Phoenix, I know how unoriginal this comment is, but thank you so much for providing this invaluable resource! We paid way too much for an average mattress that we understood nothing about when we got married 9 years ago and are ready to switch to something much more comfortable. Thanks to this site I feel much more informed already.
My husband and I have tried out mattresses at both the Original Mattress Factory and Hayne’s in Richmond, VA. We liked the comfort layers in the Latex Foam and the Orthopedic Ultra Plush at OMF (the luxury firm was also pretty comfortable), but we haven’t yet done the posture alignment tests as we tried to just focus on the comfort of the top layers. We were turned off by how heavily Tempurpedic was pushed at Hayne’s, and we thought there weren’t any latex mattresses because the sales person hadn’t mentioned them. Then, as we were leaving and saying “goodbye” he remembered (I think he may have overheard a comment I made to my husband), and he pointed them out but dismissed them as uncomfortable, saying that he wished the Healthy Back would take all of their supply …
In addition to retrying the mattresses at OMF for longer periods of time to test posture alignment, I would also like to get a feel for hybrid latex constructions–both on a foam core and an innerspring core if possible. Are there any places you could recommend in Richmond that would have these types of mattresses? At this point I am leaning toward purchasing something at OMF or online from Brooklyn Bedding (one of the ones with exchangeable layers–either all latex or a hybrid) as they both seem to provide great value, but I would like to try out more types of latex combination beds to have a better sense of what we prefer. So, anywhere that would have different options we could feel out, even if it doesn’t have the best service (since we can order online if we don’t do OMF), would be great.
Unfortunately it would be more than a full time job to keep a list of different mattress types and cross index it to all the stores in the country and even then their floor models are constantly changing so before it was even part way complete the list would probably be completely out of date. Even the more general lists on the forum can easily go out of date and when I checked the Richmond list for example it appears that http://layersbedcompany.com/ is out of business (website down and phone not in service).
Once you have an idea of the types of mattresses you would be interested in testing then this part of your research would be dependent on calling the stores in your area and describing the types of mattress you are interested in testing. If they are knowledgeable about their mattresses they will easily be able to tell you if they have any mattresses that are in the category you are interested in trying. Unfortunately, many salespeople are more interested in getting you into the store than they are in providing you with helpful information on the phone.
This is a typical comment made by an uninformed salesperson. Latex can be a more “difficult” sell because of the interest and advertising that surrounds memory foam and most of the mattresses made by major manufacturers are easier to sell to consumers that base their choices on brand and don’t even look at the material (which are still the large majority). An easier sell that doesn’t involve educating or informing the customer in combination with higher commissions or spiffs (kickbacks) will often translate into negative comments about mattresses that don’t fit their “sales profile”.
You are also wise to test a variety of latex or latex hybrid mattresses because you can’t really generalize the feel of a whole category when each individual design inside the category can have a very different feel and response although they will also have some things in common to the general design of the mattress (a polyfoam support layer for example will tend to be stiffer and less responsive than a latex support layer although others may also call it more "stable’ and less “springy” depending on their individual perceptions and experience and on their preferences).
At Haynes for example … Restonic makes some latex/polyfoam hybrids (although they don’t appear to carry these) and Pure Latex Bliss also has a hybrid 3.0 line as well (and their website indicates that they carry two of these).
It may also be worth calling Bedcrafters in Richmond.
Golden also has some good quality/value latex/polyfoam hybrids.