The Pure Latex Bliss Pamper:
Feel: Firm 7-9
2″ 21 ILD Active Fusion Natural latex or all Natural
6″ 40 ILD Natural Talalay Latex Support Core
Would this be comparable in feel to the mattresses.net King Adjustable Ultra Plush Latex Sleep System?
2" Talalay Soft 22 ILD
6" Talalay Firm 36 ILD
The Pure Latex Bliss Nature:
Feel: Medium 4-6
2″ 21 ILD Active Fusion Natural latex or all Natural
2" 28 ILD Natural Talalay Pressure relief
6″ 36 ILD Natural Talalay Support Core
Would there be any comparable setup for a mattress.net latex mattress to approximate the Nature feel?
They would be in a better position to tell you how they compare because they are more familiar with their mattresses than anyone else and they are also familiar with the PLB mattresses (they are a PLB dealer) but the Pamper would probably be slightly firmer than the Adjustable Ultra Plush in the version you mentioned because it uses a slightly softer latex core and also has a wool quilted cover.
I’ll leave the specifics to your conversations with them as well because they would have personally compared both but in general terms the Nature would be softer than the Pamper because of the softer 2" 28 ILD transition layer. The only thing they make that may be similar to the Nature would be a custom order with 2 comfort layers.
The Nature also has a 36 ILD support core not a 40 ILD (you can see the specs in post #2 here).
I spoke with Greg at Mattresses.net and asked him about similarity to PLB. He informed me that they don’t usually sell them and that he wasn’t familiar with their models. However, based on what I told him about my preference for a firmer mattress he recommended that I go with:
He said that that would give me a good firm support and that the 3" in 28 ILD (they have a 22 ILD and 28 ILD for the 3") topper would be a little firmer than than the 2" 22 ILD Soft that is the standard topper or the 3" 22 ILD which is the other upgrade choice. He did not recommend going with a Medium as the topper.
I have tried the PLB Nature and SavvyRest in (Firm/Med/Soft) (Firm, Med, Med) (Firm, Firm, Soft) and found them all comfortable in the 10 minute demos.
Phoenix,
Do you think the recommendation from mattresses.net makes sense for the “feel” mattress I am looking for? I’m ready to pull the trigger, just looking for a little advice from someone who has more knowledge than me on the construction and likely feel of these mattresses. Thanks again.
You seem to have a wide range of mattresses that you appear to like or do well with that have quite a range of different “feels”. The only thing they really have in common is that all of them are latex.
The mattress that Greg suggested would be “in the range” for your body type based on “averages” but more detailed discussions with a manufacturer (that also includes your sleeping positions) is always a better source of guidance than any “theory at a distance”.
10 minutes of “general testing” isn’t really enough to choose a mattress or decide which one is most suitable for you either as a purchase or as a reference point. The testing guidelines in the tutorial post may help you narrow down a more specific reference point.
Being that I did try the Nature in person and liked it, going off of the specs for the Nature and the configuration I chose with Mattresses.net, do you think the two will be comparable “feel”.
The Pure Latex Bliss Nature:
Feel: Medium 4-6
2″ 21 ILD Active Fusion Natural latex or all Natural
2" 28 ILD Natural Talalay Pressure relief
6″ 36 ILD Natural Talalay Support Core
Mattresses.net did not offer the 28 ILD transition layer in 2" inch layers and the 6"+3" arrangement they go with was in my price range. My fear is that the mattress I have configured may be considerably firmer than the Nature. But I do not know how the 3" of 28 ILD Talalay will compare to the 2" 28 ILD+2" 21 ILD of the Nature. My worst case scenario is either exchanging the topper for a 2"-3" 22 ILD topper or getting an additional 1"-2" 22 ILD Topper to put over the 3" 28 ILD layer if it is indeed too firm. With your experience, how do you think they will compare?
“Feel” is very subjective and depends on a combination of so many things including body type, sleeping positions, and individual differences in perception and the designs are so different that there is no way to know for sure how one would feel compared to the other for any particular person until you have tried it. I also don’t know the specifics of what you liked most about the Nature.
Having said that … if I had to make an educated guess … the combination you chose would “feel” firmer to most people both because the top few inches are firmer on average and the comfort layer is also thinner so you are closer to the firmer support layer.
Again … while there is no way to know how it will feel or perform for you in terms of PPP until you try it … if I had to guess I would agree that it would feel firmer to most people. In other words it would probably be more “supportive” but less pressure relieving.
