New Mattress Decision, down to three options (IKEA, Sleep EZ, Innerspring)!

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi all,

Much like everybody else here I’m trying to decide on a new mattress. Unfortunately much like everyone here I’m quite confused by all the misinformation that I’ve found. Everyone and their uncle seems to have an opinion on what mattress to get, what’s “toxic” and what isn’t…most of it based on anecdotal evidence or half-truths.

I’ve gone through the main mattress types and decided the following:

Innerspring: Everybody seems to hate this kind of bed, seen as the least durable and cost effective. The only option is a hard mattress with no extra padding, as the padding tends to sag quickly. This mattress is in the running, just because it’s so cheap.

Memory Foam: There seems to be a lot of belief that this type of mattress can be potentially toxic and gas-off VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which have been shown to have adverse health effects. Whether or not that’s the case remains to be seen, but why take the chance and be a guinea pig, after all it’s plausible (see asbestos). So this type of mattress is out.

Latex: The undisputed champion of preferred mattresses, unless you’re allergic or hate the feel. Supposed to be the most durable (no sagging and lasts the longest), as such it is the most expensive. Except there’s one issue…they are difficult to find in major retail stores. Typically consumers go with online retailers, which provide much cheaper prices, the obvious downfall is that the bed can’t be tested. Sounds perfect, but I remain skeptical.

I find myself skeptical on latex because there are no verified reviews of any of the latex mattresses I’m considering. Yes, I realize that this site and whatsthebestmattress has plenty, but they are hardly verified. Lets take Sleep EZ, one of the most recommended, their website looks shoddy to me (multiple spelling mistakes and not formatted perfectly) and there are no verified reviews. When I’m spending $3000, that’s simply very risky.

With that said I have narrowed my choices down to three options:

IKEA-Sultan Edsele-$1200

+IKEA is close
+I have tried the mattress
+Easier to deal with returns
-Not 100% natural
-Only Dunlop
-Only 7’’ latex
-Return policy is only an exchange, but since it’s their best mattress why would I want to exchange

Sleep-EZ 13000-$2795

+12’’ of latex, which would be great for someone 6’3’’ & 200-240 lbs
+100% natural dunlop/talalay
-Can’t try the mattress ahead of time, might require layer exchanges
-Returns would be a nightmare and will require substantial cost (shipping)
-Unverified reviews
-The most expensive
-Some reviews mention latex will sag too, there is a small sample size of reviews

Generic big box store-hard innerspring-$700-900

+The cheapest option
+Mattress is available in store, easy to try
+Easier to deal with returns
+Available reviews
+/- Mixed reviews on longevity, some say hard will last long, others say innerspring will sag regardless
-The comfort layer (if any) will sag
-The ratings are lower than latex, but there is a larger sample size
-Questionable materials used in construction

To me any of these are viable options. The IKEA mattress’s biggest con is the small height and possibly not enough support. The inner spring’s biggest con is perceived low longevity. The Sleep EZ’s biggest con is the lack of verified reviews.

With that said, can anyone point me in the direction of some verified Sleep EZ latex mattress reviews (and hopefully make my decision easy)?

If not, I’m open to suggestions for other latex mattresses with verified reviews (except Savvy Rest, too expensive) and also opinions on the above choices.

Thank you for reading

2

Hi arx,

I am certainly not included in “everybody” and some of the most knowledgeable people I know in the industry that could sleep on anything they wanted to sleep on an innerspring mattress … by choice. The “weak link” of a mattress is generally in the comfort layers not the support layers of a mattress and a good quality innerspring can be a very durable component. A mattress will normally soften and break down from the top down and an innerspring is not normally the weak link of a mattress and are not nearly as common an issue as the quality of the comfort layers above it.

There are certainly some people who believe this but there are also many who believe that anything that includes any synthetic materials must “by definition” be toxic which is of course nonsense. There are also many types of memory foam with different chemical formulations that have different degrees of offgassing and VOC’s but since all materials will have VOC’s the real issue is whether they are harmful more than whether they exist. For the most part if a memory foam is certified by CertiPur (or a similar testing protocol) then by most people’s standards it would be “safe enough” although there are also a minority with greater sensitivity who may be more sensitive than the testing standards or sensitive to odors that aren’t harmful and there is also a vocal minority who for personal reasons will only sleep on natural materials and believe anything else is unhealthy. Either way … all of this is a personal preference and each person may answer the question of “how safe is safe enough for me?” in different ways.

