Hi willwantstosleep,
I’m glad you recognized that the “feel” of a mattress has nothing to do with its price or quality or for that matter how suitable a mattress may be in terms of PPP. Some of the most costly mattresses available may be completely unsuitable for some people to sleep on and some very low budget mattresses may be a great match for the needs and preferences of some people even if the materials are lower quality and not particularly durable. In other words … what you are feeling is the design of the mattress not the quality of the materials.
The reason that the Natura feels good to you is likely because it has 100% natural Talalay comfort layers that appear to be significantly thicker and softer than the comfort layers of the Ivy Organics mattresses you tried.
All of these mattresses use high quality materials and have no weak links in their design or construction although 100% natural Talalay may be a little less durable in the softer ILD’s than blended Talalay or 100% natural Dunlop. You can read a little more about the different types of latex in post #6 here
Natura is generally in a more costly price range compared to other manufacturers that make latex mattresses and certified organic Dunlop also tends to be quite costly even though it is basically the same material as the less costly 100% natural Dunlop so you would probably be able to find a similar comfort level in a lower cost latex mattress that used comfort layers that had a similar thickness and softness if you used less costly versions of latex or was made by different manufacturers. It may be worth talking to some of the other manufacturers or stores on the Los Angeles list and it may also be worthwhile testing some of the PLB mattresses which use blended Talalay which would be less than the Natura (although they are also not generally in the lowest budget range for latex mattresses either). The PLB store finder is here. With PLB make sure that the retailer you are looking at knows the difference between the blended Talalay and the 100% natural Talalay. If the warranty is 20 years then it’s blended Talalay because the all natural Talalay has a 10 year warranty. They also have a stretch knit cover instead of a cover quilted with wool so you can test the difference between covers as well.
All latex is a durable material but 100% natural Talalay made by Latex International is a little less durable than blended Talalay in the lower ILD’s.
Latex is a very high quality material so the only potential down side would be if you didn’t like the “feel” of any version of latex (and there are many) and of course it’s a higher cost material than other types of foam (polyfoam and memory foam).
There are many lower cost latex mattresses that may be just as comfortable to you and just as suitable a match in terms of PPP but if for some reason your testing indicates that it’s the only latex mattress that works well for you then I don’t think it would be settling and would just be part of your personal value equation although I would definitely check other latex mattresses with comfort layers that were similarly thick and soft and were in lower budget ranges to confirm that it really was the best choice for you. Once you are over about $3000 or so (queen size mattress only) then I would always make some very careful value comparisons to satisfy yourself that there is enough of a difference in how a higher budget mattress feels and performs compared to other lower cost but equally durable alternatives to justify the higher cost.
When you look back on a mattress purchase a decade or more down the road you will remember more about how well you slept and how long the mattress lasted than you will about the initial purchase price but price is also a significant part of the “value” of a mattress purchase and I would make sure you have done some careful testing and made some good value comparisons so you are convinced that a mattress in that price range really is the best “value” for you.
Phoenix