Raleigh, NC - Jaded Shopper from Mattress Firm

Hello!

I’ll try to keep my post brief. Two years ago I bought a mattress from Mattress Firm. It sucks. Now I"m looking for a new mattress and have come across the wealth of information that is The Mattress Underground. While I haven’t looked into why my mattress is bad, I have been doing research on this site as to what’ goes into a good mattress. After feeling more informed, I set out Saturday to some local/regional retailers to find find my mattress. These are the three that felt the most comfortable, from 3 different retailers:

Serenity Latex Mattress - $1659 - The Original Mattress Factory
https://www.originalmattress.com/serenity-foam-mattress/overview
2 sided
High Density Foam Core (doesn’t list the actualy density on the website)
High Density Memory Foam Mattress Topper ~ 8-14 ILD, 4.7-5.3 lb/ft3 Density
High Density Memory Foam Mattress Topper ~ 10-16 ILD, 7.6-8.4 lb/ft3 Density
Polyurethane Foam Mattress Topper ~ 15-21 ILD, 1.8-2.0 lb/ft3 Density
Talatech® Talalay Latex Dual Comfort Foam MattressTopper – 16-22 ILD, 2.75-3.25 lb/ft3 Density
Talatech® Talalay Latex Dual Comfort Foam Mattress Topper – 21-27 ILD, 3.00-3.50 lb/ft3 Density
Air-Flow Layer
FR Knit Sock
Knit Cover

Winndom, Dyansty Mattress - $1600 - Sleep Essentials,

100% chemical free
2 sided
2" latex topper, 4 lb density
Uses something called “Active Edge” boxspring, made by an outside manufacturer in that mattress http://beddingcomponents.com/campaign/active?utm_source=Nov_22&utm_campaign=Furn_Today&utm_medium=print_ad
HD Foam, Made in US

Berkely Ergonomics, Gaffney Mattress - $1500 - The Organic Showroom

100% Organic and Chemical Free
Two layers of coils, pre compressed coils in the based and 950 small coils on top to create the “Posturflo” layer
Talalay latex on top
1 sided
Wool Cover to Regulate heat

All three of these had very different construction. One was latex with a polyfoam core, one coils with a latex topper, and another with an interesting core consisting of two layers of coils. One of my main concerns is if I should try and get a two sided mattress or not. My gut tells me this will last longer but I’m not sure if it is worth the extra money. My second concern is that I’m missing out on the online market. I really liked the all latex mattress at OMF, but I feel like I could get the same comfort from a less expensive mattress purchased online.

Any help would be appreciated!

-digiorknow

Hi digiorknow,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here ).

I’m assuming that you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial here but two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).

While again nobody can speak to how any specific mattress will “feel” for someone else or whether it will be a good “match” in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances and you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress … outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

This model (you included specs for all of their models, two of which use memory foam) does use better quality materials (latex on each side), although I’m not sure if they use a 3" piece of the lower ILD on one side and a 3" piece of the firmer ILD on the other side, or if there are two pieces of latex on each side of varying thicknesses. Also, the polyfoam core density isn’t listed, as you mentioned, and you’d want to know that. OMF does make some mattresses using higher-quality materials.

Can you provide a link to this product? It doesn’t show on the Sleep Essentials web site, so I can’t make any meaningful comments about it. And the other link you included was for an innerspring unit from Leggett and Platt, not a box spring. This is a newer offering using steel for the edge reinforcement instead of polyfoam and is being used increasingly within the industry.

This model also uses high quality componentry, with the latex and various pocketed coil systems. I think highly of Berkeley Ergonomics and the design/components they use in their products.

All things being equal in the quality of componentry, a two-sided mattress should give you a longer comfort life than a one-sided product. In a latex configuration like the OMF, that product would be durable in both one- and two-sided configurations.

While the configurations would be different, so the feel of course would vary, there are many online options offering high-quality component latex systems. You could start with the members listed in post #21 here who are all very experienced and knowledgeable and specialize in providing the type of help and guidance on the phone that can help you make good choices. I believe that all of them compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.

If you reply back with the link to the second mattress in your list, I can complete my reply to your questions.