Latex certainly has a lot of characteristics that make it a very desirable material in mattress construction for those who prefer it. As you mentioned they are more difficult to find in mainstream stores but much easier to find following the suggestions on this site and are often made by smaller independent manufacturers. Some of the better latex options are either made by local or regional manufacturers and sold either factory direct or through better sleep shops or as you mentioned are sold online.

Reviews are among the worst ways to choose a mattress or to know it’s quality or durability but if you know the materials inside a mattress you will have a much more meaningful idea of its durability. You can read more about mattress reviews in post #13 here. Regardless of which mattress manufacturer uses it … it’s not the brand or model name of the mattress that gives it its durability … it’s the materials inside the mattress. Latex itself is the oldest of all the foam materials used in mattresses and has been used for many decades. You can see a latex mattress in the video here that was slept on for almost 50 years.

In the case of SleepEz there are many reviews around the internet and a forum search on SleepEz here (you can just click this) will also bring up many comments and feedback about them although once again reviews won’t tell you anything about how suitable a mattress will be for you or how long it may last you (you can read more about the factors involved in the relative durability of a mattress in post #4 here).

Out of the mattresses you mentioned … Ikea and SleepEz have no obvious weak links in terms of quality and durability and both could make a good choice if the design was suitable for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).

The “generic innerspring” would depend entirely on knowing the specifics of all the layers but if you are looking at a major brand then the odds are very high that there are significant amounts of lower quality polyfoam in the comfort layers. there are some very good quality “generic innerspring” mattresses available but in general they are made by smaller independent manufacturers that use higher quality versions of polyfoam in their comfort layers and/or make their mattresses two sided. As you can see in some of the links in the basic tutorial post here … you would need to know the exact materials in a specific mattress to make any meaningful comments about its quality or durability but if it’s made by a major brand I would tend to avoid it.

If you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know of any of the better local options or possibilities I’m aware of and the tutorial post has a link to the online members here that make latex mattresses in a wide range of designs … all of which are good quality/value and well worth a phone call.

Phoenix

3

Hi Phoenix,

Thank you for your reply.

I agree with you here, it seems like this opinion is born from the low quality of comfort layers on the Sealy, S&F, & etc mattresses (I would think this is what most consumers experience). There are many verified reviews that support this claim.

Again I agree here, just because something is synthetic does not make it toxic, coming from a chemical/engineering background I always find this argument absurd. However in the case of VOCs it is plausible and some studies do support it, and I do not want to take this risk. As I said asbestos was once thought of as harmless, and look at it now. But this is a personal preference, I recognize that I may very well be over-paranoid.

I agree about reviews being the wrong tool to choose a mattress, to an extent. They certainly can’t predict comfort and an individuals reaction to the material (sensitivity to materials of construction). One could also argue that the longevity of a mattress can’t be predicted based on a small sample size of reviews, since who knows how that individual mattress was treated or maybe it was defective.

However with a large sample size of reviews one could probably get a good idea of the longevity of a mattress (with the assumption that most people treat a mattress in a similar fashion), purchase experience and subsequent customer service.

I also believe VERIFIED reviews are an absolute must for on-line only purchases. They provide real feedback and in the internet age where some estimate 42% of online reviews are faked (it’s a rather pessimistic view, but certainly an effective marketing strategy).

That is by far my biggest gripe with the latex mattress industry, almost none of the reviews are verified! Yes, there are reviews, but they are on forums and some rather sketchy looking testimonials. The only company I have found somewhat verified reviews are from Savvy Rest and Dream Foam bedding. I think it would go a long way if some of the latex mattress companies established a presence on Amazon or asked consumers to post reviews on third party verified sites (it would certainly increase consumer confidence).

