Looking for some initial advice with latex/memory foam, first time mattress buyer

[kmark]

Hello, firstly wanted to thank Phoenix and the rest of the community for putting up such a perfect resource for mattress buying. This site alone has helped me with 90% of my search.

Some background: I am 6’0" and weigh about 180. My girlfriend lives with me and is 5’5" and around 115. We both are getting some back and neck pain from the mattress we have now. My pain is much worse as I have had several snowboarding accidents that give me pain before any factors from the mattress.

We have tried out many different mattresses and have found that we really like the softer side and enjoy the feeling of sleeping “in” the mattress and love the cradling that memory foam gives us. We have found that from initial tests, we like the Tempur Cloud Luxe the best in terms of overall feel and comfort. In this sense I think we may try to buy the PureCool Luxe from BB and see how that goes since the materials are much stronger with a better price point.

We also tried out several other types of mattresses and found that some of the higher quality innersprings and the softer latex model from the Original Mattress Factory are also great choices and feel nice to lay on. However, my girlfriend can’t get away from that super soft, super cradling cloud luxe feel (and I can’t say I completely disagree with her). She really dislikes the springy feel that latex gives and hates the movement she can feel when I move around and I do a lot when I sleep.

Im a little torn however, because I am definitely interested in making this an eco friendly purchase by buying a latex mattress. I of course would prefer to achieve that perfect sleep and may still go with a memory foam mattress, but I am wanting to do some more digging. A few questions that pop into my head are:

Are there any latex mattresses that can get close to that cloud luxe feel and are still eco-friendly?

Is the memory foam mattress really that much of an insane eco-killer or are those claims a little bit exaggerated? I’ve heard that it is the worst of all mattress types in being green, but everytime I look to see just how much worse it is, I always get mixed responses and/or biased selling techniques (google searches and in-store).

Can the memory foam mattresses be recycled efficiently? If I am making a large footprint by buying one, can I at least offset this by recycling it later on?

Are we just being a little overly excited about the cradling-in effect? As in, sure it feels good now for the 15 mins of laying down in the store but after a year the reduced support is going to make everything worse?

I’ve read over your intro articles (really fantastic by the way, you write very detailed stuff) and compiled a list of mattresses that I like a lot in an attempt to boil them down. I’ll post them here soon but I didn’t want to write too long of a post since I have several more questions and it would have made this already too long post much longer.

Thanks!

[phoenix]

Hi kmark,

We also tried out several other types of mattresses and found that some of the higher quality innersprings and the softer latex model from the Original Mattress Factory are also great choices and feel nice to lay on. However, my girlfriend can’t get away from that super soft, super cradling cloud luxe feel (and I can’t say I completely disagree with her). She really dislikes the springy feel that latex gives and hates the movement she can feel when I move around and I do a lot when I sleep.

The choice between latex and memory foam is really a personal preference issue much more than a “better/worse” issue so this would really be a matter of which one you feel best about. Each one has their own pros and cons. There is also a very wide variety of mattresses in each category that can be very different from each other as well so one “memory foam” or one “latex” mattress (or in the case of OMF a latex/polyfoam hybrid mattress) won’t represent the entire category in terms of how it feels or performs. There is more about memory foam vs latex at least in general terms in post #2 here but your own personal testing and experience is really the best way to decide which one you prefer to sleep on. Some people prefer apples and some prefer oranges but one isn’t necessarily “better” than the other.

[quote]Im a little torn however, because I am definitely interested in making this an eco friendly purchase by buying a latex mattress. I of course would prefer to achieve that perfect sleep and may still go with a memory foam mattress, but I am wanting to do some more digging. A few questions that pop into my head are:

Are there any latex mattresses that can get close to that cloud luxe feel and are still eco-friendly?

Is the memory foam mattress really that much of an insane eco-killer or are those claims a little bit exaggerated? I’ve heard that it is the worst of all mattress types in being green, but everytime I look to see just how much worse it is, I always get mixed responses and/or biased selling techniques (google searches and in-store).[/quote]

Eco friendly doesn’t really have a specific definition and in the mattress industry it’s more of a marketing term than anything else but there is more in post #4 here that can help answer the question of “how green is green enough for me” on a more individual level and post #3 here may also be worth reading as well. Having said that … I certainly wouldn’t call any synthetic material “green” or “ecofriendly” although in some cases it can be recycled into other products.

