Like everyone else I am confused about what to buy and who to buy from. Since I am in the upstate of SC and 60 miles from Charlotte, NC,I am in the old #1 manufacturer of textiles and furniture. There is still some of this manufacturing going on today I just don’t know about mattresses. At one time I bought a couple of mattresses from an old Hollingsworth plant in Greenville, SC but it closed about 5 years back.
Does anyone know anything about sleep easy mattresses in Gaffney SC? If not, is there a factory direct near me?
It would probably be beyond anyone’s ability to keep a list or keep up to date with the details of every mattress on the floor of all the retailers and manufacturers that are listed here so unfortunately I can’t answer your question specifically.
There are really only 3 ways to “match” another mattress which are discussed in post #2 here. As you can see … matching the “feel” of another mattress (based on personal opinion and subjective assessments) and matching the specs of a mattress (in terms of quality) or matching both at the same time where most people would agree that the “feel” is close and the specs can be shown to be very close can all be very different things. Many different types of layering and designs can have a very similar "feel"but this would have nothing to do with the quality of the materials that were used to achieve the feel.
What I would suggest is to do some initial work on the phone and call each retailer or manufacturer you are considering and ask them if they carry any mattresses that have a similar construction, quality, and feel to the Tempurpedic model you are most interested in and then visit the ones that seem to carry what you are looking for. There are many similar mattresses in terms of both feel, design, and quality of materials that would have better value (and because “feel” can be very subjective and vary with different people’s body type, sleeping style, and perceptions … different people would often have very different ideas of which mattresses “feel” the same.)
There is no way you would have to spend $4500 to have a similar quality mattress with similar feel, quality, and performance though. It just takes some “at home” research and detective work to track them down if that is your “target”
While my wife loves that Tempur-pedic and I think its pretty ok, I really like what I see in the 14" Aloe Alexis by Brooklyn Bedding. I chatted with Jacob yesterday about the differences in latex and memory foam with memory foam giving that sinking in feeling and latex being resilient and responsive. I’d love to try out a latex bed, before I bought one but I cannot find anyone in my immediate area that stocks one due to the cost. Jacob said I could buy the latex and try it out for 120 days and if I didn’t like it, I could return it for a memory foam at no charge and they pay all the shipping.
The question is, is it worth it to do all that or to take take part of a Saturday and drive up to an Original Mattress Company store about an hour or so away and try out a latex bed with Talalay latex? I have no intention of buying from OMC as I don’t like their warranty like I do Brooklyn.
Is it not taking a big chance to buy latex sight unseen and untried?
I can really only tell you what I would do and I personally would want to try a material I wasn’t familiar with before I bought it. You will be sleeping on it for a long time. While latex comes in soft and firm versions and many variations so all latex mattresses won’t feel the same, they all have the overall more lively “feel” and more resilient characteristics compared to memory foam. What this means is that I would avoid the tendency to evaluate the softness or firmness of any latex you try (which comes in a wide range and is part of a comfort choice rather than a material choice) but try instead to see if you like the overall feel and response of latex.
If I’m not mistaken you are in Greenville, SC?
If that’s the case then it may be worth calling Park Place to see if they have any mattresses with latex comfort layers you can try. The Greenville, SC list (I think you’ve seen this but just in case) is in post #2 here.
If you can confirm that you are in Greenville, SC (or let me know your zip or city) … I can take a quick look to see if there are any other local options that may carry latex you can test.
You may want to take a drive up to Asheville. Colton Mattress makes their own and uses high quality materials. They have latex and memory foam in show room to try out. There is another company called sleep world nearby that Has latex beds in their show room. Both of these are on the south side of Asheville so not to far from you.
The initial list that you sent me was the one for High Point, NC & Charlotte. I knew with all the old textile plants in Upstate SC there had to be another list and that one you provided is it. Milliken & Co (biggest private textile plant in US) makes many mattresses and sells them to Park Place although many of them are inferior products. How do I know this? My wife was formerly in a high position with Extended Stay Hotels when they were in Spartanburg SC (30 minutes from Greenville) and she said almost all the mattresses in the hotels were from Park Place and they were all the cheapest ones possible and were needed to be replaced all the time. Others in my area say the customer service from Park Place is horrible.
