My 9" Mattresses247 bed and Journey into Latex

Great thread and feedback, MrM1. However I am a bit confused, to be honest.

Why would someone who claims ā€œPPP is perfectā€ and that they ā€œsleep soundly and wake up refreshedā€ want to change the mattress so that they sink in more?

Fair Question. My old mattress was an S Brand inner spring with a private label name so you that you can never ā€œprice matchā€ if you find the ā€œSameā€ mattress at a lower price (a scam in and of itself). It began to fail after about 6 months. We lived with it and its deteriorating condition for another 6 years, topping it with a 4" piece of memory foam its last 2 years of usefulness.

I am a side sleeper ā€¦ sleeping with the top leg out front and bent, the bottom leg on its side and straight. In the Foam / Inner spring combo, sleeping like this would cause my rib cage and hip bone to be pressed together so I could not stay in that position for very long. So I would end up sleeping more rolled toward my back ā€¦ not ideal for me.

When we got the latex bed that all changed. My hip would no longer sink deep into the bed and my spine was straight while laying on my side (yes we checked it with a 4ā€™ level in both beds. Curved in the spring / Straight on the latex). So I began several months of blissful side sleeping. Until a few months ago I started noticing my right knee (the knee of my dominant lower straight leg) was sore all the time. So I began to wonder why ā€¦ and recently I discovered that my perfect sleeping position was now part of the problem. I liked it so much, that involuntarily I began rolling more and more toward my stomach, extending my upper leg further and further out. All good ā€¦ except ā€¦ now my lower leg is not on its side, but rather nearly upside down with the top of my knee in the mattress. By not ā€œsinking inā€ the bed ā€¦ this was causing my ankle and foot to be nearly unsupported and thus undue pressure was being applied to my knee as thru the night my leg stayed bent in the wrong direction because of the unsupported weight of the ankle/foot ā€¦ over extending the knee.

My thinking is ā€¦ if I get a little more ā€œsink inā€ ā€¦ i can stay in the position I like, and my knee will sink in allowing support to my foot/ankle and stop the weight of the 2 from pulling my knee in the wrong direction.

Whew ā€¦ hope that makes any sense.

Hi MrM1,

It makes perfect sense to me ā€¦ and I appreciate that you took the time to share the additional details about your experience :slight_smile:

Phoenix

[quote=ā€œMrM1ā€ post=50430][quote=ā€œLJGMDADā€ post=50372]Great thread and feedback, MrM1. However I am a bit confused, to be honest.

Why would someone who claims ā€œPPP is perfectā€ and that they ā€œsleep soundly and wake up refreshedā€ want to change the mattress so that they sink in more?[/quote]
Fair Question. My old mattress was an S Brand inner spring with a private label name so you that you can never ā€œprice matchā€ if you find the ā€œSameā€ mattress at a lower price (a scam in and of itself). It began to fail after about 6 months. We lived with it and its deteriorating condition for another 6 years, topping it with a 4" piece of memory foam its last 2 years of usefulness.

I am a side sleeper ā€¦ sleeping with the top leg out front and bent, the bottom leg on its side and straight. In the Foam / Inner spring combo, sleeping like this would cause my rib cage and hip bone to be pressed together so I could not stay in that position for very long. So I would end up sleeping more rolled toward my back ā€¦ not ideal for me.

When we got the latex bed that all changed. My hip would no longer sink deep into the bed and my spine was straight while laying on my side (yes we checked it with a 4ā€™ level in both beds. Curved in the spring / Straight on the latex). So I began several months of blissful side sleeping. Until a few months ago I started noticing my right knee (the knee of my dominant lower straight leg) was sore all the time. So I began to wonder why ā€¦ and recently I discovered that my perfect sleeping position was now part of the problem. I liked it so much, that involuntarily I began rolling more and more toward my stomach, extending my upper leg further and further out. All good ā€¦ except ā€¦ now my lower leg is not on its side, but rather nearly upside down with the top of my knee in the mattress. By not ā€œsinking inā€ the bed ā€¦ this was causing my ankle and foot to be nearly unsupported and thus undue pressure was being applied to my knee as thru the night my leg stayed bent in the wrong direction because of the unsupported weight of the ankle/foot ā€¦ over extending the knee.

My thinking is ā€¦ if I get a little more ā€œsink inā€ ā€¦ i can stay in the position I like, and my knee will sink in allowing support to my foot/ankle and stop the weight of the 2 from pulling my knee in the wrong direction.

