Need help to find chemical-free mattress in Texas

[phoenix]

Hi lmcgehee,

In addition, never could feel like I got the perfect combination of layers. I worry that if I went this route I could go crazy trying to get it right. By the way, this was my one my husband liked the best with the topper over the soft, med, firm dunlop.

I can certainly understand this. For most people with a wider range of tolerance or less sensitivity in terms of pressure relief or alignment then “average” layering usually works out very well but for those few that have a narrower range and are more sensitive to smaller changes then “playing with layers” can certainly be frustrating because the process can sometimes be quite counter-intuitive to get to the best possible balance of pressure relief and support along with the right “feel”. In these cases … it’s usually best to get as close as possible with local testing and if you are close enough … then fine tuning with mattress protectors or thin toppers can bring you to your ideal without having to exchange layers.

Flora Nouveau was absolutely gorgeous in terms of craftsmanship and materials, but my initial impression was that it was a tad bit too hard for me in my recollection. If I were to purchase this mattress, I might need to use a topper. If I were to go back and try this again, I would be checking to see if my initial reaction about it being a bit too hard was duplicated in the second round. Beautiful though. I am an artist and these craftsmanship issues stand our for me.

I also think that the OMI mattresses are beautifully constructed and use very thick and high quality ticking/quilting materials although as you mention they are also sold at a premium price.

Suite Sleep Vesta was very surprisingly very comfortable, even though my initial impression was based on first feel that it would be too soft. Once I laid on it I found it to be very supportive and soft at the same time. The questions that keep coming into my mind are about the cover “mushrooming” over the foundation, and the fact that the woman Angela who I believe is the owner of Suite Sleep, who happened to be in Austin representing the company that day, told me that the version I was trying was marked “firm” and that in her opinion is was really supposed to be “medium.” I was not entirely comfortable with this level of subjectivity–even thoug perhaps that really is the reality of it.

As you mention this is the reality of it and when words like “soft/medium/firm” are used by a manufacturer they are very subjective and general. The “actual” firmness of a mattress is dependent on the person and what one person perceives as “too firm” another will perceive as “too soft”. Some of this has to do with different body types (firmer materials feel softer for heavier weights) and sleeping positions (side sleepers generally need softer/thicker top layers than back or stomach sleepers and may feel that a mattress that felt soft to a back sleeper was too firm for them) and with the types of materials used but some of it as well simply has to do with how different people have different perceptions of the same thing and it can also depend on what they use as a “reference point” (the softness/firmness of what they are used to). I think that she was probably talking about the model itself (rather than the specific mattress you were testing). You would find this kind of disagreement with almost any manufacturer who is using “averages” to describe their mattress and various different reps (or even owners) who may have their own opinions about how “accurate” the assigned rating really is. This would certainly not be unique to Suite Sleep. Subjective terms like soft/medium/firm are really open to each person’s individual interpretation.

I think that if you did order this mattress that the mattress you received would be the same as what was in the store and her “disagreement” was probably with the rating of the model itself rather than the specific one you tested (although I could be wrong here).

The mushrooming would be due to the nature of latex itself (it is very flexible, elastic, and flexes more “3 dimensionally” than polyfoam or innersprings) along with a combination of the layering softness of the mattress and the type and “stretchiness” of the cover they used. A more stretchy cover that doesn’t “hold” the shape of the latex as well can be softer and this would probably be more evident when you were either sitting on the edge or sleeping closer to the edge. It wouldn’t concern me though unless it was for aesthetic reasons.

The fact that it was my husband’s first choice of the Sovn mattresses was an added bonus. It was very well crafted like the OMI and Suite Sleep. The materials seemed safe and very cozy. In my first testing on Sat. It seemed soft, yet supportive, and comfortably familiar–perhaps because of the innersprings which is what I have slept on for all of my 51 years. That is why I am leaning towards this choice so far. I just don’t have anything in the back of my mind that is bugging me about it.

Well it seems clear to me that this is the one that your body (and mind) has told you is the most suitable (and as you say “familiar” for you). It also helps that you and your husband like the same version even though they do offer a side to side split.

I still am not perfectly sure about the choice of foundation, but my recollection is the slats really did feel better for me. I have read Sleepless in Dallas’ posts and hope that I hear back from her now that she got it right. I am also wanting to understand what made her move away from the flexible slats.

You can see some of the discussion we had about this in post #50 here and several of the posts that followed.

I really would like to buy it at Sovn as our customer service was excellent, but I am not in a position to turn over $600 or so more dollars more just to validate and support that. I am going to bring this issue up when I return to the store later this week.

I hope you have success with this because they have been quite resistant to price matching in the past. Perhaps because you are not the first to bring the issue up your efforts towards a “matching” price reduction will be more successful.

I hope you let us know how it goes

Phoenix