Recommendations for latex mattress in Ottawa Canada?

I am looking for advice. It is time for a new mattress, or at least a topper. Our budget is about $1500 inclusive. We’re in Ottawa, Canada, and don’t have a car, so we want to get the maximum out of our showroom visits too.

Our existing mattress is 12-15 years old, a double-sided pillow-top innerspring. It used to be pretty comfortable, but it’s elderly. The foundation is spring slats (IKEA LÖNSET bolted onto a frame of 3/4" plywood joists).

It’ll have to be full size for now, thanks to budget, but we’d like to upgrade to queen later. I have been investigating latex since it is superior for many practical reasons. I do want to get away from “all petrochemicals and fire retardant,” but I need affordable quality, rather than a premium eco-certified sleep experience.

Options:

  • keep mattress, buy topper: the bed is fairly high, and our sheets are not deep enough for 3"+ of topper either.
  • buy all-latex mattress: this is what I’m most interested in.
  • buy latex over foam or pocket-coil mattress: given the pricing on thick latex toppers, I’m not sure how much money would be saved versus all-latex.

People profiles:
Arndis:

  • likes a soft, cradling bed
  • side and back sleeper
  • 220 to 240lb range
  • curvy woman – about 4" gap between both waist and hip, or ribs and shoulder
  • existing mattress has too little pressure relief: long-term tossing and turning, and lately waking up with numb arms, which improve when I don’t lie on them.
  • asthma, allergies, and sensitive skin

Tchang:

  • likes a firmer bed than I do, but is not fussy
  • side and back sleeper
  • 140lb
  • slender man with broad shoulders – about 4" gap between ribs and shoulder
  • happy with existing mattress, but experience shows he can sleep on practically anything

Any recommendations on build and sourcing? My inclination would be a 3 layer system of soft, medium, firm, or at least the classic 2" soft over 6" medium-firm. I would like to work with someone reputable AND experienced with all-latex mattresses, since I have no experience. I’d prefer to order from Ontario or Quebec, in case of exchanges and returns, but will consider further away.

We plan to visit the showrooms for Sleeptek/Obasan, its neighbours on Colonnade, and Essentia, since they will have floor models to try. After that, I will start inquiring with other local firms. I pulled Hardy Mattress & Feather, Matelas Dauphin, Matelas Lapensee, and MFC out of a previous post about Ottawa. We are closer to Montreal than Toronto, but my French is not good enough to specify a mattress in without help.

I want to thank Phoenix and other members for this amazing resource! Without a car, it is hard to shop around for some kinds of goods, so I might not have found out what is really in my price range, from a quality, factory-direct supplier. It boggles the mind.

Hi arndis,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! … and thanks for the kind comments … I appreciate them :slight_smile:

Most of your comments and questions are somewhat generic and would have too many “it depends” in the answers to provide any specific guidance about what to choose but I can certainly provide some general information that may be helpful in terms of “how” to choose.

There is a lot of misinformation about organic, natural, chemical free, green, and “safe” mattresses and materials throughout the industry but there is more information in post #2 here that can help you sort through and differentiate the more factual information from the marketing information you will encounter about all of these interrelated topics that can help you choose a mattress and materials that meet your criteria in any budget range and that can help answer your questions about “how safe is safe enough for me?”.

If your mattress is still in good condition and there are no soft spots or sagging in the sleeping surface and the only issue is that your mattress is too firm then a topper can certainly be a good solution to add some additional softness and pressure relief to your mattress. If your mattress does have soft spots or sagging (visible or virtual) then a topper won’t be an effective solution and at best the benefits will be temporary or partial. Since your mattress is 12 - 15 years old and considering the addition height may be an issue you would probably be better off replacing your mattress. There is more information about “fixing” a mattress that has lost its comfort and/or support or that has developed soft spots or sagging over the years in post #4 here. If you do decide that a topper would be a good idea in your circumstances then post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to can help you use your sleeping experience as a reference point and guideline to help you choose the type, thickness, and firmness of a topper that would have the best chance of success with your mattress, your body type, and your sleeping experience.

The choice of materials or the type of mattress that you choose would be a personal preference but if you like the feel and performance of an all latex mattress more than other materials or types of mattresses then this can certainly be a very good option although as you know this will put you in a higher budget range than many other types of mattresses because latex is one of the more costly mattress materials.

A latex/polyfoam can certainly be a good option that can provide you with many of the benefits of sleeping on latex but in a lower budget range (the support core of a mattress is generally the thickest layer or component of the mattress and polyfoam is much less costly than latex). There is more about a latex/polyfoam hybrid vs an all latex mattress in post #2 here.

An innerspring support core will generally also be less costly than a latex support core (although it may be more than a polyfoam support core) but this would be more of a preference issue along with a budget issue. Some people prefer an innerspring latex hybrid even more than an all latex mattress but your own experience will be the more reliable way for you to know which type of mattress you tend to prefer or that works best for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences). There is more about innerspring support cores vs latex support cores in post #28 here.

Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to predict which mattress will be the best match for you in terms of PPP based on either specs (yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance”. The most reliable way to choose a mattress that is a good match for you will be based on your own careful and objective testing … hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses and there is more about the different ways to choose a mattress and some suggestions that can help minimize the risks involved in each of them in post #2 here.