Whew ā€¦ hope that makes any sense.[/quote]

Ok, so ā€œwaking up refreshedā€ isnā€™t quite the case. Youā€™re waking up with right knee pain. Sorry if it seems like Iā€™m being a stickler about it, but I do think itā€™s important for folks not to overstate their level of satisfaction (or the inverse). The more transparency on forums like this, the better for everyone.

Now my only concern is that you really canā€™t control your position while asleep on your side and if you change the mattress just be sure you donā€™t get rid of any current layers because the change might have other unintended consequences and you might want to go back to the current combination which youā€™ve loved so much for so many months. Since you sound like youā€™ll be adding rather than swapping layers, then youā€™re probably covering all bases. :slight_smile:

Good luck!

MrM1 thanks for updating your thread. I wondered how you were getting on. Iā€™m really pleased to hear that Mattresses247 did right by you. I have been holding off because of dread over the prospect of having to return something that doesnā€™t feel right. That prospect is a little less troubling thanks to your update.

I hope Iā€™m not irritating anyone with this related but slightly off topic question, but I was wondering if during your search you tried out the Ikea Morgangava. If so, and if you recall, how did it compare to the Mattresses247 mattress you ended up with? That was one of the few we were able to try out locally.

Hi CosmicHam,

Iā€™m not MrM1 of course but I do know that the Morgongava uses continuous pour dunlop that has a C3 firmness rating which would be roughly equivalent to an ILD in the low - mid 30ā€™s with Talalay which would be somewhat similar in firmness to the middle layer of MrM1ā€™s mattress. Itā€™s also thinner so overall it would be a fair bit firmer. It would also have a different ā€œfeelā€ than Talalay which is more resilient than Dunlop. There is more about the differences between Dunlop and Talalay in post #7 here.

Hopefully MrM1 will have some additional comments based on his own experience if he tried the Morgongava as well.

Phoenix

Thanks for that input Phoenix. I guess Iā€™m trying to compare apple and oranges. I also assumed the Morgongava would be firm, but after laying on it for a short time I had the sense it wasnā€™t giving me enough support in the middle (Iā€™m primarily a stomach sleeper unless the mattress is too soft in which case I switch to my side and use pillows to keep me aligned). I found the same to be true of the PLB Talalay mattress we checked out. It just didnā€™t seem to support my pelvis enough to keep me from feeling swaybacked. So I guess I favor an unusually firm bed. The trick is finding a mattress that is both firm enough for my back but soft enough for my pressure points. I donā€™t have much meat on me and joints can start feeling like they are poking through my skin if the bed is too hard. So firm is good. Hard is bad.

Only one mattress left me with no complaints after a half-hour test and it was a 3-layer Arpico Dunlop. Unfortunately, it was about twice the cost and the vendor is being deliberately vague about the specs so I canā€™t comparison shop. The Mattresses247 Dunlop is not Arpico, so no comparison is possible there either.

I canā€™t afford to make a mistake, so here I sit. It seems like this shouldnā€™t be so hard. I hope these mattresses become more mainstream in the future, but unfortunately not fast enough for us. Our pillow top innerspring mattress is shot and it is really becoming a factor in our quality of life.

Thanks again for this most helpful site. Because of it we have a much better chance of choosing right.

I did not ā€¦ but I did lay on some 50/50 foam Talalay and did not care for them. And for me, something in the 28 to 32 ILD range would be way too firm.

Again to be clear ā€¦ I think my only ā€œproblemā€ with my mattress was a perception in the glued seam. I cannot really say if it was a real problem or not. I just tend to be a ā€œPrinces and the Peaā€ type. And I know it could be ā€œcorrectedā€ if I just got the split top rather than the glued top.

IMO ā€¦ for the price that Mattresses247 is charging for 9"s of Talalay ā€¦ if you go and try out a similar system somewhere else, you cannot go wrong with their bed.

Have you considered a DIY using eBay parts? I have seen a few different top layer makers the claim multiple ILD zones across the sleeping surface. I know this would be getting into ā€œbed scienceā€ and Phoenix can give you more tips and warnings on that ā€¦ but it would be something to consider.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Latex-Mattress-Foam-Dunlop-Latex-Mattress-3-Zones-MEDIUM-26-30-ILD-/271802928925?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3f48b78f1d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Latex-Mattress-Foam-Dunlop-Latex-Mattress-w-3-Zones-Oeko-Tex-100-Certified-/261198801332?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3cd0a969b4

Actually it is/was the case until I started to ā€œrollā€ ā€¦ And still is. I am thinking the knee pain is the sleeping position ā€¦ not entirely sure. I do not wake up with it, so much as I have been having it thru the day more and more lately. Actually the knee pain has been on going ā€¦ so even if it is the bed ā€¦ the bed has not cause it, but at worst aggravates it.

