Given the whole covid situation my ability to try a variety of mattress has been somewhat limited. So I wanted to go though and get the thoughts from the experts here to see if I am missing any major factors.
To start, the mattresses I have narrowed my search to.
Generally speaking I am looking at Latex or Latex hybrid mattresses due to perceived quality. I have had the opportunity to try a variety of memory foam/hybrids and a purple. So I’m thinking of taking a gamble on the latex feel. Is this too big of a gamble?
I am a bigger guy, 6" 2’ 275. So I’ve read that I should be extra concerned about the thickness of a mattress (and the individual components). Also of note, my girlfriend and I have had modest back pain after sleeping on a helix midnight luxe medium for a trail.
Our current/old mattress is resulting in similar levels of discomfort. It’s a no-name 12 inch firm gel
mattress bought on woot a few years ago. Luxury Gel 12" Gel Memory Foam Mattress
Would the extra inch or two between the three options make any difference to either durability or pain issues?
3) I have found a few articles comparing hybrids vs latex. But they seem to be referencing traditional memory foam hybrids. Is there a good source I can read about the impact of a pure latex vs a hybrid latex?
4)Lastly is there any questions I am missing as far a difference between those 4 options?
Congrats on your new mattress shopping journey, JohnD ! Indeed, the ongoing COVID-19 situation makes onsite showroom visits quite challenging in many regions, good to hear that you’re exercising caution and staying safe. Thanks for your support of the TMU trusted member program, appreciate that you are considering one of these fine manufacturers for your next mattress purchase. Let’s check out your candidates:
12" Cozy Embrace Organic Dunlop Latex Mattress: a 6" zoned Dunlop latex core featuring a 3" customizable dunlop comfort later and a 2" dunlop layer on top. The zippered cover allows for rearranging of the upper two dunlop layers or for replacement of either of the layers if needed in the future. Either Queen or King mattress offers separate comfort levels of the 3" dunlop layer (soft, medium, firm).
Sleep EZ’s Natural Latex Mattress is available in 7", 9", 10" and 13", a 3-layer customizable comfort design, as well as a split comfort design for queen and king sizes. This could be an interesting combination for individual comfort combinations of two sleepers with different body profiles as is the above Cozy Embrace Organic.
Luma Sleep Latex Slumber System: a 6" zoned Dunlop latex core featuring a 2" dunlop transition layer and a separate zippered comfort layer (either Dunlop or Talalay in choice of 2" or 3") on top. Its king size offers a split comfort mattress pillow top, providing adjustable firmnesses to two sleepers.
Luma Sleep’s Natural Latex Hybrid mattress: an 8" Quantum Edge pocket coil support base featuring a 2" dunlop latex transition layer and a separate zippered comfort layer (either Dunlop or Talalay in choice of 2" or 3") on top. The pocket coil construction used is of a medium gauge and may not provide adequate support for those in your higher weight range (you don’t mention your preferred sleep position/s but that would be a consideration too).
Latex could be a good choice for you in terms of its superior pressure relieving qualities, firmer support properties and high durability long-term. For your research, you may find a review of Phoenix articles “Mattress Support Cores: Latex”, “Mattress Comfort Layers: Latex”, “Latex: Pros and Cons” and and "Different Types and Categories of Mattresses"helpful for better understanding the properties, comfort benefits and durability of latex in a mattress. It could be worthwhile to check with these manufacturers and see if they are willing to ship you several sample cubes of latex for getting an idea of the tactile properties of latex so you will have some point of reference for its feel, some will do that for a small fee.
Good job on your research, JohnD . Indeed, higher BMI/ heavier body profiles require thicker and firmer comfort layers and firmer support layers as heavier people are generally larger and need a deeper cradle to spread their weight over the surface of the mattress for pressure relief. Thanks too for sharing your personal statistics as they are helpful for understanding which mattress materials, comfort and support options better suited for your needs. You don’t mention your girlfriend’s height/ weight/ sleep position(s), those would be helpful to know if you both are regularly using the mattress.
Sorry to hear of you and your girlfriend’s modest back pain while testing your Helix Midnight Luxe Medium, a memory foam/ polyfoam over zoned pocket coil construction. While I can’t speculate on what may have been the source of that pain on her part, it could be for you that there wasn’t enough support for your higher BMI needs. Helix does offer a Helix Plus mattress for big & tall customers, featuring an extra foam layer and higher base coil count.
Your current Luxury 12" Gel Memory Foam mattress’s construction features a 6" base foam, 4" comfort foam and 2" gel memory foam on top. Your resulting discomfort here from a construction standpoint may be due to sinking into the upper memory foam layer too far, resulting in improper spinal alignment. What type foundation are you using?
For individuals with higher BMIs, the answer would be yes to both. An added inch of latex would provide more pressure relieving materials, as well as more thickness to the construction for offsetting body and weight compression over time. This question would also be best answered over a phone call with any of the above mentioned TMU manufacturers. All of the Trusted Member manufacturers/ retailers have a deep understanding of their choice materials/ components used in mattress construction, based on years of working with different body types, sleep preferences and comfort needs of consumers. After getting a brief “sleep survey” history using a few questions from you, they would help evaluate materials and layering constructions best suited for your personal preferences. The manufacturers best understand which combinations and firmnesses of their comfort and support materials would provide you with optimal spinal alignment/ pressure relief and higher durability required for your higher BMI needs. In short, “an extra inch or two” between any of the options “could” make a difference but the manufacturer would evaluate what may be a better choice for you based on the knowledge and experience of how their components may react to your body profile.
What articles are you researching? A TMU site searchwould also provide a good deal of consumer feedback of both categories by topic, brand and type component construction.
! Thanks for your question.
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