Reaching mattress hunting entropy in Ottawa Canada

[phoenix]

Hi rickwall,

• Top – made of convoluted soya foam, about 1" and tufted .
• 1.5" of Velva HR foam (3lbs)
• 1" layer of high density polyfoam (2.5) – firmer than next layer below
• 0.5" of high density polyfoam (2.5?)
• layer of Flexel Foam (about .75") separating coils below
• 6" of pocket coils – 14.5 gauge.
  Cost is $2134 (tax included)

I checked out the Velva HR foam and the Flexel Foam online and both appear to be quality products.

Compared to the choice from Lapensee, listed in my first post, I am a wee bit concerned that the coils are only 14.5 gauge. Regarding the 1.5" Velva (3 lb) comfort layer, I noted that elsewhere you have suggested that HR foam of this quality is similar in characteristics to Talalay foam. Pricewise the mattress is a few hundred dollars less than a comparable one at Lapensee.

There are no obvious weak links in the mattress and there is only a inch of “unknown density” foam in the quilting layer and it’s tufted which increases durability so from a quality/durability point of view I would have no concerns with this. The coils are not normally the weak link of a mattress. Some HR polyfoam has specs that can approach the properties of latex yes.

I did try mattresses at this store that had Talalay latex in the comfort layer but found the construction was too soft. I wondered what thickness and weight I would need to replace the Velva layer above. For some reason I am hung up on Talalay latex!

All the layers of a mattress affect every other layer and the “feel” and performance of a mattress as a whole so you would need to decide this based on your own personal testing because the layers are too complex and there is not enough information available about the “comfort specs” of the polyfoam layers to even guess. As a “best guess” you may be able to approximate the Velva layer with a layer of Talalay that was the same thickness and an equivalent ILD (keeping in mind that polyfoam ILD is not measured in the same way as latex so the same ILD would not be equivalent). You could use an ILD for Talalay that was in the range of 20% or so higher as a very rough guideline but even here some of the other specs that affect the feel and softness of a foam material aren’t available.

Regarding the other manufacturers suggested in your post: futons are not an option; and we have an Ikea mattress in the spare room (only adequate IMO). Hardy Mattress is an option but this store offers only Dunlop latex.

Futon7 carries some Talalay latex mattresses as well as futons.

I’m not sure which Ikea mattress you have but they do have one better quality Dunlop latex mattress (and many mattresses that I wouldn’t consider).

1. Does the quality of this mattress compare to the “Elegance” model from Lapensee, mentioned in the first post (“Elegance” - $2199 – 2" of quilt of 2 lb. HD foam / 2" of 4 lb. HD foam)?

They are not apples to apples comparisons because of the differences in the layering so it’s not possible to make a direct or exact comparison because the mix of the layers are different densities and positions in the mattress but neither have any obvious weak links so durability wouldn’t be a significant concern with either. They would be “roughly” comparable but it would also depend on the person on the mattress, how much “room” there would be for foam softening that was still in the range of PPP for a particular person (see post #2 here), and the specs of the foam layers themselves that aren’t disclosed (such as the ILD and compression modulus) and which wouldn’t be available.

2. Does it make sense to replace the 2" of 4 lb. HD foam in the “Elegance” model with an equivalent Talalay layer?

This would be a preference issue and I would decide based on how each one compared in terms of PPP. If you aren’t able to test the Talalay version then it would be “risky” to replace it because it would change the feel and performance of the mattress in terms of PPP. If you can test both I would choose the one that was the best “match” in terms of PPP. I personally wouldn’t “fiddle” with a mattress that was already a good match for you unless you had very high confidence that the change would be at least as good or an improvement.

Phoenix