Dear Phoenix,
I spent yesterday in Dallas/Fort Worth trying some other options in my quest for a chemical free mattress that is comfortable to me.
One stop I made was the Original Mattress Factory in Fort Worth, which I believe is a member of this site. The factory showroom was small and factory-like. We were there to look at & try the two sided latex mattresses. I had been told by the owner earlier in the week that they could make one with organic cotton and wool to meet my prescription and my need for something chemical free. The owner was not there and the guy who was helping us was nice, but did not know about this, so he had to call the owner on the phone. As we were in the showroom, unfortunately for me, all the symptoms of the reaction that I had had to my new Simmons toxic mattress started to develop. I knew that I really had to get out of there pretty quickly. The salesperson and I went into the factory to look for the bolt of the organic cotton fabric that the owner had told us we could find via phone. When we found the fabric, it was quilted with the wool and then--sadly--had a backing that was definitely not cotton or anything natural. When we called the owner back and I asked him what this backing was, he told me that it was the fire retardant layer, but for me not to worry as they would just tear it off before they put it on the mattress. This manner of approach to creating a chemical-free mattress was simply not "safe" enough for me at all. The chemicals of the fire retardant were already touching the wool and to me that would contaminate the whole mattress. Meanwhile my allergy symptoms were getting worse, so even thought the prices were very good there, I had to walk away since they could definitely not meet my needs for a chemical free mattress. I would not recommend this manufacturer to anyone with chemical sensitivities based on my experience.
We also visited a store called Green Living in the design district where they had the Savvy Rest serenity on display. Mainly I wanted to see if my impressions of this mattress would be the same as they were the previous week in Austin and also wanted my husband to try some different layering options to see what suited him, I still felt pretty good with the soft talalay over med. dunlop and firm dunlop. We also tried a soft talalay topper over soft, med, firm, dunlop layers. This arrangement was most pleasing to my husband and ok for me, but I still felt like something was "not right" even though I couldn't really pinpoint it. This was my reaction to this bed last week as well.
At the Sovn store, we were taken through testing out our options with an excellent salesperson. She was just the right blend of knowledgable and knowing when to give a person some space. Each time, we were given the task of comparing only 2 mattresses and choosing the one that felt best for each of us. We eventually narrowed it down to the one bed that we both kept choosing over another each time. This was their I-Willow firmness level C, which is the innerspring with the honeycomb bi-level coils and 2" soft talalay over the innersprings (I think it was 24 or 25 ILD). We both liked the way this bed felt. I think I really liked it alot because it was very close in feeling to what I remember our old mattress that we had for 21 years being like before it wore out. I guess the innersprings had a familiar feel to me. Anyway, this mattress seemed very well constructed. The latex was in a "sock" like the Suite Sleep model last week. The cover was lovely and had a nice layer of wool. The flexible slatted base that we tried it with also seemed well crafted. I felt very comfortable with all of the materials in this mattress being "safe," mostly because I had read up on them in advance on their website. We also tried the mattress on the floor to see how it felt if it were not on the flexible slat base. I think that I really did prefer the give of the flexible slat base, but it felt great on the floor too of course I guess it is all relative when you haven't slept on a real mattress in a month.
All in all, I think that this mattress might be "the one." Now, after coming home and reading up about Berkeley Ergonomics on this site and others, I am faced with the unfortunate fact that Sovn charges $3500 for this set (in Cal King) plus another $100. or so to get this to the Tyler, TX area where I live. I am definitely going to go back and lay on this mattress again one more time to make sure it is as awesome as I thought yesterday, and when I do, I plan to go armed with the prices that some of the other dealers sell it for in an attempt to see if they will come down.
So far, through the posts on this site, I have found sleepworks.com and sleepdesign.com carrying it with a different name for $2800. I need to find out what they charge for shipping. I also found designsleep.com for $2820 plus $395 shipping to any of the 48 states. What are some other dealer that I might check out that carry the Berkely Ergonomics mattresses?
Also, regarding the flexible slat base, do you have any opinion as to whether or not this is a good option? It felt good to me, but I guess I am old fashioned and used to an old school box spring. If my understanding is correct, you can make parts of it "harder" or "softer" by controlling the amount of 'give." Any thoughts?
Again, I thank you for your time and all of the work and knowledge you put into this site. I would like to make a donation. How does one go about doing that?
Lisa