Looking for Advice - Latex Mattress or Topper

[phoenix]

Hi Clawdia,

You’re the epitome of diplomacy, without question.

Part of this is of course because I wasn’t there but part of it is also because there are so many retailers that have so little knowledge and provide so little accurate information in the industry that I’m actually happy when I see one that is say 80% accurate and can easily overlook the 20% where they aren’t because 80% is so much better than what most people are given.

I will go back. After all, it is the product I’d be buying, and not a personality. At this point, I’m a bit puzzled as to exactly what questions to ask, and how to ask them in such a way that they generate as accurate an answer as possible.

There really aren’t too many questions left to ask except about their policies for exchanging or fine tuning the mattress if it turns out that your testing didn’t “predict” your longer term experience on the mattress. You already know the materials that are in the mattress and they are good quality and besides testing for PPP that’s really all that you need to know to make an informed decision and make good comparisons to other options that may be available to you.

I’m honestly at a loss when it comes to deciding between the two mattresses, the relatively soft and the softest. I know what I think I’d want if I could afford it - what he calls the Perfection 20 - 19-24 over a 23-27 core - but with the addition of the Perfection 16 top layer, a 16-18 top, making it a 12" mattress. I think that would give me the softness I crave but with a secondary soft layer and a firmer core.

If you are undecided between two different comfort levels that are fairly close I would tend to go with the firmer because it’s much easier to make a mattress that is too firm softer with a topper than it is to make a mattress that is too soft any firmer (unless you remove and replace layers). Of course this would also depend on any exchange policies they offered. You can always add a topper as a second step as well.

All I really want to “win” in this case is to find the best possible sleeping solution at the best possible price. I didn’t have chance to ask if his published prices are at all negotiable, but I learned at my Daddy’s knee that it never hurts to ask, as long as one asks politely.

I completely agree that it never hurts to ask and it can also help if you have a couple of other similar options to compare them to. Many local manufacturers offer their best price every day and don’t have sales but “value” is always relative to what other similar mattresses that are also available to you. There is more about “negotiating” in post #6 here.

My husband was unable to help me figure out if my spine seemed to be in alignment, and that’s a very difficult determination to make when no one is being of any help. Is there a subjective feeling or an objective measurement that it’s possible to make to help figure that out? My husband did say I seemed to be lying more “in” the softest mattress, but “on” the next grade firmer.

I’m not sure if you’ve seen these but the links to the testing guidelines in post #1 here should be helpful and includes some of the objective and subjective signs and cues to look for.

Oh - and the cover he uses is not tight, so I would hope it wouldn’t stretch too much, and there is no initial stiffness on that cover - it is the softest bamboo I’ve ever felt, and since I have bamboo sheets and bamboo nightgowns, I’m pretty familiar with bamboo. To me, that cover is everything I could want in a cover for a latex mattress - just perfect.

It sounds like a great cover and it’s unlikely that it will need “breaking in” although it may stretch a bit over time.

Also, one last thing. On the softest mattress, I felt as though the middle of my body might be sinking so far into the mattress that I was feeling, just barely, the support layer underneath. Is this a bad thing?

If it leads to pressure issues then possibly but I can’t feel what you feel so you would need to use your “best judgement”. I would remember that more subtle “cues” that you feel when you are testing can be amplified when you sleep on the mattress over the course of the night. I would also remember that in many cases people tend to choose a little softer than they really need or that is best for them.

I hate it when my ignorance shows, but sometimes learning requires putting it out there.

I would keep in mind that you probably know more meaningful information about mattresses than the majority of people who sell them in mainstream stores across the country

Phoenix