Need Help with Latex Layer Selection

Mattress Talk General Mattresses Questions
1

Need some advice selecting layers for our 3-layer latex mattress from SleepEZ. My wife’s pretty well set with her side, but in spite of reading everything there is to read, and even trying out a few combinations, I’m still struggling greatly.

I’m a lousy decision maker in general, but when you add to that the 512 possible combinations of three layers that are possible with four firmness levels and two types of latex, I’m absolutely paralyzed. I know that it’s possible to exchange layers, but I’d like to try to get right the first time, not necessarily “perfect”, but something I will be satisfied with.

Initially we went to SavvyRest and tried out several combinations. I didn’t find anything to be uncomfortable, but I seemed to have a slight preference for combinations that used Dunlop for at least two out of the three layers. The problem is that to me, everything feels pretty good when I lie down on it for a while, even our current bed. It’s only after a full night of sleep that I can really tell. In our current bed, I wake up every morning with lower back and side pain.

After the seeing the video on the FloBeds website where they compare Dunlop and Talalay layers that have been compressed in storage for several years, I’m wondering if it’s best, from a durability standpoint, to just forget about Dunlop. The video makes a pretty convincing case for Talalay, but of course that’s all they sell.

Also, I find that the different companies make different recommendations. For example, the standard recommendation for my height, weight and sleeping style at SleepEZ is soft over medium over firm, with the top layer being Talalay and the others Dunlop. But at FloBeds and Foam Sweet Foam, they recommend Medium over Firm over X-Firm.

I’m 5’7, and my weight fluctuates between 145-155 lbs. I sleep mainly on my side and back, but also occasionally on my stomach. Some of the combinations I’m considering are:

  1. S-Talalay / M-Dunlop / F-Dunlop
  2. S-Talalay / F-Dunlop / XF-Dunlop
  3. M-Talalay / M-Dunlop / F-Dunlop
  4. M-Talalay / F-Dunlop / XF-Dunlop
  5. S-Dunlop / M-Dunlop / F-Dunlop
  6. S-Dunlop / F-Dunlop / XF-Dunlop
    07 M-Dunlop / F-Dunlop / XF-Dunlop
  7. S-Talalay / M-Talalay / F-Talalay
  8. S-Talalay / F-Talalay / XF-Talalay
  9. M-Talalay / M-Talalay / F-Dunlop
  10. M-Talalay / F-Talalay / XF-Talalay

Thanks for any advice you can give to help with my selection, and for your terrific website.

Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I’ve got to go to the store and decide which one of seventeen brands of peanut butter to buy, not to mention crunchy vs. creamy, and organic vs. non-organic. It’s not easy being me!

2

Hi RainOnTheFarm,

When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer (such as SleepEZ) that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done or mattresses you have slept on and liked that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences (or to other mattresses that they are familiar with) than anyone else.

Once you have chosen your initial layering then the only way to know for certain how it will feel for you is to actually sleep on it so all the thinking and second guessing in the world won’t get you any closer to knowing how it will actually feel for you in “real life”. The initial combination of layers is generally suitable for the large majority of their customers and for the minority where it’s not then rearranging the layers is generally all that’s needed. For an even smaller minority yet there is the option to exchange a layer and in the “worst case” if nothing else seems to work then the “last resort” is to return the mattress for a minimal cost.

In other words … if you aren’t certain about what to choose then I would just follow their suggestions which are based on years of experience and generally work out very well for the very large majority of their customers.

Phoenix