I plan to either hit up both sleepeasy in Gaffney (20 miles away) & Colton in Asheville (about 50 miles away) and try out their latex and memory foam in the coming days. Do you know anything about sleepeasy in Gaffney? Their website does not come up, but that’s not a big deal. I like the look of Colton and I like the remarks made by the person on this site that bought from them.
Finally if we like the feel of the latex we try out, are all latex mattresses “refittable” where layers can be changed out if the feel is not quite right from when it was tried out in the showroom? I saw this in the Aloe Alexix model from Brooklyn Bedding where a zipper held the layers in and they could be replaced.
I think I’ve confused The NC and SC versions of Greenville a few times. My apologies.
Almost every manufacturer makes a wide range of mattresses from lower quality to higher quality. The only way to know the difference at the time of purchase is to know the specifics of all the layers in the mattress. Hotel mattresses are usually put out for bids and can often be very low quality as you mention. I don’t know about their customer service because Park Place usually only sells through retail stores so most people would be dealing with the retailer not the company itself and they don’t have a showroom that customers can just walk into without an appointment first.
I actually talked with Sleepeasy today to find out what was happening with their website and ended up talking with one of the people that makes their mattresses and the owner for well over an hour. They are doing things right and use all high quality materials and construction. for example the minimum density poly they use is 1.8 lb and it goes up from there and they use good quality springs as well. They hog ring to every coil which is another construction technique that you don’t see as much which makes the mattress more durable and they prestretch their covers so they don’t develop creases and wrinkles. These are just a few examples of the differences between higher quality manufacturers and the assembly line manufacturers that use lower quality materials and construction. They have some issues with their website that they are working on but they are not computer savvy which is typical of local manufacturers that are “mattress people” and rely on word of mouth more than advertising. They would be well worth a visit IMO.
If a latex mattress is tape edged then you can’t zip open the cover and replace a layer but if you take it to the manufacturer (or open the cover yourself) then you could replace the layer or the core and either use a new cover or sew the old one back on. Most of the latex mattresses from Sleepeasy for example are a single 6" layer of latex with a quilted cover finished on both sides (flippable) that their customers typically sleep on for more than 20 years.
I finally got over to Sleep EZ Mattress Company over in Gaffney SC and other than having my wife with me (more on that later) it was a great trip. The only person there was Steve Taylor the owner so we had him all to ourselves to answer any and all questions. This guy has been in the industry his whole life and took over his father’s mattress business. They have been in Gaffney for over 65 years and basically sell by word of mouth. He took me on a tour of the place while my wife played with her phone in the front lobby. There were a lot of innersprings around. He carries offset and Bonnel innersprings. There was also a lot of latex as he said this was becoming his best seller due to its superior qualities.
Anyway my wife hopped on bed #1, said she loved it and then did the same with another. We had been there 5 minutes and she was ready to buy with no questions. Luckily I was there to temper this impatience and make sure we were going to get the answers I wanted. The first bed we tried was an offset style inner spring with HR poly foam topper. Almost all the poly foam used here is HR. It was comfortable and formed a fair “cradle” but the innerspring was too firm and bouncy. According to my wife, I toss and turn a lot during the night and she wanted this eliminated with the new mattress. It had a 10 year warranty (which Steve said it would outlast due to the quality of the innerspring) and was $895. They get all their inner springs from Ligget & Platt.
The second bed we tried was a memory foam bed. Again it was fairly comfortable but it felt like I was sinking down and not in. Steve said at one time (before latex) it was a big seller but said that they had never really been able to keep it from sleeping hot. That and the sinking down sensation eliminated this one.
Steve then asked us to try a 6" all latex mattress. Man this thing was a dream from the beginning. It cradled in all the right areas as I stayed on it for about 15 minutes in all positions. It has a 32 ILD rating and is a 3 zone constructed mattress. I asked where the latex came from and he said Latexco which has a plant in out of Marietta, GA. He said he had been getting it from Latex Int’l but was able to save a lot of money on freight as Marietta is a lot closer than where Latex Int’l ships from for the same product. The latex is all talalay but they use a branded name called Talatech which he said was the best in the industry. Have you heard of this?
