We are way overdue for a new mattress, and will be moving in one week. So we need a new mattress to be delivered in about a week!
I know I want a 100% natural latex mattress, and SleepEZ came highly recommended by a few friends. We tried mattresses at the Eco Cloud showroom in San Francisco to get an idea of what we wanted, but now I am struggling with how to translate that into SleepEZ mattresses.
The mattress we liked the most was 3" Firm dunlop, 3" firm Talalay, and 1" soft Talalay. I felt like we could go for a little bit more “cushion” and that a firmer mattress would hurt. SleepEZ has a cheaper option (two layers) and a more expensive option (three layers).
The expensive option is a bit out of our price range, but we are concerned that we wouldn’t like two layers. I definitely want a Soft layer on top because I tend to get joint pain, have a bit of lumbar lordosis (lower back curves in too much) and need to feel some cushion. However, I always wake up with back pain with sleeping on a too soft mattress… so I think I would like a firm or extra firm base layer.
Can we reliably order the same layers as Eco Cloud at SleepEZ and expect a mattress that feels the same? Are three layers vs two worth more expense? I would really appreciate some guidance. Thank you!
Sleepers: 125 lbs and 5’2 (back sleeper and picky sleeper), 175 lbs and 6’3 (slide sleeper and can sleep on anything)
Your testing at The Natural Mattress Store can certainly give you a general sense of how you feel about latex in general (or in their case Dunlop latex) but it may not be possible to exactly duplicate a local mattress with an online purchase.
If you have all the specifics of the mattress you tested (type and blend of latex, layer thickness, accurate ILD of each layer, and the type of cover) then a phone call to SleepEz would be the best source of guidance about which of the combinations they offer would come closest to approximating the mattress you tested. If two designs are too different then it may be quite difficult for anyone to know which of their mattresses are a reasonable approximation and you may be better off going with their suggestions based on body type and sleeping position (rather than “targeting” another mattress). There is more about “matching” one mattress to another in post #9 here.
The advantage of the SleepEz mattresses are that layers can be re-arranged or exchanged if the original layering isn’t quite right but don’t forget that there is no real reason for a local manufacturer to disclose “comfort specs” such as ILD because your local testing will tell you what you need to know about whether the layers are suitable for your needs and preferences. They may want to keep their designs proprietary so you may not be able to find out enough details of the mattress you are trying to match to match them through another manufacturer even if they did have the same materials available and the best you may be able to do is a mattress that is equivalent in terms of PPP even if the design is different.
If the type and blend of the latex and the ILD is all the same and the mattress cover is very similar as well then you would have a close match but SleepEz doesn’t offer a model that includes a 1" layer over two 3" layers so you would be translating one design into another which is as much an art as a science so there would be differences between both mattresses.
If SleepEz offered the same 3" layers (you would need to match the specs of all the layers) and then you could use a topper in the 1" to 2" range over the mattress but this would be outside the cover rather than inside it which would also change how the sleeping system (mattress and topper) would feel and perform compared to the same layers inside the cover.
If a three layer mattress was a better match in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) then for most people it would probably be worth it but if it wasn’t an improvement over the two layer mattress then it probably wouldn’t be. Your own experience is really the only way to know. Three individual layers does provide more flexibility for customizing the mattress than two layers. Thinner mattresses will also tend to be firmer than thicker mattresses all else being equal.
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … post #1 here also has the basic information, steps, and guidelines that may be useful for you.