Trying to Journal the Journey the best I can (good / bad / and ugly) and hopefully help someone else along their way make a better decisions. I have no ties or loyalties to M247 ā€¦ I pulled the trigger after an extensive search to save some coin. And have wanted others to know how it has worked out - both in the area of a multi layer Talalay bed in general and M247 specifically.

Actually I think sleeping positions are some what controllable (Iā€™m not a control freak ā€¦ more of a control enthusiast) . But yeah ā€¦ its just a matter of starting off in the better position. I still do not have to resort back to the ā€œalmost-on-my-backā€ position of the Foam/Spring set up of Olā€™ . The ideal had been reached in getting the latex. I just started to slide into more of a stomach position after several months. I have started in the past few weeks to roll back a touch ā€¦ but honestly ā€¦ My knees / knee is just cranky. Might have something to do with being a cyclists too.

Hey Iā€™m just saying as a reader it started to get confusing the way you were heaping praise on a product while at the same time talking about wanting to change the characteristics of it due to being in pain. Itā€™s great that you have no affiliation with M247, and now after clarification itā€™s clear that your mattress seems to be causing pain in a certain sleeping position.

I am also going to try to chronicle my experience with Flexus, time permitting. I looked at M247 and shied away from zoned latex because Iā€™m a back sleeper and it seem best (to me) for side sleepers, plus I was concerned itā€™d be a lot more difficult to ā€œget rightā€. I also figure that latex will sort of naturally zone itself, if you will, over time anyhow. Parts of the body that are heavier will soften their zones of the latex more than the lighter parts of your body will. I also wanted a warranty that was going to be hassle free. I figure Flexus might go out of business before their non-prorated warranty expires - in fact they probably will. But at least as long as they are around, Iā€™ll be covered. For whatever that ends up being worth.

I actually wonder if more firmness - not softness - would help prevent the roll. You say it started happening after several months. Well in that time the mattress itself has become softer from breaking in.

Hi LJGMDAD,

Just to chime in here ā€¦ based on reading all of his posts I think that MrM1 has been unusually fair and balanced and detailed in his comments and feedback about his mattress and sleeping experience both positive and negative. Sometimes itā€™s not possible to predict how you will feel on a mattress months down the road if something changes (especially if itā€™s not connected to the mattress) and I donā€™t see the same contradictions in his comments and feedback that you do.

@MrM1,

It may be worth trying a body pillow which can often help people that sleep in a forward leaning side position by keeping them in a less twisted or ā€œforward leaningā€ position and still having the ā€œcomfortā€ of feeling something against their stomach.

@ CosmicHam,

Many local manufacturers or retailers legitimately treat the ILD of their layers as being proprietary because ā€œcomfort specsā€ have little to do with the quality of a mattress and with careful testing your body will tell you what you need to know about whether the mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP. They are also well aware that the only reason that a customer would generally want or need to know this type of information is because they are trying to duplicate the mattress somewhere else.

If you were able to find out the ILD range (ILD isnā€™t exact) or the density of their layers (density is a comfort spec with latex) then another mattress with layers that were the same type and blend of latex and the same thickness and that had a similar cover and quilting (the cover/quilting can have a significant effect on the feel and performance of a mattress) would be closely equivalent regardless of the manufacturer of the Dunlop latex.

Phoenix

CosmicHam,

There are many DIY latex resellers, and just keep in mind that M247 (on Ebay) is mostly selling a speciality product - zoned latex, in addition to some natural Talalay. By the way, what are the DIY latex resellers doing with used latex that comes back in returns? It is illegal to resell used mattresses, but if itā€™s just latex - not a mattress, perhaps they can just turn around and sell someoneā€™s used/returned latex to you! Who knows. But something to consider. Iā€™m not sure how all the DIY latex resellers handle this.

I also tried Ikea mattresses, and found them very firm. They are probably a good base for a softer comfort layer that youā€™d add yourself. But at that point itā€™s far less economical, and just simply buying a mattress with return/swap opportunities from one of the many great online dealers seems to be a better choice - in my opinion of course.

Hi LJGMDAD,

Itā€™s actually not illegal to sell used mattresses ā€¦ just to sell them without the appropriate law tag for the state you live in (see post #2 here and post #2 here and the posts they link to).

Different DIY sellers would handle this in different ways (see post #2 here for some of the possibilities) but there arenā€™t as many exchanged or returned layers as most people would expect since most people are happy with their original choice. No reliable seller with a good reputation to maintain would take the risk of selling a used layer without letting a customer know that they were receiving a used or exchanged layer ā€¦ the risks would be too high. Having said that ā€¦ there are also many customers that would gladly purchase a used layer for a discount if they happened to be available.