I think another issue with latex mattresses is such a small sample size of users, it’s really unfortunate and a catch 22. Not enough people buy latex mattresses, which leads to not enough reviews, which leads to diminished consumer confidence (lower demand), this leads to lower supply of the product, leading to higher prices for those who do demand such a mattress, but at the same time the price keeps away potential new adopters. Add the fact that a lot of mattress reviews are initial impressions and not long term reviews, this further gives consumers incorrect product information. Factor in general consumer apathy toward product research and one can see how easy it is for the big box mattress stores and others to easily prey on consumers.

With that said I do remain optimistically skeptical about latex mattresses. I do however find it odd that I have found no negative reviews about Sleep EZ (though I did find a few negative about Savvy Rest) and I also remain skeptical about a lot of the claims of latex (the old adage, if it’s too good to be true it probably is), but I certainly hope that the claims are true.

With regards to the choices, I think I will eliminate the IKEA mattress, only because I think my frame of 6’3’’ and 200-240 lbs will not get enough support from the 7’’ of latex.

This leaves me with an innerspring and a thicker 100% latex. An innerspring with a latex comfort layer might be the best solution.

I think therefore Sleep EZ and possibly Dreamfoam bedding (many verified reviews on Amazon) are a good choice now. However I would like to hear about other latex choices.

I would be very very happy to hear about local options too. I live in the Metro Detroit area near Ann Arbor (I have actually found one place that showed Savvy Rest, but not much more).

Thank you for taking the time to read this (despite all my skepticism).

Arx

PS: I would also like to add that Sleep EZ would benefit a great deal from a better designed web site. Along with that a list of latex manufacturers, MSDS, and a material analysis of the latex would give, at least me, a great deal of confidence in a purchase.

4

@arx

I don’t know what your budget or shopping preferences are, but your shopping / research habit is somewhat biased towards the amazon listed mattresses. This might be deliberate, or it might be accidental. Since you seem to be doing a very thorough job, you might be curious about that. In particular, you’ll probably exclude several of the smaller mattress makers, specialty shops, and some of the higher end that doesn’t sell direct through amazon.

I bought my mattresses (Green Sleep) at tmasc.ca. They have a wealth of info that was useful to me on their website. In the USA, I believe thecleanbedroom.com is somewhat similar.

Both carry mattress lines you won’t really find on amazon, including latex, spring, and hybrid. Brands such as green sleep, sleep tek, royal-pedic, and others.

In any event, you asked to see other options, and I can see you’d bias your results by primarily using amazon.com, so thought I’d share this.

Thanks,

5

Hi arx,

The durability of a mattress is relative to each person so reviews could only give an indication of the durability of a mattress if the review included the specifics of all the layers and components in the mattress or if everyone who reviewed a mattress came back in 10 years or so and shared their experience along with their specific body type and sleeping style and mattress preferences. Unless the materials are specifically mentioned then in most cases consumers have no idea about what they are sleeping on. There are tens of thousands of people for example who believe they are sleeping on latex because that’s what they were told at the store when in fact their mattress has a layer of latex buried somewhere inside and in between lower quality materials which will soften and compress much too quickly. The problem is that the vast majority of reviews are written in the first few weeks of ownership by people who know little about the materials in their mattress and by the time a longer term review would be meaningful in terms of durability then that mattress wouldn’t be available anymore anyway so once again you would be back to needing to know the durability of the materials in the mattress.

It’s the materials that give the mattress its durability … not the manufacturers label.

I do agree though that a review is a useful source of information about a business and their knowledge and service.

The properties of latex are well known and it has been in use for longer than any other foam material. Unfortunately the major brands tend not to use latex as much as smaller manufacturers because it’s more difficult to claim that it’s a proprietary material (they don’t like people to compare their mattresses to other brands) and attach the profit margins that they need along their supply chain.

The biggest challenge with latex is not verifying its durability … almost every knowledgeable manufacturer that has been working with it for decades will validate that it’s the most durable foam material … but finding a latex mattress where you know the details of the layers inside your mattress so you can know it’s really a latex mattress and be able to test a range of different designs both to make sure you like the material (not everyone does) and to find the design that works best for you (there is a huge range of different “feels” in latex mattresses).

Fortunately if you avoid the major brands and chain stores (which are normally a poor choice anyway) latex mattresses of many different types are fairly widely available across the country.

