Like so many others on this site, my wife and I are in the market for a new bed. Our old one is a Cal King innerspring. Major sags where we sleep. We went out shopping the other day and visited a few family owned mattress stores. My wife had been to a Sit and Sleep last week. Having such a bad experience with our current mattress, which we really liked when it was new, we thought we’d look at some of the latex options since they don’t seem so prone to sagging. We tried any number of latex, tatalay, layers of this and that and didn’t like any of them. They were all to bouncy. Then we even tried a Tempurpedic. While comfortable when staying in one position the memory foam didn’t feel right to either of us when we turned over. Various toppers mitigated that somewhat. We then tried an innerspring made by Aireloom. (The Aireloom Hybrid “Bamboo”, Cush/Firm which is supposed to have some latex in the comfort layer.) We both liked that the best partly because it wasn’t such a big departure from what we’re used to. When we got home from our tour of stores, I did research on Aireloom and it seems like it is just like all the rest sold at the chain stores and on this site it has been said there are better values out there. Aireloom doesn’t even list the “ingredients” of their mattresses on their Web site. So the bottom line is, if one is not comfortable on a 100% foam mattress and wants an innerspring with some foam in the comfort layers, what are the best ones, which ones won’t break down quickly, and where does one get one without getting ripped-off?
so how, in your estimation, is an innerspring not bouncy ?
really curious …
Bouncy might not have been the right term. “Jiggly” would better describe what we felt on an all latex mattress. The sensation was like being on a very large cube of Jello. The whole mattress moves with every movement. When you roll over the mattress wants to keep you rolling right off the bed. The innerspring doesn’t seem to have all the other issues as does memory foam which surrounds you and feels like you’re pushing a mass of resistance when you roll over (and leaves a crater behind you), and the latex which is alive. Another thing is when I sat on the edge of a memory foam mattress I kept sinking farther and farther down. I got up before it quit compressing. An innerspring will bounce, i guess, if you jump up and down but when sleeping I don’t get any of that sensation.
Hi VanGuy,
Jiggly is certainly a term that has been used to describe an all latex mattress … particularly if it is on the softer/thicker side.
As you mentioned it would not be a great idea to buy any mattress where you had no idea what was inside it … layer by layer … especially if it was from a more costly manufacturer like Aireloom which will usually use lower quality materials at higher prices. if you want a rough indication of what is in the mattress you could look at the law tag which will show the proportion of materials listed by weight (but not the layering or the quality of the materials)
I would always start with the steps in post #1 here and the information it links to to help you in your search. It will also help you know some of the possibilities in terms of the mix of materials and components that you may want to test. It will also help you systematize your search more effectively. Once you get to step 3 … if you let me know your city or zip I’d be happy to let you know of the better options I’m aware of in your area. Just in case the “Van” means Vancouver … then post #2 here should be helpful.
Some latex/innerspring hybrids may be well worth testing if they are available to you.
Phoenix
Nope, not Vancouver. We’re in Los Angeles, the west side. And yes, we would like to know what hybrids to consider. I’ve spent a week trying to get a handle on the various densities of foam, etc. At this point all I know is that I don’t like the feel of any all foam mattress I’ve laid on regardless of whether it’s tatalay, dunlop, firm or soft or any combination and I’ve tried a bunch.
Hi VanGuy,
OK … then I guess it could be Van Nuys … or something … or not 
In any case you have some great options for every type of latex or latex hybrid you could possible want to test (or other combinations as well) and the better options and possibilities I’m aware of in the General Los Angeles area are listed in post #2 here.
Phoenix