Hey Everyone,
Because of the limited information that was available about Arizona Premium Mattress (mattresses.net) when I made my purchase, I decided to contribute and post my own experience.
I am a 230 lbs/5’11" guy with broad shoulders. I have a hard time finding a mattress that is both comfortable and supportive due to the fact that I am very dense and have been in a major car accident this past December. I sink through memory foam mattresses, and I haven’t had a memory foam mattress last more than a couple years. After spending nearly two weeks researching mattresses, I stumbled upon TMU and learned exactly what I wanted. (Thank you Phoenix for running this site).
I wanted a 100% latex mattress due to its durability and support. I wanted a Talalay top layer, being that it would have a more consistent density throughout, which would be beneficial for my joints that need the right amount of comfort to let me go to sleep. I decided to also use Talalay for the support layer due to hearing the numerous positive experiences about Talalay, and there was a negligible price difference between Dunlop and Talalay.
I decided on APM after hearing numerous positive reviews about the quality of the mattress, and the value associated with it. After seeing prices nearly double at local stores in MA for a similar product, I decided to order from APM. The drawback was the longer wait from order to door, which was about 6 weeks as opposed to under a week. To me, this mattress purchase was about quality and value, and less about time. Saving about two grand on the mattress afforded me the opportunity to purchase pillows, a new frame, and new linens while still saving money as opposed to getting a mattress sooner.
APM sells a 100% natural Talalay mattress with the option to split the firmness of the support layer underneath, which helped both my girlfriend and I have our desired firmness levels. We settled on a 6" Firm (for me)/6" Medium (for her) All Natural Talalay support layer, and a 3" Soft Talalay top layer across the mattress. After placing the order, I called up Ken to ask some questions and he politely answered all of them. Confident in our order, I started the process of replacing our busted up old boxsprings.
After some back and forth, my girlfriend and I decided on a few things: 1) We wanted a platform bed, to try and squeeze some more storage out of our small bedroom. 2) We wanted our platform to be both Sturdy and Quiet. Ultimately we decided on the ‘Zinus Elite’ 14 Inch platform (we found on Amazon). We have found that although it isn’t as silent as advertised, and the gaps are a little to large to comfortably place a mattress directly on, the platform was better than we thought it would be. It was a piece of cake to put together, and I have no concerns about it’s durability. However, I decided that the frame was going to need something on top to protect the mattress so I started looking into Coir Rugs.
In short, a Coir Rug is a coconut hair mat that is stuck with melted rubber. This gives it the feeling of a doormat (Those hairy ones at most department stores), and is designed to be placed between a mattress and a frame (or floor) to encourage air flow to the mattress. I don’t know if the mat actually helps that much with air flow, but I do think it does a great job of stopping the mattress from sinking through the gaps too much. After seeing numerous sites reselling the same mat, I went to SavvyRest and ordered the mat from the original manufacturer. The only problem with the mat/frame combo is that the mat can sometimes stick out from the side of the platform and scratch our legs when we get down from our bed. I have taken some zip ties to secure the mat from sliding, and covered the excess with a bed skirt. This solved 95% of the issue.
After sleeping on our new bed frame/coir rug combo with our old mattress for about a week our new mattress finally came in. Setup was a breeze thanks to a video Ken posted on YouTube. The latex foam has a unique feel which is hard to describe, if you want to feel something similar to the soft layer I have on top, order a pillow from APM. You can fold each layer over on itself, but you can also tear it from the air holes throughout. It sticks to carpets, so be careful during assembly. Although I managed to assemble the mattress myself, I highly recommend a partner. Carrying, opening, unpacking, and assembling 3 very large boxes was a chore, and when you also take the time to flop all the pieces around to get them to fit snugly, a second set of hands is useful. My personal tip, I was able to flip the cover inside out over the bottom of my frame, which made assembling the layers much easier.
After a couple hours of flopping latex around, I finished zipping up the plush bamboo cover to our new mattress and was amazed at the quality and comfort of our new mattress. Our last mattress was a cheap $1100 memory foam mattress that we deemed ‘acceptable’ which crapped out after nearly 18 months. We didn’t get a cover, bought one separate, and yet our new mattress was $1900, including two pillows, a cover, shipping, and a topper thickness upgrade. The new mattress stands above the $3000-4000 mattresses we tried in stores.
After sleeping on the new mattress for about a week, I do have a couple insights into how it feels:
First, if you are looking for a cooler sleeping mattress, try new sheets. I bought the latex mattress thinking it would be cooler than memory foam. After switching from very soft and warm cotton sheets to new bed linens, I can say that made a much bigger difference in temperature than any other change on it’s own. I used to sleep in the buff with just a top sheet or a thin blanket struggling to stay cool (in an air conditioned house with a ceiling fan), and although the latex mattress helped a little bit, and the coir rug helped a little bit, switching to linen sheets from Parachute dropped my temperature about 10 degrees. I’m not sure if it’s just the linen, or the combination of all the changes, but I am much happier.
Second, the firmness of latex will dictate the similarity it has to other mattress materials. For example, my side is firm and feels very bouncy like an inner spring mattress. My girlfriend’s side is medium and feels like a firmer memory foam mattress. We both agree we prefer our latex as opposed to the feel of other mattresses, but the difference between our sides is obvious.
So, in summary, we can say that we are definitely satisfied with our purchase. Our quality of sleep has improved dramatically, and hopefully over time we can see how durable the mattress really is. I used to pull myself out of the quagmire of a memory foam mattress like a zombie rising from the dead. Now, I can easily roll out of bed and get on with my day. I used to have every vertebrae ache, and every joint pop every morning. Now I only seem to have a sharper pain on my hip (on the side that I sleep on). I see an overall improvement in both pain reduction, sleep quality, and therefore health.
Thank you Ken, and the APM team for a wonderful product, and you will be seeing a referral sale (or more) from us in the near future.