We have pretty much decided on this mattress because of all the great qualities of latex and the pressure relief/support qualities I thought I was feeling. The price was $1895 which I believe to be a pretty fair price for what we would be getting.
My questions are:
As mentioned above have you heard of Talatech and is it just a brand name Latexco uses for talaly? He gave me a brochure for it with details but again in this industry I’m sure anything can be “doctored”.
I didn’t get the feeling that zone construction was the best type after reading about it on this website, but it seemed fine to me when I was testing the mattress. Is this going to be a problem down the road?
Is $1895 a fair price for a king latex mattress or should I try to bargain? Also can you even bargain with the retailers this website endorses? Steve by the way is very familiar with the website.
Colton’s Mattresses is about 50 miles up the road. Is it worth taking the extra time to check them out or just stay with Sleep EZ? I really liked Steve and got no impression that he was trying to sell me something I didn’t want or was lying to me?
Thanks a lot Phoenix for creating this website which educated me on mattresses and what to ask for and look for. I felt like to a degree I was able to ask for what I was looking for and the answers I got were either not a bunch of bull**** or a lot of I don’t knows (which you get when going to places offering only the “S” type mattresses), but real honest to goodness truths from folks who know mattresses inside and out (literally). I am almost positive if I left this to my wife, we would have dropped 4-5K on something that would have lasted 5 years or less. I love my wife more than anything, but she is an impatient shopper and it would have cost us dearly if not for this website. Again thanks!
Talatech is the name that Latex International uses for their blended Talalay latex products. It’s not made by Latexco which carries Talalay made by Radium.
I’m not sure what kind of “problem” you mean but I think that 3 zones can be helpful in some cases and if it works for you in terms of PPP then I don’t see any issue. Can you clarify what you mean?
Value depends on what you are comparing it to, on the details of all the components in the mattress (which I don’t know), on what is included in the purchase price, and on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. I think that for most people it would represent fair value though yes. There is no industry “rule” about bargaining but most smaller manufacturers sell at the same prices every day of the year and rarely have sales or need to “bargain”. It certainly never hurts to ask though if there is anything else they can do or if there is another directly comparable mattress that is very similar you are also looking at that is significantly less to ask them if they can come closer to a competing price (again if it really is an apples to apples comparison).
I should correct the name first of all which is SleepEasy (not SleepEZ) just to save confusion with one of the manufacturers who is a member of this site.
As far as visiting Colton’s, I don’t really know how to answer those types of questions and I suppose it would depend on how you feel about what you have looked at. Personally, I’d probably call them and talk to them on the phone and ask some questions and then decide based on the conversation. To me it never hurts to have a few good options.
You’re very welcome. As you know I believe that a mattress purchase is one of the most significant purchases you can make over the next decade or more and can have a bigger effect on your overall wellbeing (obvious and hidden) than almost anything else you buy. It’s well worth taking the time to do it right IMO
I checked out Talatech on their website and saw that its a blend (as mentioned below). Will it sleep and perform as well as 100% natural Talalay?
After reading the putting the layers together section and taking notes from it, I got the perception that progressive construction was the preferred method of construction. This final quote is what made me nervous about the 3 zone mattress I was almost surely going to buy.
Because zoning can be very complex and is often not necessary at all, particularly 3 zone schemes, it should be avoided if it is possible to accomplish the pressure relief and alignment you need without it. Zoning schemes that use more than 3 zones are likely to be ineffective and in most cases a justification for higher prices than necessary. They too should be avoided".
I plan on hitting Colton’s this weekend. Hopefully that can help end this journey. I know I am going to end up with a great mattress, I just hope the stress of it all doesn’t kill my marriage.
If they are using latex from Latexco … then its not Talatech. The Radium Talalay latex distributed by Latexco is called Talalaux.
You can read a more detailed comparison between blended Talalay and 100% natural Talalay in post #2 here.
I wouldn’t read that into the articles at all. They are just different methods of design and the line between them isn’t even “exact”. They are different pathways to a similar goal.
I think it must have been late at night with blurry eyes when I wrote that when I was first putting the website together and your quote contradicts some of the other parts of the zoning article.