You can test this in person to make sure that any mattress provides you with good support / spinal alignment although there are probably better options available than a mattress that uses a single layer of latex … at least for most people.

Some of the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the Detroit / Ann Arbor area are listed in post #2 here.

Phoenix

6

Arx
I too was in that same situation and sometimes the information here can be a little confusing. I had an innerspring mattress for 15years. I researched for months trying to differentiate the threee types of mattresses you listed. I tested the memory foam like tempupedic at the stores and thought they felt great but after reading they sleep warm and the materials might not be safe I decided against it. I found myself leaning towards the Latex mattresses. The owner of this forum seems to stress the quality of the materials and thats a good thing. It clarifys some things such as why certain beds feel great in the showroom but can breakdown in the future. I started to look at the online stores and the switching of layers etc. But the hassle of returning a mattress made looking locally much more attractive. Pure Latex Bliss mattresses are sold in stores across the country and I think they are a great mattress if latex is what you are looking for. cgmattress had the best price by far but they are local in los angeles and thus they delivered it and removed my old mattress as well as offered me a comfort exchange period. Im currently sleeping on the Beautiful model which is a liitle soft for me but I have been talking with the owner Ronnie, who is working with me. He is expecting their organic line and new prestige line to be coming soon.
At first it was strange sleeping on a latex mattress although I slept well in it from the first day, however it felt like I was sinking too deep. I still get a great nights sleep and have adjusted to the feel of Latex however it sleeps a little warm (which they say a wool protector might help regulate heat).
I was reading about another strategy where you get a firm mattresss, innerspring, and then get a softer pillowtop. I wanted to avoid foam and discovered royal-pedic and some others use cotton and wool. But after testing them out I didnt like them at all, thinking I may have adjusted to the latex. I like the idea that latex is clean doesnt attract dustmites and will last a long time. The one thing I would tell anyone looking for a new mattress is you must make sure they hjave a refund or comfort exchange policy. Sleeping in the bed doesnt compare to trying one out at the store.
Good Luck )

7

The Pure Latex Line comes in different degrees of softness Pamper is the firmest and the Worlds Best is their most plush

8

I forgot to mention that Pure Latex Bliss is made by Latex International who supply most of the ,manufacturers with their latex

9

Everybody’s different, is what a lot of this boils down to, I’m afraid.

As for the durability of latex, I can tell you that my father bought a Dunlop latex mattress from Sears back in the 1960s and it was still a fine sleeping mattress when he died in 1999 and I was fool enough to give it to someone who needed a full size mattress, only later realizing I should have kept it.

I went from bad innerspring mattresses up until the 1990s (I was born in 1952) to a hard sided waterbed, then a soft sided waterbed which somehow became uncomfortable to the point that I put a featherbed topper on it a couple of years ago. When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I went and bought a very simple Dunlop mattress this past September. Phoenix informed me of a small sleep shop an hour away from us (we’re in the boonies of SW Virginia, a place where one wouldn’t expect to be able to test a good latex mattress). I love my mattress - it’s a 6" support layer with a 3" comfort layer, both natural Dunlop latex made by Latex Green. Mike7 is right about Latex International supplying a lot of the latex in the US, but he’s talking about Talalay latex and I’m talking about Dunlop. Both latex, but with different characteristics.

I’d never buy a Tempurpedic or the like - not even considering the chemical issues and such, I sleep hot, and I don’t want to have to struggle to turn over in bed at night. My daughter bought one of the better quality innerspring mattresses made by Sealy (not saying much - just that it wasn’t one of the worst of the worst) last year, and it’s already showing too much of an indentation where she sleeps). I sure didn’t want to go that route, either. I’m sure her next mattress will be pretty much like mine.

My mattress is just two layers of Dunlop latex in a zippered rayon from bamboo/cotton fabric. I love it.

Amazon reviews can be just as skewed as anyone else’s - I read only the one and two star reviews, and then figure out what percentage of the whole those encompass before making any purchasing decisions from them.

I hope you can find something you like - I know all too well what it’s like to embark on this search! It was frustrating for me, and I was fortunate enough to find this forum and have a pretty good idea that I wanted a mattress made of latex, so in a sense I didn’t have nearly as much to figure out as most folks here.