Mattress shopping - Unable to try all latex mattress in my area

Talk To The Experts Sleep EZ
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[color=black]My wife and I went mattress shopping this past weekend. We spent about three hours in total looking at one department store and one chain store. We were hoping to try a variety of different types of mattresses. Unfortunately, neither store had an all latex mattress. At the department store, the salesperson (20+ years in the business) told us that they didn’t carry latex mattresses because they’re too expensive relative to a comparable conventional (i.e. innerspring) mattress. He said their customers wouldn’t buy all latex mattresses for that reason. The interesting part was that they carried several $2500+ king mattresses and one holland maid coil king mattress at $5999, Hotel Collection Vitagenic Mattress by Aireloom .

From the mattresses we could try, my wife liked the feel of the Tempurpedic LUXEbreeze soft / plush and that was her top pick. She did not like the same mattress in the firm model. I preferred a very plush innerspring mattress, Beautyrest Legend Bradford Pillow Top. Our second-place mattress was the $5999 mattress, but it was a bit firm for me.
In general, my wife preferred firmer while I preferred a softer comfort layer. I liked the springiness / responsiveness of the innerspring mattress instead of the slow responsiveness of the Tempurpedic. The Tempurpedic was initially too firm for me but then it got softer as a I stayed in one position.

We’re still thinking we’ll need to go with a 2pc split mattress given our preference differences made even more evident during our shopping trip. Latex still sounds very compelling from what I’ve read on this site. The department store salesperson told us that a latex has a similar feel to a conventional innerspring mattress. Is that true? I couldn’t find a Memphis store selling even one model of an all latex mattress. Does it sound like it could still potentially work for both us given our shopping trip results? Link to my previous post
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I tried 3 latex mattresses when shopping.

2 were at IKEA…and they felt hard as a rock. I didn’t even both looking up the specs for it.
The other was at the Original Mattress Factory. This ones was mostly latex, with a little bit of polyfoam in the middle.

I’m basically ignoring the IKEA one. But for OMF, I’d say it felt more along the lines of a Hybrid or full-foam mattress - which isn’t surprising being latex is a foam itself.

There’s also various ILDs as well as a difference in feel between Talalay and Dunlop…so it’s hard to really say how it will feel.

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You mentioned that latex is “too expensive” for the stores to carry. That’s what I heard at a few places as well. My guess is that what they really mean is:

  • “Latex is much more expensive than foam & springs, so it costs the manufacturer more. If we sold it at the same markup as our other products, nobody would buy it. If we sold it at a competitive price, then our markup would be too low to justify carrying it”
    IDK…that’s just how I see it.

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Being there’s no options around your best bet is to find a reputable online retailer that has a good return/trial period. Make sure you look hard into the return/trial policy. Many advertise a trial period, but it will actually cost you a decent bit to send it back.

I too wanted to go with the split-king with 1 side being firmer than the other. If this is the route you’re going, it starts to limit your options a bit.

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For a split configuration latex mattress that has a nice trial/return policy, Sleep EZ came out as my top choice. So, you may want to start there.

If you are willing to risk it, you can save a decent amount by going the DIY route. I almost went with Sleep EZ, but then went with Arizona Premium. They don’t offer returns, but it came out to ~1,200 rather than ~1,700. For that cost-savings, I was willing to take the risk…especially being that I can swap out some layers if needed.

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For you, I’d probably recommend Sleep EZ - or maybe another place you find. Either way, being you haven’t been able to try latex in-person, I don’t know if I’d risk it by going with a place that doesn’t do returns. The DIY route is certainly cheaper…but probably not worth the risk for you.

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BChaps, thank you for your feedback. Yeah, I’m not really interested in a DIY solution and am OK with spending extra money to go the non-DIY route. I’m trying to do some online comparison shopping now. I’m going to make another post that ask questions about online retailers that may work for us. Thanks for the recommendation. Sleep EZ seems like they offer a solution that could work really well for us.

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Hi again logicg8, and thank you so much for your recent order! As stated in our phone conversation, I think you made a great choice going with Sleep EZ and this is for a few reasons – we use our 43 years of experience to make very accurate recommendations for our customers, and we use our extensive experience to help our customers get their mattress dialed in if any comfort adjustments need to be made. I think you made a great choice in following Shawn’s initial recommendations, but if you have any comfort issues whatsoever please let us know and we’ll get the mattress dialed in to your specific needs and preferences. Aside from that, the mattress we’re sending you is typically a 20 year mattress, so if anything comes up over the next 20 years please don’t hesitate to ask, we’re always happy to help!