I’m surprised that nobody noticed or mentioned the contradiction previously. In any case I made some changes so it’s more clear and you can perhaps not be quite as concerned (depending on the type of zoning you are looking at) and the new final paragraph now reads …
“Because zoning can be very complex and is often not necessary at all, it should be approached with caution, especially if it is possible to accomplish the pressure relief and alignment you need without it. Zoning schemes that use more than 3 zones may also be relatively ineffective because the zoning differences are often less than the natural differences across the surface or the layer (especially in the case of zoned foam layers) or the zones may not “fit” the specific body type or sleeping style of the person on the mattress. In some cases they can also be a justification for higher prices than necessary. In the end … how well a mattress provides the pressure relief and neutral alignment you need in all your sleeping positions in your “real life” experience is more important guideline than any “theoretical” benefits of a zoned design.”
I’m looking forward to your feedback and report
I would always put more emphasis on your actual experiences and how well a mattress provides you with the best possible PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) when testing mattresses than any “theoretical informatioin”. The articles are mostly to help you ask better questions and be more aware of some of the differences you will encounter and to help you make better comparisons and differentiate between marketing claims and more meaningful and accurate information.
Let me start by saying that Mike Emerson at Colton’s Mattresses in Asheville, NC could not have been a nicer and more knowledgeable guy. We told him what our sleeping habits were and what we thought we were looking for as far as comfort and support levels were. We told him we thought we wanted an all latex mattress. This did not deter him however as he at least had us try out an innerspring model with latex topper. It was still to “springy” for my wife thus eliminating that.
Then we got to the all latex as memory foam was not an option. We ended up going with a higher ILD than I ever thought we would. After testing a couple of models, we decided on a 6" 40 ILD all latex mattress (latex from Latex Int’l) with a 1" 36 ILD comfort layer on both sides of this 2 sided mattress. It also has a quilted top.
Mike said to err on the high side of ILDs as once the mattress is broken in, that 40 ILD will dip some to towards the 36 ILD we thought we wanted but still give us the support we needed. The price was $2400 and about $500 more than Sleep EZ in Gaffney. However the mattress at Sleep EZ was for a 3 zoned mattress. The one at Coltons is more of a differential construction mattress which I think we prefer. Again Mike Emerson explained this in easy to understand terms (as long as you know what PPP is).
I feel like we got a really fair price for what we are getting. Moist of the “S” brands do not even have latex stocked in the stores that sell them as they don’t want you to buy something that is going to last more than 4-5 years. We are due to get the mattress in 1 week and after a few weeks I’ll file a follow up report.
Can anyone tell me the link again for bedding supplies (sheets, pillow cases, etc.)? Also should we go with all latex pillows? Mike said we should and that they would last a lot longer than the pieces of crap we are currently using and feel a lot better.
Kudos to Phoenix and a few of the forum members for their help with my search.
Thanks for taking the time to provide the great feedback and report about your experiences with Colton. You and a few others on the forum have certainly had good experiences there
The “pillow thread” is here and the “sheets and fabrics” post with links to other threads, posts, and sources of good information as well is in post #7 here.
What Mike said about durability is certainly true but pillows are such a preference choice (outside of the basic need to keep your head and neck in alignment in all your sleeping positions) that I think I would go more by preference than strictly durability issues because pillows are easier and less costly to change than mattresses.
I personally like sleeping on latex pillows because I like the freedom of movement (either solid and zoned or shredded which I’m leaning more towards lately because it can be "scrunched more which I like) but my DH much prefers the more stable and less springy feel of good quality and “safe” memory foam. It really is a matter of preference IMO once the basic alignment needs are looked after.
Most importantly of all … congratulations on your new mattress. It’s great to see the members here doing such good research and connecting with “good people”
I have now been sleeping on the latex mattress from Colton’s (full review above) for almost 2 months with nothing but good things to say about it. It is w/o a doubt the most comfortable mattress I have ever experienced. In fact it gets more comfortable every time I sleep on it. All back and neck pain have been alleviated by this new mattress & my wife loves that I did the proper research to get it.
Please let me know if anyone has any questions about latex mattresses or Colton’s in general.
