Hi KSSOD,
[quote]I would like some opinions on a White Dove Nature’s Legacy latex mattress i am considering from a local Akron, Oh retailer.
The model was labeled Aspen, and had the following specs on the sales tag: 4" Ultra HD SOY based core, 2.8" 32 ILD Dunlop, and a
4" 36 ILD Talalay layer which I assume is on top. The bamboo cover is stitched. It has a 20/10 warranty.[/quote]
You can see the specs you need to assess a mattress in this article and I would want to know the density of the base layer, the blend of the Dunlop, and the blend of the Talalay.
Having said that … and assuming that the Dunlop is 100% natural, the Talalay is blended Talalay, and the base layer is 1.8 lbs or higher (you can see some specs of a different version of a Nature’s Legacy mattress here) … then all the materials would be good quality and there would be no weak links in the mattress.
If the specs you listed are correct then this is a latex/polyfoam hybrid and isn’t all latex. There is 6.8" of latex and then the base layer is polyfoam.
The “value” of a mattress purchase depends on what else is available to you and how it compares to other mattresses and “finalists” you are considering based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you. I would also make comparisons on a mattress only to mattress only basis because including a foundation in the comparison makes it more difficult to compare the mattresses. Having said that … I would say that the price is probably a fair price.
Hopefully you’ve read the tutorial post and this article which is linked there which suggests avoiding the major brands. If you are seriously considering either of these then you would need to find out the specifics of all the layers inside them to make sure there are no weak links.
As an example you can see the layers for the Applause here which includes 2.5" of low quality/density polyfoam in the comfort layers which along with the pillo-fill would be a weak link in this mattress. While they don’t specify the density of the polyfoam (which would be enough for me to avoid the mattress) … it’s typically in the 1.3 lb density range which would be much lower than I would consider in the comfort layers of a mattress.
If you can’t find out the information you need to make an informed choice about a mattress, I would avoid it completely. The risk of the premature loss of comfort and support from the softening and breakdown of the materials in the comfort layers (which isn’t covered by a warranty) would be much too high.
Phoenix