A reliable seller will give you truthful information about exchanged or returned layers.

In the specific case of Mattresses 24/7 they used to sell layers that were comfort exchanges years ago (and disclosed it in their descriptions at the time) but they no longer do and all the layers they sell now are new.

Phoenix

OK, Plush Beds did tell me directly that selling used mattresses is illegal. I suppose the meant selling them as new without disclosing they were used, or representing them as new? I guess that falls under the general category of fraud? I donā€™t know.

When I asked most places what they do with returns, I was most usually told that they do things like cut them up and sell them to people who make other furniture etc with them.

MrM1 let there be no doubt that what youā€™ve shared here has been a big help to those of us wandering in the wilderness. Comfort is such a completely subjective thing that itā€™s not surprising that your account might seem contradictory at times. I can see being conflicted like that myself while trying to dial in the right combination. Itā€™s a journey and I found your account of it valuable. To answer your question the possibility of piecing together my own combo from Mattresses247 stock was the reason I started following your thread in the first place. And while they have been very helpful, unfortunately their product line is substantially different from what I have available locally which makes ordering from them more of a crapshoot than I am comfortable with at this point. But that may change.

LJGMDAD: I was thinking the same thing about using a comfort layer on top of the IKEA mattress. Iā€™m sure that would work if I found the IKEA mattress too firm. Unfortunately I found it to be not quite firm enough so Iā€™m not sure that can be fixed by adding a layer. It occurs to me that the floor model at the IKEA store has been tested thousands of times and may have softened as a result. There is no way to know except to buy one but their no return policy is a deal killer for me. So far anyway.

Phoenix: I understand what youā€™re saying about proprietary information, but I donā€™t agree that withholding ILD numbers is a legitimate practice. Refusing to divulge the ILD numbers is akin to a shoe salesman refusing to tell me the size of the shoes he wants to sell me. Of course Iā€™m comparison-shopping. That has to be expected in retail. Their attempt to save the sale by hiding information has backfired because now I refuse to buy from them on principle. They would not trust me with the information I needed to make an informed choice and I view that as pretty much an admission that they are not competitive.

Sorry for any typos Iā€™m doing this from my phone :stuck_out_tongue:

To all ā€¦ Just making my contribution to the forums from my very singular and subjective experience ā€¦ for all the help I received.

*** This post is a reply to post #83 here and was split into a new topic ***

Hi MrM1,

When you are buying a pair of shoes the shoe size is only one of many factors that will determine whether a shoe works well for a particular person and many other factors (such as the width of the shoe and the shape of the shoe and the style of the shoe) will also be just as important a part of whether a particular shoe is a good ā€œmatchā€ for a particular person. When I buy shoes I will sometimes buy 11 1/2 and sometimes 12 and sometimes neither one works for me depending on the manufacturer and the specifics of the shoe. In other words knowing the size of a shoe doesnā€™t provide me with any additional information about whether a particular shoe will ā€œworkā€ for me that I donā€™t already know by trying it on and walking in it.

Shoe sizes are also much more specific than ILD numbers in most cases and ILD is also only one of several specs that makes one material feel softer or firmer than another (see post #4 here) and the ILD of different materials or different types and blends of latex also arenā€™t directly comparable to each other (see post #6 here) so putting too much focus on ILD alone can be more misleading than helpful although many consumers donā€™t understand this and tend to focus more on ILD in the belief that it is more important than it really is.

So while I understand your point and I am also one of the biggest advocates of transparency in the industry ā€¦ I also have enough experience to know that it has nothing to do with the quality or durability of a mattress and like a shoe size it wonā€™t provide any additional or meaningful information that you wouldnā€™t already know by carefully testing the mattress in person or that would make any meaningful difference in making an ā€œinformed choiceā€ when you are buying a mattress locally and in many cases consumers that put undue focus or too much trust in ILD numbers will end up making a worse choice than they would if they knew nothing about ILD at all.

Phoenix

Okay but the way to handle it was to explain it just as you did. This this person actually got testy and said ā€œthe only reason you would want those numbers is to shop somewhere else.ā€

Sometimes the way you deliver a message matters more than the message itself.

Ok but the way to handle it was to explain it just as you did. This person actually got testy and said ā€œthe only reason you would want those numbers is to shop somewhere elseā€.

Sometimes how you deliver a message is more important than the message itself.

Oh, and if after hearing the explanation the customer still insists on having those numbers you gain nothing by refusing. The customer is always in charge of what they spend their money on. Even if itā€™s for the wrong reasons.