Phoenix

Thanks for the reply Phoenix. I hadn’t seen the durability guidelines before. Based off those guidelines, it seems the Serenity and Gaffney options are both top-notch. The only question mark with the Serenity is the density of the core, so I’ll have to find that out. I feel like the Dynasty by Winndom is also a good mattress, but I wasn’t able to obtain a spec sheet. Winndom isn’t a Sleep Essentials brand, they mainly sell those mattresses because they’re “100% Chemical Free”. Before my forum post, I contacted Winndom via email looking for info on the Dynasty and this was their response:

“The 2” latex topper used in that mattress is all natural, and has an ILD of 14 with a 4 lb density. The latex that is quilted into the cover is the same. I will attach a video that shows all of the benefits of the spring unit we use in that mattress (we use the Quantum Edge).

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This is where I found out about the Active Edge thing (sorry about the boxspring typo). What is your opinion on Active Edge? He didn’t give me any info on coil type or gauge size, just the active edge video. Winndom is a smaller company based out of Roanoke, VA, which isn’t too far from myself.

I’ve looked at the list of trusted online retailers of latex mattresses on the site. Do you know of any that offer 2 sided specifically? Also, if you have a two sided latex mattress, is it okay to not use a box spring? I have a platform bed so I keep imagining the bed slats deforming the comfort layer.

Hi digiorknow,

Leaving out the unknown of the polyfoam core density of the Serenity, all of the other layers seem to be good quality materials, and the Gaffney also uses high quality materials.

There is no “chemical free” mattress (even pure water is a chemical ), and all latex foam (including 100% natural Dunlop and Talalay and organic latex) uses a small amount of chemicals to manufacture the latex (see post #18 here) but the manufacturers don’t release the specifics of their compounding formula which is a closely guarded secret.

While I’m not a chemical engineer so I can’t speak to all the differences in their chemical formulations … the two main “chemical” differences between Talalay and Dunlop is that Talalay latex uses carbon dioxide gas as a gelling agent while Dunlop latex uses sodium fluorosilicate. Natural Dunlop latex is also often manufactured closer to the latex plantations so in many cases it needs less ammonia or other stabilizing agents to stabilize the latex and prevent it from coagulating or putrefying before it’s used while Talalay is made in Holland (Radium) or in the USA (Talalay Global) so the liquid field latex they use may contain higher levels of ammonia or other chemicals to stabilize it before it’s used to manufacture the latex. Most of the ammonia is removed during the foaming process either way.

The real issue that I would focus on is safety which depends on the specific chemicals and the amount of each chemical (safety is dosage related) and the only way to identify any safety issues would be based on the lab testing and certifications for the materials and components in the mattress or the mattress as whole.

The only reliable way to assess the “safety” of different materials in more general terms is based on lab tests and the certifications they have for harmful substances and VOCs so that you have some assurance than the VOCs are below the testing limits for the certification (see post #2 here for more information about some of the more reliable “safety” certifications). If the materials in a mattress or the mattress itself has a reliable “safety” certification then for most people they would certainly be “safe enough” … regardless of the type of material or the name of the manufacturer on the label.

Based upon the information on their web site, the WInndom seems to use Mountain Top Foam, 100% Natural, in the continuous pour Dunlop process. The would be a high quality material, but you’d still want a complete listing of all of the componentry within the mattress.

Leggett and Platt (and others) have been producing innerspring units with a steel spring edge system for a few years now. These tend to work better on adjustable bed base units, and depending upon the configuration, can hold up better along the edge than a polyfoam system, are easier to compress and ship, and also have a more “gradual” transition from the main part of the mattress to the edge. Like any innerspring unit, there are different variations, but in general the innerspring unit itself is usually not the wink link within a mattress.

If you’re interested in their mattresses, you may wish to phone them and see if they have a showroom on site or allow consumers to visit.

Off the top of my head, Bay Bed, My Green Mattress, and SleepEZ offer two-sided latex mattresses. A few others do custom orders and may be able to configure what you’re looking for, but you’d want to place a phone call with them.

Most latex mattress manufacturers will prefer that your mattress be place upon a firm un-flexing surface, as opposed to an active coil box spring. If you’re using a slatted platform bed, slats with reinforcement in the center with 3" or less between them would be recommended. Proper foundations for latex mattresses are discussed in more details here in the foundation thread.

Phoenix