As far as whether any latex mattress will feel like a memory foam mattress … the “feel” of a mattress is very subjective and unique to each person so it would be difficult to say for any specific person but I think that the most accurate answer in general terms would be no because they are so different from each other. Latex can certainly be as pressure relieving as memory foam and you will certainly sink into softer latex more than firmer latex but they are very different from each other in terms of how they “feel” and respond when you sleep on them.

Can the memory foam mattresses be recycled efficiently? If I am making a large footprint by buying one, can I at least offset this by recycling it later on?

If the memory foam is still in good condition it can be reused in another mattress (or given away to someone else that may sleep better on it than you do) and it can also be used to make rebond foam but in most cases a mattress will end up in a landfill at the end of its useful life and it certainly doesn’t break down like a more natural material.

Are we just being a little overly excited about the cradling-in effect? As in, sure it feels good now for the 15 mins of laying down in the store but after a year the reduced support is going to make everything worse?

This is something that can only be answered by each person based on their own individual preferences. There are people who love sleeping on memory foam and others who won’t sleep on it at all so it really depends on which one you feel best about and on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix

[kmark]

Phoenix,

Thanks for the additional info, I appreciate it a lot.

So given all of that, here are some of the choices that made it to the top of my list. I boiled it down to two stores that I want to deal with, but I’m open to online fronts as well. I only listed those from the physical stores since I couldn’t feel the online ones in person and don’t know about those.

I was hoping you may be able to tell me if there are any objective weak links in these mattresses. I know the subjective portions of these mattresses work for me (based on the PPP method), but what about the objective parts of these mattresses? Do they use high quality materials? Do you think they’d last very long for someone like me (180 lbs)?

Mostly, I’m interested in what the Original Mattress Factory has to offer, specifically their latex model the Serenity Latex. That model uses a High Density Foam Core which makes me a little weary to be honest because in this article Mattress support cores - Overview - The Mattress Underground you mention that this is a lower quality foam than HR grade and so I’m not sure if I’m getting either ripped off or if I’d be able to find the same mattress with a higher quality core somewhere else.

Overall, I can make some room for expense and don’t care too much if I go over budget. This will be with me for hopefully a decade or more and so I’m comfortable with splurging here. As long as I get the highest quality possible I don’t mind. So if you know of any more expensive, higher quality mattresses that are relatively comparable to these please let me know.

Anyways heres the list:

Original Mattress Factory
-Serenity Latex
-Serenity Plush
-Orthopedic Eurotop
-Orthopedic Premier Super Pillowtop

Healthy Back
-Embrace Relaxation
-Elegance

The Eurotop and Pillowtop also interest me but they use an offset coil system instead of the higher quality pocket coil system, are there any mattresses with the pocket coil which compare to these two? Should I even care too much about the offset if it feels good to me?

Thanks again very much!

[phoenix]

Hi kmark,

So given all of that, here are some of the choices that made it to the top of my list. I boiled it down to two stores that I want to deal with, but I’m open to online fronts as well. I only listed those from the physical stores since I couldn’t feel the online ones in person and don’t know about those.

If you do decide to go in that direction the tutorial post includes links to some of the better online options I’m aware of.

If you are looking locally then I would first narrow down your choices to the finalist at each retailer you are dealing with and making sure that you know the specifics of the materials and components in each mattress you are considering (see this article and the information in post #4 here) so you can identify any weak links in a mattress and make more meaningful comparisons between them.

The most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase would be how well it matches your specific needs and preferences in terms of PPP based on careful and objective testing. This is the part that only you can decide because nobody else can feel what you feel on a mattress. No matter what the cost of a mattress or the quality of the materials … if you don’t sleep well on it then it would have little value to you.

If a mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP … then the next most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase is the quality of the materials so you can make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress and make more meaningful comparisons to other mattresses. You can’t “feel” the quality or durability of the materials. If a mattress is a great match for you in terms of PPP but it uses lower quality materials that will soften or break down too quickly relative to the price you paid then it would also have little value to you.

After the suitability of a mattress and durability based on the type and quality of the materials … the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price and any return or exchange options) would also be important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase.

At Original Mattress Factory the Serenity Latex and the Serenity Plush all use good quality materials and there are no weak links in either mattress but which one is best for you would depend on whether you preferred to sleep on memory foam or latex and this is a personal preference. There is more about the new Serenity latex mattresses in post #3 here and post #2 here and post #7 here. there is also more about the Serenity memory foam mattresses in this thread.

I don’t know the specific layering or foam densities of the two mattresses you listed in the Orthopedic line so I can’t make any meaningful comments about them but if you can list the specs of the mattress I’d be happy to make some comments about the quality of the materials inside them or help you identify any potential weak links in their design.