There are different types or “species” of softness and firmness though that each person may be more sensitive to (see post #15 here) and there are also so many variables when you are trying to “match” or “translate” one design to another (see post #15 here) that it becomes a speculative exercise at best because there are too many unknowns and variables for anyone to know with any certainty.
It’s also quite possible that something very different than the Nature that you may initially consider to be a “mistake” ends up being better for you than the Nature in terms of PPP in your actual sleeping experience depending on the accuracy of your testing and how well it predicted your actual sleeping experience vs just the “showroom feel” of the mattress.
As an aside … if you had a 2" 22 ILD layer over a 6" 28 ILD layer it may be closer to the Nature (although again there would be no way to be certain and it may feel one way under one part of your body and different under another and the “feel” would also be different because the “range” of compression would be wider with a thicker mattress). With this combination both the top 3" and the top 4" would be close in terms of ILD and since the mattress was thinner overall the support layer would become firmer more quickly than the Nature as you compressed it more so it’s lower ILD may be offset by the thinner mattress. Of course none of this takes into account the difference in the cover because one is quilted with wool and the other is a thinner stretch cover which will both interact with the layers below them differently. 3" of 22 ILD over a 36 ILD core may also have some similarities although for many people would feel softer depending on how much they sink into the mattress.
The real problem with this type of speculation is that one person may say “wow … I can’t believe that you guessed so accurately” and then the next person will say “wow … I can’t believe that anyone could be so wrong” … and both of them would be correct because of the differences in their body types, sleeping positions, and individual perceptions along with how two very different mattresses interact with each person.
I received the mattress today, I was very excited to get it set up. I opened all the boxes and carefully rolled out the cores/topper. Everything looked good until I unrolled the last core. I was expecting to see some frayed edges/bubbles/small tears in the latex from reading all the literature here, but I am unsure if this is a normal or abnormal tear for a brand new latex core.
I attached some images for you to view the tear. Should I contact Mattresses.net regarding this or is it normal? Will this get worse? You can get an idea of the size from the relation to my hand but it’s about a 4-5" tear length wise and goes down into the core a fair amount. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Tears like this can easily happen with handling latex. They won’t spread (unless they are pulled) and won’t affect the performance of the core but yours is a little larger than normal. They would normally be repaired (with latex glue) before shipping but they may have missed yours.
I would call Ken at 623-580-0288 and let him know (he’ll probably ask you to send a picture) so he can talk to you about the best way to look after it.
I called and spoke with Greg about the issue and he informed me that you had also called and asked about the tear. I appreciate you going out of your way to speak with them on my behalf. They offered to send me glue to repair the tear or replace the core. As this is a larger purchase for me I opted to go with replacing the core. Greg asked me to send an email to Ken relaying this conversation and to phone call him on Monday. Hopefully this will all work out smoothly. I will keep you updated as the situation progresses.
I ended up going with the core return option with Ken. I received my new core and am sending him back the defective one tomorrow.
As far as the mattress, I am very happy with it! The first night I thought it might be too soft as I was used to a thin innerspring and had never really slept on a surface like latex. However, after a few weeks I have determined that it is just right for back and side sleeping for me. I never used to be comfortable side sleeping, but that has changed with this mattress. Back sleeping is also great! I get no back pain, even after extended sleeping sessions where I would start to feel back pain after long periods with my old mattress. The only downside is that I do start to feel a back pain when laying on my stomach, like I’m sinking in too deep for proper alignment even though the mattress is probably on the firmer side. Can’t have everything right? I never used to stomach sleep for extended periods on my last mattress, so I’m used to that. I don’t think I would want it firmer as I might not be comfortable side sleeping.
As far as customer service from Arizona Mattress Company. Top notch! They handled the exchange of the core without too much hassle which was really appreciated by me. I recommend purchasing from them if you’ve been on the fence. Very good pricing relative to the other recommended manufacturers on this site.
Thanks Phoenix for this resource and also assisting me with my decision to go with this purchase!
Thanks for the update and for letting us know about your core exchange as well … I appreciate it.
It’s great to see you are doing well on your new mattress with the exception of stomach sleeping although stomach sleeping issues are fairly common with people who sleep in multiple positions on a mattress that works well for the other positions. Stomach sleeping is more risky because of the tendency for the heavier pelvis to sink down too far which can lead to sleeping in a swayback position and often needs a firmer mattress than the other sleeping positions which of course also runs the risk of being too firm for your more pressure prone positions which most people spend more time sleeping in. It may be helpful to use a thin pillow under your pelvis and lower abdomen when you are on your stomach to help offset this.
