Medium Dunlop from SleepOnLatex, SleepEZ, Naturally Nestled

Good evening,

I’ve been a lurker for the past few months and am finally putting together a DIY mattress! I’m now shopping for a comfort layer to go over an 8" pocket spring set and could use some advice on what to choose. My partner and I both prefer our mattress to be on the firmer side (but not too firm), so we were thinking of a 3" medium Dunlop layer. Our testing at a Savvy Rest dealer revealed that their medium Dunlop over their own firm spring set was about right.

Three options I am considering are:

  1. SOL’s medium, which is advertised to have an ILD of 34, has a density of 4.7 pounds per square foot. A quick calculation shows that 4.7 is equal to 75 kg per cubic meter (i.e. D75 latex). To me, this density seems rather low for an ILD of 34. Can anyone confirm both the ILD and density values for SOL’s medium Dunlop?

  2. SleepEZ advertises their medium Dunlop as having an ILD of 30-32. The density is not specified. Does anyone know the density?

  3. Naturally Nestled’s medium is advertised as having an ILD of 26 and a density of D75 (which is 4.7 pounds per square foot). One benefit to Naturally Nestled’s product is that they include a cotton cover for the price. Despite the D75 density, the ILD of 26 is significantly lower than SOL’s ILD of 34. We can of course also say that SOL’s ILD is significantly higher. :slight_smile:

I completely understand that different companies can advertise ILD values differently and that ILD values come in ranges. That, unfortunately, makes the decision harder.

Has anyone compared the medium latex between SOL and SleepEZ, SleepEZ and NN, or SOL and NN? If so, what are your experiences? If all of them really are the same, I’ll go with NN because of the included cover.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi jendubois.

Welcome to our Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

First off a little word of caution if you are trying to replicate the feel of the Savvy mattress… the risk of getting your mattress just right is much higher unless of course all the components, layers, and design or your DIY “build” is an exact replica and matches in every way the mattress you have tested or slept on (in effect resulting is the same mattress). “Replicating” a mattress component by component in view of a DIY mattress based only on “specs” without the specific guidance of a manufacturer/retailer that is familiar with your reference mattress and materials is unreliable If you are looking only for something in the range of your needs and preferences this can work but you most likely will have a different result because not all components are not the same.
The “target” with these types of choices is generally how closely a consumer believes one mattress will match the one that they are building which is often very inaccurate, this is why I always suggest that those who take on a DIY mattress replication project work closely with a manufacturer who is familiar with all the components of the “blueprint” mattress.

As far as I know, SOL still sources their latex from Latex Green in Shri Lanka ( For comparison this is the same source that Naturally Nestled uses for their Dunlop Latex)
I am not sure why they would advertise the 34 ILD as medium with a 4.7 lb/ft3 (not “square foot”) something is off here.
See this conversion I put together for Latex Green’s Dunlop. The calculations are base on the midpoint ILD

https://uploads.mattressunderground.com/outside/66/2021LATEXGREEN~ILD&DensitiesCalculations.jpg
Here is also a screenshot of the Latex Green’s Dunlop latex densities as listed on their site.

Sleep EZ has multiple suppliers for their Dunlop so to find out for sure you’d need to call or to ask them a question on our forum in SleepEZ’s dedicated expert forum on our site. They are extremely consumer-centric and would be happy to help in any way they can.

As you already noticed relying only on the ILD of the layers or other more basic specs can be very misleading and inaccurate, because ILDs by themselves of any design-specific properties, response, or factors that can make a significant difference in how a mattress feels and performs. On top of this
The answers to your questions about ILD may be a little bit more complex than you hoped, so if you’d like to dive in a little deeper you can peruse the topic titled Likelihood same Dunlop product is labeled differently (by ILD and “firmness”).

I would also keep in mind that ILD is only one of several variables or “specs” that will determine how soft or firm an individual layer or a mattress “as a whole” will feel to different people (see post #4 here). In addition to this the ILD of different materials or different types and blends of latex also aren’t always directly comparable to each other (see post #6 here) so using the ILD of a particular layer or combination of layers as a reliable indication of how firm a mattress may feel to you compared to another mattress with a different combination of layers can sometimes be more misleading than helpful.

Phoenix

Thank you, Phoenix, for your insights!

As a scientist (chemist with a moderate knowledge of materials), I became very intrigued by how SleepOnLatex can have Dunlop latex at a 34 ILD with a rather low density of 4.7 pounds per cubic foot. I’ve read in some of the other posts that SOL latex is a little Talalay-like in feel (a little more springy). Talalay is less dense than Dunlop of a similar ILD. My hypothesis is that their Earthfoam process, even though the factory may be Latex Green, is indeed different from Latex Green’s “regular” process. Latex Green may have a “regular” production line and an Earthfoam line. If the Earthfoam has some air injected into it, which would have the effect of increasing cell size, then it would be less dense than “regular” Dunlop while maintaining a relatively high ILD. The cells may not be as large as those of Talalay, but the increased size is enough make the final product sufficiently different.

To support my hypothesis and convince myself that I wasn’t crazy, I did a literature search and found this article, which shows that the cell size can be increased by what they call the “Bubbling process”:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167577X19315484https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167577X19315484

If the addition of air is what SOL does, then it supports the Talalay-like observation of others as well as the claims made by SOL:

Using an enhanced version of the Dunlop Process, Earthfoam natural latex foam combines the best elements of Dunlop and Talalay latex foam. It has a more lively and consistent feel than other Dunlop latex foam without the “bouncy” feel of Talalay Foam.

This would also explain the discrepancy between the SOL and NN latex, both of which are from Latex Green. Just because they’re made by the same company doesn’t mean they’re made the same way.

Of course, this is only a hypothesis and only SOL knows exactly what they’re doing. :slight_smile:

Link fixed:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167577X19315484

Your hypothesis makes perfect sense to me. I always wondered what they meant by “enhanced version of the Dunlop Process”.

@jendubois Great insight on this!

I do just want to clarify that we have ZERO connection with Latex Green.

They are not a supplier of ours and our foam does not come from their factory. In the beginning of our company (2013/2014), we did use some foam from them that was distributed by Latexco in the USA. We have had no connection with them since then.