Ready to buy a latex mattress, but where?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Ok, I am ready to buy a latex mattress. I have read almost this entire web site from all the information provided, to the forums and visted almost every vendor’s web site provided, at least the closest ones and those with shipping available. The problem is I am like “Saint Thomas” and I have to “see to believe”, or more like “test drive”. The problem is that have not been able to find anywhere in the Houston, Tx area where they have anything comparable to what I think we need and want, an all latex mattress. I am to the point of finding the way to make the three hour trip to Austin or even farther to Ft. Worth to visit some of the places recommended. I’d prefer not to do that if at all possible. Any recommendations closer to Houston? A little bit about us and our stats?

Male; 5"8" about 210 lbs. Soldier with many back and neck aches. Farily decent shape but mostly squared. Sleep in just about every position, but prefer like a side and belly mix (face and chest to the side with hips down and upper leg/knee kicked out). I think I just can’t find the right position since I just can’t sleep.

My Wife: 5’7" about 200 lbs. Shape like a spanish guitar (she is going to kill me). Mostly side sleeper.

We went to “Mattress Firm” yesterday to see if there was anything there we could use as a base line and, ugh, the guy knew he was not going to make a sale when spewd some of what I learned here. I can not thank you enough for all the info, but, as noted by many, it can be overwhelming. But it definatley has pushed me to do my due diligence and make the best investement possible. Thanks for you help.

2

Hi Taino,

As you’ve probably read on the site and in various forum replies … the biggest challenge in your case will be to combine side sleeping pressure relief needs (thicker comfort layers) with the needs of stomach or “combination stomach” sleeping (thinner comfort layers).

The “common” need you have with your wife is good support in your hip/pelvic area as both of you will likely have a tendency to sink in too deeply there.

You would be a case where I would recommend testing high quality dunlop latex in both the support and comfort layers to see how it works for you as Dunlop has a higher support factor than Talalay (gets firmer faster with compression) which could work to the benefit of both of you. Talalay latex over a dunlop core would also be well worth considering.

In reply # 4 in this thread, there are some sources in Austin that would be well worth considering … especially http://www.sleepworld.net/ who I have spoken with and know that they make a variety of all latex mattresses using both Dunlop and Talalay.

Hope this helps and if you have any questions regarding your testing … feel free to post them.

Phoenix

3

Phoenix,

This site has so much wonderful information. My wife and I have been mattress shopping for way too long. We have a mattress from a small local manufacturer in Indiana, but we need a new one desperately. We’ve mostly been looking at national brands, but have been frustrated for various reasons I won’t elaborate on now.

Like the OP we live in Houston and are interested in latex mattresses (although memory foam or spring supported memory foam have not been ruled out). I’ve been scouring this site and google maps for local makers in Houston, but I haven’t found many promising leads. Unlike the OP I am not willing to drive outside of Houston and I assume delivery from another city would cost way too much as well. Do you have any recommendations for Houston at all?

I noticed in another thread you mentioned Ashley and other stores that have a “house brand” (we have an Ashley near by). I was curious about this since I would assume most house brands are made by the national companies anyway and would just use whatever cheapest materials were available. I would appreciate some clarification on house brands if you have time.

Best Regards,
CranialCrusader

4

Hi CranialCrusader,

Thanks for the kind comments :slight_smile:

Ashley sleep used to have a house brand with latex in the comfort layers with an inch of polyfoam over the latex in the quilting (the maximum amount of polyfoam I would usually recommend as being “acceptable” in a comfort layer). This was over a HD polyfoam core. The three models in this line were useful for testing what a latex comfort layer felt like as I had the specs of these mattresses.

On a recent trip to their site, I discovered that now they have a new line that also has latex in the comfort layers but it has 2" of Syn Tex over the latex. “Syn Tex” or “engineered latex” is usually “code” for polyfoam manufactured to feel like latex and to “give the impression” that people are buying latex. This puts it over my “limit” and makes it far less useful even for testing purposes as people would be feeling the qualities of the polyfoam more than the latex. The old models are no longer available (confirmed with a call). Their house brand … according to the people I talked with … are manufactured by Sealy although some of their models use Zinus trademarks.

I think I may have misread the earlier post in this thread and posted Austin manufacturers. There are a few options for Houston that I know about but not as many as other parts of Texas. My apologies to the OP for not listing them earlier. They include …

NOTE: there is an updated and more complete list for the Houston region in post #2 here.

http://www.houstonmattress.com/ Doesn’t list exactly what mattresses he produces but uses quality memory foam at least. Would be worth a call to see what type of variety they make and if they use latex.

http://www.antiquemattress.com/index.htm or http://www.texasmattress.com/ Seems to focus more on odd sizes and mattresses for antique beds but I see no reason they couldn’t make regular sizes as well. Says they make latex as well as other options.

There are also some local wholesale manufacturers which may make a mattress that is suitable for what you are looking for and which may be available through local outlets (you would need to call them or email them for a list of the retail outlets). These do not sell direct to the public but through retail stores but there is often good value in more local “retail direct” outlets …

http://www.sleep-designs.com/collection.htm
http://ammattress.com/index.html No latex that I could see.
http://www.goldenmattressinc.com/ContactUs.aspx
http://www.noahsmfg.com/index.php?page=mattresses-categories
http://www.citymattressfactory.com/ These are a manufacturer in Dallas with good value that sell direct but I do know they also ship to various retail outlets in Houston. May be worth a call to find out where some of their recent Houston shipments have gone.

Some retail outlets that carry latex that would be useful for testing different latex mattresses and layers include …

http://www.newliving.net/non-toxic-organic-natural-mattress/ Carries OMI and Royal-Pedic. Both very high quality but IMO much too expensive. Useful for testing and “duplicating”
TranquilityMattress.com is available at DomainMarket.com. Call 888-694-6735 Has Dunlop and Talalay choices which would give a clear idea of different latex comfort and support layers

“House brands” can be made by many manufacturers (some very good and some not so good) and their value would depend on who made them and the materials they used. Some are well worth looking at and some are much lesser value. The materials inside them and the transparency of the outlet that sells them will say much more about the quality and value of the mattress than the brand.

Hope this helps in your search.

Phoenix