Please help with final NYC-area latex choices!

[phoenix]

Hi gp193,

2) If we decide to go all-latex, I can’t shake the feeling that the price is a bit high for a bed that I can buy for much, much less money online. The BE model is 6" talalay base with a 2" talalay comfort layer, and the price is $2200. This looks identical to the Queen Plush Talalay Latex Mattress that Arizona Premium Mattress is selling for $1195. I am also looking at options from SleepEZ. The thing is, I am wary of buying sight unseen, so it would be helpful to know exactly the details of the BE mattress so I can make a direct comparison. How would you compare these mattresses?

To compare them you would need to know the type and blend of the latex … possibly the latex manufacturer (Latex International or Radium) … and the ILD of the layers in both mattresses. You would also need to know the specific details of the cover and have enough experience to be able to predict any differences that the cover will make. The closer you could match every detail of each mattress the closer they will be. Small differences in design or components can make a significant difference in feel and performance in some cases and be cumulative or in some cases they may cancel each other out (see post #9 here about matching mattresses)

Other than that, a more detailed conversation with an online manufacturer would be the most effective way to make comparisons with any of the mattresses they make that are a similar design or even a different design that was a rough “equivalent”. The more you know about the mattress you are trying to “approximate” and how suitable it was in terms of PPP … the more insights they can provide about how closely their own mattress may approximate it.

3) We need a new foundation/frame since we just have a basic steel frame for our POS coil mattress and box spring. I see that European Sleep Works sells their BE mattresses with adjustable/flexible slats, whereas Scott Jordan recommends plain slats on a platform bed. What accounts for this difference? I thought it was generally better to use a solid slat foundation with latex, so I am a bit confused. If we do flexible slats, what do you think about the IKEA Laxeby?

The difference is because different people have different opinions about what works better on average with each mattress (even very knowledgeable “experts” with many years of experience will have differing opinions based on different experiences) but your own personal testing will be the most important guideline. If you test a mattress that works well with a solid non flexing foundation then I would use a non flexing foundation under it because a flexible foundation can change the feel and performance of the mattress. On the other hand if you test a mattress that works well with a flexing foundation (box spring or flexible slats) then that’s what I would use under it so that what you sleep on is the same as what you tested. The most common choice for latex mattresses (with some exceptions) is a rigid slatted foundation that doesn’t flex. You can read more about rigid foundations and flexible foundations and boxsprings in post #1 here and the links to two more posts in the second paragraph.

All of the mattresses you are considering are choices between “good and good” and have no obvious weak links and when you reach this stage there usually won’t be any clear “winners” and your final choices will be about all the objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you rather than about “better and worse”.

When you look back on a mattress purchase many years down the road you will remember much more about how well you slept than relatively small differences in price (assuming you are making apples to apples comparisons) although of course the price you pay is always an important part of value as well.

Phoenix