The Healthy Back Elegance uses blended Talalay latex from top to bottom which is a good quality material so there are no obvious weak links in this mattress either although it’s in a higher budget range than other mattresses that use the same material.

The Healthy Back Embrace Relaxation also doesn’t include any information about the quality/density of the foam inside it so I would need more specifics to make any meaningful comments about it as well.

The first step I would take is to decide on whether you prefer sleeping on memory foam or latex (you can see some of the pros and cons of each in post #2 here) which would be the first step of narrowing down your choices.

I would then decide whether you prefer an innerspring/polyfoam mattress (like the two Orthopedic mattresses) more than your preference between latex or memory foam and of course the lower budget range may make a difference here as well. I would ask yourself if the differences between them in terms of PPP and the probable useful life of each mattress is “worth” any difference in cost to you.

The Eurotop and Pillowtop also interest me but they use an offset coil system instead of the higher quality pocket coil system, are there any mattresses with the pocket coil which compare to these two? Should I even care too much about the offset if it feels good to me?

There are many different types of innersprings that can be used in a mattress and each of them will have a different feel and performance (also depending on the comfort materials above them) but an innerspring isn’t normally the weak link in a mattress regardless of the type (the comfort layers are the part of a mattress that will soften, compress, or break down first) so the biggest practical difference between different types of innersprings and other types of support components would be based on what you feel when you test the mattress that uses them (or sleep on them) and how suitable it is in terms of PPP. There is more about the different types of innersprings in this article and in post #10 here. One of the biggest differences between a pocket coil and an innerspring that uses helicals is the amount of motion isolation so if you sleep with a partner then it would be important to test the mattress together to see the differences between different types of innersprings. If you don’t then this may not be as important to you.

Phoenix

[kmark]

Well I’ve finally made my choice and went with the Serenity Latex from OMF. I think I made the right decision and after it arrives and I have a few nights sleep on it I’ll come back to give a final report for anyone else interested in this mattress.

One thing that was getting me and my girlfriend is the sense that we still enjoy the sinking in feeling of memory foam better on our sides, but love the latex better on our backs. Of course the latex won out because of several other factors, but we were curious about adding a 1" or 2’ memory foam topper to get that sinking feeling while keeping with the latex’s durability and great support. What is the feasibility of this? Any advantages/disadvantages I should keep in mind?

Thanks!

[phoenix]

Hi kmark,

Thanks for the update and for letting us know what you ended up deciding.

I think you made a good quality/value choice … and congratulations on your new mattress

One thing that was getting me and my girlfriend is the sense that we still enjoy the sinking in feeling of memory foam better on our sides, but love the latex better on our backs. Of course the latex won out because of several other factors, but we were curious about adding a 1" or 2’ memory foam topper to get that sinking feeling while keeping with the latex’s durability and great support. What is the feasibility of this? Any advantages/disadvantages I should keep in mind?

Adding a thinner memory foam topper can work well to provide some of the “feel” of memory foam without some of the disadvantages that can come with thicker layers of memory foam (such as motion restriction/ease of movement) because of the more resilient latex layer underneath it. For many people that like both memory foam and latex this can be a great idea.

I would first sleep on the mattress for a few weeks though because of the initial break in and adjustment period for any new mattress so you are in a better position to make a good assessment of the thickness of the topper that will give you the results you are looking for over the long term.

After a few weeks you can use the information and suggestions in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to to help you decide on the type and thickness of the memory foam topper that you think would work best for you based on your sleeping experience. The only caution I would suggest is that while thicker layers of soft foam in the comfort layers (the upper layers of the mattress and the topper combined) can provide better pressure relief … they can also be more risky for good spinal alignment because they can “allow” your hips/pelvis to sink down too far before they are “stopped” by the firmer support layers so “just enough” in terms of thickness to provide the benefits you are looking for (“feel” and/or pressure relief) and no more would be less risky in terms of alignment. Thicker memory foam layers would reduce the “feel” and resilience of the latex below it and thinner memory foam layers would “allow” more of the feel and resilience of the latex layers to “come through”.

When you are considering a topper … “just enough” in terms of thickness and softness to provide the subjective “feel” you are looking for and provide good pressure relief for your side sleeping is usually the best and least risky approach in terms of maintaining good alignment in your other sleeping positions. 1" to 2" would be in a realistic range.

I’m looking forward to any updates and feedback you have the chance to share once you’ve had the chance to sleep on your new mattress for a bit and of course about any topper you decide to add to your sleeping system.

Phoenix