New Mattress?

[phoenix]

Hi Manimal,

Thanks- I’ll speak with Mark again to try and determine the best route to take, although your comments and the links provided were still helpful… and sorry to provoke the explanation that I see you so often needing to repeat in forum posts about “feeling what you feel” and 'individual testing", etc.- I hope you can usually paste that in without too much modification

No problem. I know how much most people hope that there is a “formula” or “algorithm” that can make layering choices for them (and I also wish there was such a thing) but experience is really the only reliable way to know.

Since Mark mentioned that he’d been thinking about offering a mattress with that construction, I may ask him if he’d consider getting a prototype in his showroom or at least the make/ILD of the Talalay he’d be inclined to use. Regardless, I would likely end up going with either the LG blended in either 19 or 24… Mark seemed to feel the 24 may be a little too firm in general.

While there are many people in your weight range that would do well on 24 ILD or even a 28 ILD comfort layer (more in the medium range) 19 ILD would probably be a preference for those that tend to prefer a softer feel. I wouldn’t go any softer than this both for the sake of PPP and for durability reasons.

The only information I can really provide with respect to comparisons are based on what Mark has in the showroom, since the HR foam has a different feel/characteristics compared to the latex combinations I’ve tried. I’m strong considering it because for me, it seems to provide a better overall feel in the base/transition layers than latex- especially for the price. I do know that a mattress Mark used to have in the showroom was very comfortable even though it had a very simple design- 3" of soft (I think ~18 ILD) 2-2.2 lb “ultra-cell” foam over 5" of 35 ILD HR foam. I preferred it over the “original” CloudRest mattress… however, at least in theory, would still prefer latex in the comfort layer, and Mark felt the 27 ILD HR would go well with the 35 ILD base. I would have to confirm Mark would offer an exchange or something if I moved ahead with a purchase, especially since I most likely wouldn’t be able to try out a completed mattress beforehand (I’m pretty sure he would).

ILD/IFD ratings don’t compare well between different types of materials or between different types and blends of latex partly because ILD/IFD is tested differently with polyfoam than it is with latex and produces different results (see post #6 here) and partly because there are other specifications besides ILD that can affect how soft or firm a layer feels (see post #4 here). 18 IFD polyfoam would “probably” feel closer to a slightly higher ILD in latex (probably low 20’s) although this would be somewhat subjective and the comparisons will also vary between different versions of polyfoam and latex.

The bottom two layers you are considering sound reasonable to me but much of the “feel” and pressure relief of the mattress will come from the thickness and ILD of the top Talalay layer (and the cover will make some difference as well).

[quote]You may have misread my comments about Ventex… it’s the company Mark uses for the fire barrier (I was just making a comparison on the glue to my previous concerns with fire barriers under a separate topic) and you’ve actually commented on it before… I did a quick search on “Ventex” and found the below comments from another post in response to essentially the same question::

[What are your thoughts on Ventex? Is it safe and still effective?

Ventex makes inherent fire barriers that don’t have any added chemicals so I would consider them to be “safe enough” yes. All their mattresses (like all the mattresses that are legally sold in the US) have passed 1633 fire regulations so they are also an effective fire barrier.]

At any rate, the info/links you provided on adhesives alleviated any concerns, so thanks again! [/quote]

Thanks for the clarification … I did think that you were talking about “Ventex” glue and I’m glad you were able to find the information that you needed about the Ventex fire barrier.

Phoenix