Nature's Caress by Leggett & Platt

Hello Phoenix,

I am so happy that I stumbled upon this website in my search for a new mattress.The information that you provide is extremely helpful — so thank you! I’ve spent several hours on your site and am convinced that a latex mattress would be the best fit for me and my husband. We are both big fans of Costco and saw what appears to be a good deal on their website. From my research, I know that you are a fan of the smaller local stores and we do have several good options in my area which I will explore. However, I wanted your opinion on a Leggett & Platt mattress marketed as “Nature’s Caress.” It is paired with a Leggett & Platt adjustable S-Cape bed which can be purchased separately or as a package deal with the mattress. We are considering the Eastern (Split) King.

The Nature’s Caress has the following specifications:
Dual sided mattress with a plush comfort top on one side, and a medium-firm comfort top on the opposite side
Mattress construction layers: 1" Super soft foam; 2" 24 ILD Latex; 6" 32 ILD Latex; 2" 40 ILD Latex; 7/8" Firm foam

I liked the ability to customize the mattress because my husband and I have different mattress needs. That is why we are considering the split king. Plus- it will work well on an adjustable base. Anyway, my husband is 6 ft, 280 lbs with back problems. He is mostly a side sleeper but does spend time sleeping on his back. He prefers a firmer mattress. I am 5’ 4", 160 lbs and a side sleeper. I prefer a mattress with a medium feel. Both of us toss and turn all night and our inner spring mattress shakes when my husband tosses. Time to get rid of it!

I called Leggett & Platt to ask questions about the construction of the mattress. I was told that the latex is 98% Talalay, but I was unable to get information about the support factor or density of the foam layers. I was told only that it is polyurethane. After reading the information that you provide about HR polyfoam . . . the salesperson’s lack of knowledge about the construction of top foam layers was a red flag.

What are your thoughts?

Hi Amyp.vabch,

First in terms of the quality of the mattress materials …

I generally use a guideline that around an inch or so of lower density or “questionable” foam in a quilting layer is usually fine. In this case because it’s two sided and the polyfoam is just in the quilting layers this would apply to each side.

On one side you have 1" of supersoft foam and on the other there is 7/8" of firm so this wouldn’t be an issue for me and wouldn’t be what I consider to be a weak link. You can read a bit more about quilting foam in a mattress and why its used in post #12 here.

I think the information you received was “mostly correct”. The latex would be 100% Talalay (Talalay is the process used to make the latex and not the raw material so it would either be made using the Talalay or Dunlop process).

In terms of the blend of the latex … if it’s Talalay then it’s clearly blended because the 100% natural doesn’t come in the ILD’s that are mentioned (they are specific to blended Talalay). This could be a good thing because in softer ILD’s blended Talalay is more durable and it’s also less costly.

The layers of polyfoam used in the quilting are much more likely to be conventional polyfoam than HR and I don’t think most mattress manufacturers would provide you with the compression modulus (support factor) of the foam becaue this isn’t a spec that would that helpful anyway and most manufacturers wouldn’t even know it. In layers this thin then the density (which determines the quality/durability) would be nice to know but with quilting foam in thin layers it’s not so necessary or that important if all the layers underneath it are good quality and durable materials (which they are).

With latex, the type (in this case Talalay) and the blend (in this case a 70%/30% blend of synthetic/natural) is the information you would need to know the type and quality and you have it so that’s fine.

It’s good that you can each use a different side of the mattress and it seems to me that one would clearly be more suitable for you and one for him although the top layer on his side is very firm for a comfort layer and the middle support core may be a little on the softer side of “normal” for his body weight but this is what is called a “dominant layer” which provides a firmer surface and much of the pressure relief/comfort comes from the layers below this so it may work well for his build. To make the mattress suitable for “most people” they would need to do this so that they can all use the same core. While it’s not “customized” for each of you … it does provide each of you with reasonable choices.

While only you can know for certain how suitable the layering will end up being for each of you (your own personal experience is always more accurate than any “theory at a distance”) at least you have the benefit of Costco’s return policy and you each have a side that is likely to be closer to what would feel and perform better for each of you.

In terms of overall value … this is difficult to know because when you have a sleeping system that has two parts to it (the mattress and the adjustable bed) it’s hard to know which part of the price is connected to which piece. As a rough estimate though … assuming that the adjustable bed is Leggett & Platt then it would be reasonable to assign it a “value” in the range of $2200 which means that the mattress would be in the range of $4500 - $2200 = $2300 which would be good value for a split king two sided mattress with 10" of blended Talalay latex and no wool or other more costly materials included in the construction.

So you have a reasonably good value combination where the return policy replaces any advice you would have about it’s suitability for you in terms of PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) but with a reasonably good chance of success so overall this would appear to be worth trying and can at least be a good backup if there are no local options that are closer to your own personal value equation.

Phoenix