? Will keep reading…

Hi Cotton,

I think the first thing I would suggest is to clarify which specific materials you are comfortable with having in your mattress and differentiate between organic, natural, green, and safe and which of these are most important to you because this will make a big difference in the mattresses that would meet your criteria. Post #2 here and the other posts it links to should help with this.

[quote]Any thoughts on the “natural-ness” that this mattress claims to have? Is it a greenwash or fairly legit?

Incased Pocket spring coil: Steel
Comfort material: 85 % natural/ 15 % synthetic latex, Wool wadding, Natural latex , Coir and natural latex, Polylactide (PLA) fiber wadding
Ticking: 100 % cotton, 52 % cotton, 30 % lyocell, 18 % linen, 73 % cotton, 27 % polyester
Ticking: 100 % cotton
Ticking: 52 % cotton, 30 % lyocell, 18 % linen[/quote]

The materials that Ikea lists are accurate so the percentage of natural rubber in the latex would be correct (within a normal variance because these things are never exact). Cotton and linen are both natural fabrics. Lyocell is a viscose/rayon material which would be a “semi synthetic”. Polyester is a synthetic fiber.

You’ve probably found this already but the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Birmingham area are listed in post #57 here. I would make sure to include Tom and Royal Bedding in your research.

The better options and possibilities in the Atlanta area are listed in post #2 here and the Nashville list is in post #7 here.

There is also a list for the Huntsville, AL area in post #2 here, for the Columbus, GA area in post #2 here, and for the Chattanooga, TN area in post #2 here.

As you may know from your reading here … My Green Mattress (and their sister company Quality Sleep Shop) is one of the invited manufacturing members of this site which means that I think very highly of them in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency and they compete well with the best in the industry. A forum search on Pure Echo (you can just click the link) will also bring up more comments and feedback about them and they are also included in posts #3 and #4 here which has some sources for some of the better lower budget latex and latex hybrid options I’m aware of. They would certainly qualify as a 100% natural mattress.

Phoenix

I was pleased with our visit to Royal Bedding in Birmingham, Al. The owner Tom, was not in on Saturday but the staff member we spoke with was very friendly and knowledgeable. We preferred the Royal Select mattress which has a “Quad Coil innerspring manufactured by Texas Pocket Spring Technology” and is double sided with a thin latex top. We chose the medium 3" latex topped for the comfort layer. This combination with a box spring would be $1598 plus tax. We asked about buying the mattress only however this would not come with a warranty w/o the foundation. Without the box spring is $1473. He gave me copies of some reading material on the fire barrier and coil construction & source materials. I didn’t get the details/have already forgotten what he said about the type of lytex.

It is more $ than I was interested in spending and wanted to ask how this combination of pocket coils + 3 inch medium latex topper compares with others of a similar construction that you’re familiar with. Compared to the mygreenmatttress mattress, this local version is more affordable but of course isn’t organic cotton. I do love that it is made locally and am actually quite surprised to have found them (thanks to this forum).

They don’t do returns exactly but will take apart the mattress and trade the layers for different firmness layers (which we’d have to pay for new materials).

Thoughts? Get over the cost and pay for the quality or keep looking?

Hi Cotton,

Royal Bedding’s two sided mattress and topper combinations are a good design that also have very good flexibility IMO (you can replace the topper without having to replace the entire mattress if you need to down the road) and I think highly of the design (see post #4 here). The base mattress has the durability benefits of a two sided mattress and the topper provides some of the options and flexibility of a component mattress (see post #3 here). They use a very high quality pocket coil and the latex they use is a blended continuous pour made by Latexco which is also a high quality material. Interestingly enough Tom was never a fan of pocket coils in general but the quality and weight of the steel in the Texas Pocket Springs was what changed his mind about using them in his mattresses.

While nobody else can tell you what is “best” for you … there is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here and if the mattress/topper is a good match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) then it certainly uses high quality materials and is a very durable and flexible design and is certainly “good value” compared to other similar mattresses as well. If I was in your shoes I would certainly give it very serious consideration as a final choice (see post #2 here about making “final choices” between “good and good”).

Phoenix