New Bed Needed - Thinking Latex

[phoenix]

Hi wacomme,’

[quote]We explained this to the salesman at Verlo, David. He said “real” latex foam shouldn’t smell, but the “fake” latex foam does - perfumes are added to the fake stuff. The inference was that Foamsource is using “fake” latex, even though they say it’s 100% natural Talalay from Latex International. David said Verlo uses the “real” blended latex, Talalay, from Radium.

1. Is the “fake” claim untrue? Foamsource is highly rated on Mattress Underground. Could they be selling fake latex? Odor has a strong visceral response, and my wife could hardly stand being in the foamsource store. Upon leaving the store she was fine. And gain, she didn’t have an odor response at Verlo. Could this just be manufacturing differences between Latex International (foamsource) and Radium (Verlo)?[/quote]

There could be many reasons for the difference in smell such as the number of mattresses in the store, the fact that Foam Source uses more 100% natural Talalay which tends to have a stronger “rubber” odor, the particular batches of latex that are currently in thestore (some batches have a stronger initial odor than others) the greater amount of handling or bare layers at Foam Source from rearranging individual layers, along with many other factors including the layout and design of the store itself but any inference that the latex at Foam Source is somehow “fake” is complete and utter nonsense and someone that would imply this seems to know very little about latex and is obviously trying to make the sale by telling you anything they think you are likely to believe. Foam Source offers both 100% natural Talalay and Blended Talalay (which is 30% natural rubber and 70% synthetic rubber).

There is more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here and there is more about the smell of latex in post #2 here.

2) I’m also highly concerned that Verlo doesn’t offer a return or exchange policy. There is also no warranty on their latex mattresses.

An exchange or return policy or the ability to fine tune the comfort or support of a mattress by rearranging or exchanging layers or making adjustments to a mattress can certainly be an important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase if you aren’t certain that a mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences). Verlo has a lifetime comfort guarantee where they will make changes to your mattress if you need it and Foam Source has layer exchanges that allow you to fine tune your mattress by rearranging layers or exchanging a layer.

Mattress warranties cover defects in a mattress and not the gradual loss of comfort and support that is the main reason that people will need to buy a new mattress so they have little to do with the durability or useful life of a mattress (see post #174 here). Having said that … defects are always possible (and tend to show up early in the life of a mattress) so having no warranty at all would be very risky if they won’t replace a mattress that has defective materials. I believe that all Verlo mattresses have a warranty so if a particular mattress they are selling doesn’t have one then it could be a floor model or a comfort exchange that is being sold “as is” which would be a much more risky purchase. I would make sure you clarify this.

3) Does Radium make 4" blended Talalay layers?

Radium makes 6" cores that can be slit to any thickness less than that.

4) Is an 8" latex mattress to thin? I’m 6’ and 155 lbs. My wife is 5’8" and 200 or so pounds. I’m mostly a back sleeper; she’s a side sleeper.

The thickness of a mattress or individual layers is only one of many factors that is part of the design of a mattress so by itself it means very little but there is more about the effect of thickness in post #14 here.

Unfortunately there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to predict whether any mattress will be a good match for you based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here) and the only reliable way to know whether any mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP is based on your own careful testing or actual sleeping experience.

BTW - is the latex at Mattrresses.net from Latex International or Radium.

They can supply both but their most popular mattresses use Radium.

is there any disadvantage to not having the layers glue together with latex glue? My wife wants them glued together as suggested by the salesman - so they don’t move around. I’d rather not have them glued together. Without a return or exchange policy, I’d like the option to move the layers around if necessary, or even replace a layer if the situation becomes dire.

There is more about the pros and cons of glued vs unglued layers in post #2 here and the posts it links to.

Once you are down to your list of “finalists”, if they are all choices between “good and good” and none of them have any weak links or lower quality materials in their design and if there are no clear winners between them then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your local testing, your conversations with each of them, your confidence about the suitability of each one, the prices, the exchange or return options you have after a purchase, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix