Question for Phoenix

[phoenix]

Hi cope,

Thanks again for your response, and yes by saying “overmarketed” I mean the overpriced GREEN theme or all the NATURAL theme stuff. This does indeed seem to fluff the price at certain outlets, which is irritating to me.

When evaluating products and statements about mattresses, it’s important to become familiar with the actual certifications and what they mean, and separate that from the general terminology that is sometimes used.

Most people that are looking for an “organic” mattress or materials are usually concerned more with “safety” than whether the materials have an actual organic certification and they usually aren’t aware that an organic certification isn’t the same thing as a safety certification. There is more information about the three different levels of organic certifications in post #2 here and some of the benefits of an organic certification in post #3 here and there is more about the different types of organic and safety certifications such as Oeko-tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold, C2C, and CertiPUR-US in post #2 here and more about some of the differences between organic and safety certifications in post #2 here and there are also some comments in post #42 here that can help you decide whether an organic certification is important to you for environmental, social, or personal reasons or whether a “safety” certification is enough.

All the latex you are likely to encounter (either Dunlop or Talalay that is made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will also have a reliable certification such as Oeko-Tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold or C2C and based on actual testing I would consider any type or blend of latex (regardless of whether it is synthetic, natural, or blended) to be a very “safe” material in terms of harmful substances and VOC’s (offgassing). Any type or blend of latex will also be a very durable material relative to other types of foam such as memory foam or polyfoam as well.

In the end, an organic certification would be a part of your own personal value equation as to its worth, as compared to other similar mattresses that have safety certifications that test for harmful substances and VOCs that would be just as suitable and just as safe but are in much lower budget ranges.

You really have a similar market in tires for your car in a way. You know rubber is rubber, but the quality and design of the tire is a value thing and some work better and last longer than others. Add in the marketing ploys of some major brands and you may not end up with the best bang for the buck, once again a million variations!

I’m not familiar with tire manufacturing, but there are definitely differences in the rubber used to make latex foam (Natural, Synthetic or a blend of the two), plus different formulations and fillers, and differences in the production processes (Dunlop or Talalay) – see this article. The job of the marketers is of course to sell you their product, but your job as a consumer is to become educated in order to make a choice that meets with your own particular needs, which is the main focus of this site.

As with anything else, to a certain extent you get what you pay for!

With mattresses, I would be cautious about equating price with quality. There are wide fluctuations in price for products using similar materials, which makes it even more important to become educated about mattress componentry.

Yet I see things I just do not like in this industry. Is a base of springs worth as much as a base of Dunlop?

There would be no way for anyone to determine the “worth” of one product versus another for any individual based upon some sort of formula or algorithm – there are simply too many individual variables involved in that process. Both innersprings and latex would be a good choice for a durable support core of a mattress, but which you would prefer would come down to your own personal testing. Post #28 here speaks a bit more to latex versus springs.

I have tried some beds with springs and they are not bad, but it seeme many of the hybrids have mem foam on top. Add they still want stupid money, and I looked at a lot of expensive beds that had springs support and only a thin layer of comfort latex on top as well, yet still want the same money as some pure latex makers. I do not see the value in a spring based system even if they do last a long time it just does not meet the same price point that I can see in my research. Possibly I am wrong.

Again, these opinions are based upon your own personal value equation and what you consider “stupid money”, and if you personally find more value in a latex core versus a spring unit, there would be no reason for you to change your mind based upon the quality of material, and you’d be making a good durable choice. There are some excellent choices for latex mattresses, both using springs and using latex for the core, from the members of the site here. I think very highly of the members here and I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency. They are extremely knowledgeable about latex and different configurations, and I would not hesitate to recommend any of them for your consideration.

And thanks for the info to locals in Dallas area. I reviewed many of their websites tonight, feelings mixed with the locals thus far, yet I need to call a couple of them just to see whaTS UP.

You have some excellent choices in your area, including one of the members here of the site, The Mattress Factory.

Phoenix