You’ve probably seen the Ottawa list in posts #2 and #3 here because you seem to be aware of most of the options that are closer to Ottawa.

The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Montreal area are listed in post #276 here.

Just in case you haven’t read them yet … you can read some of my thoughts about Essentia and some of the misleading claims they make and some forum discussions with them in this thread and this thread and posts #3 and #4 here). Needless to say I would be very cautious here but given your comments about your budget range they will likely be outside your budget anyway.

The mattress shopping tutorial also includes this link to a list of some of the better online options or possibilities I’m aware of that ship across Canada as well if you are open to considering an online purchase.

Phoenix

Phoenix, thank you for the collection of advice and links! I think you must keep a keyword index.:wink:

I wasn’t planning to buy anything from Essentia, just to lie down on them and see if I like the feel. As well as being far out of my price range, I had looked at the information section of their website and it reeked of spin, even before having read through your guides. But Essentia is one of the very few showrooms in the area that would have multiple all-latex floor models, you see, and the easiest to reach by bus. Of course, them possibly not using actual latex could throw a big kink into that plan…but then I will know if I like memory foam instead. Either way I think they will be an excellent example of the kind of sales tactics that I should avoid.

Mattress shopping might get delayed a bit. I have emergency winter boot buying to do first, as the supposedly reputable-and-high-quality ones I bought, which were okay in the store, rub my ankles raw when walked in for a mere five minutes. Adding extra padding has merely lessened the agony; I was still limping home.

Hi arndis,

I actually have a list of over 300 reference posts that I use to provide links to the members that ask questions that are relevant to each one. There are also some changes and additions coming up with the site and one of them will be a research center that will include most of the reference posts in a directory that people can look through to answer their most common questions instead of having to find them buried in over 40,000 forum posts (or me having to link them). Some of them will also be amalgamated with others or rewritten to remove some of the extraneous information or to clarify some of the information in them as well. Of course this and some of the other additions to the site that are coming (or often anything that is involved with website development) can take a little longer than expected but at least the first of them should be happening in the next 30 - 60 days or so.

There’s an old saying about the importance of a good mattress and comfortable footwear because you’re either on one or in the other … so I completely understand :slight_smile:

Once you get back to your mattress search I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding and of course any comments or questions you may have along the way.

Phoenix

So, today we went out to Obasan/Sleeptek, the local all-natural all-latex firm. The staff were helpful and informative on many points, and spent lots of time on each customer to find a good fit, including checking spinal alignment. They didn’t volunteer much technical/specification detail, but they also weren’t trying to spin anything or pressure us into a sale.

The Sleeptek website says that they use all-natural dunlop latex, so I expect they use the same for Obasan. They have their showroom models set up and labelled such that it’s easy to systematically test your way to a suitable configuration.

Tchang and I both really liked the thickest model, which is 3x 4" layers, with a zoned middle layer. We liked the feel and the motion isolation of latex, and it was still easy to move around on the bed. On the thick models, the effect was that you nestled into the bed, which I liked a lot, but it didn’t trap you.

I can strongly feel the difference between the 2" topper models and the 4". Next, I felt the effects of the zoning pattern. Last I felt the overall thickness and firmness of the support layers. I will have to do a back-to-back test of firm versus medium support cores with the same thick topper to decide which will work better for me, but both options felt good.

Tchang liked a firmer bed partly because he’s more a stomach sleeper than we had realized. He feels the differences in firmness of the support layers, and their zoning, more than he feels differences in toppers. But with his wide shoulders, he did like the thicker topper, especially when on his side.

We liked the same zoning pattern, so we don’t require side-by-side zoning, but would appreciate the right head-hips-feet zoning. A thick, high quality comfort layer – whether topper or built-in – is well worth splurging on.

Tomorrow we will go out to Matelas Lapensee, and try on a wider variety. If I feel mostly the topper, and Tchang feels mostly the support, some frugal options suggest themselves. We should try on a thick latex topper over a zoned pocket coil innerspring, for example. If we aren’t sold on anything, well, we can go shopping down in Toronto over holiday break to seek out more ideas on a suitable construction.

Hi ardis,

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about your Ottawa research … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

As far as I know … they use certified organic Dunlop in their mattresses but they should be able to confirm this if you ask them.

This is also not unusual and different people can be more or less sensitive to different “types” of softness (see post #15 here).

It sounds like you are doing some great research and testing and I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding … and of course any other comments or questions you may have along the way.

Phoenix

The visit to Lapensee was worthwhile though we ended up choosing something else. Our favourite was the Double Semi-Firm Comfort Royal, which is a fairly conventional pocket coil mattress. It has some variety of fancy wicking fabric for the ticking, I believe they said 2 lb HD polyfoam for the topper, and then a honeycomb arrangement pocket coil core, and is double-sided. It was pretty comfortable, reasonably priced ($1000), and the lead time seemed very quick (under 2 weeks). The shoulder area was a touch hard for both of us, so we weren’t ready to order.

We had visited the Orleans showroom because the location was better for us, but the factory floor is at the Gatineau location. This meant that when the salesperson was not able to answer the question about softening up the shoulder area, he sensibly wanted to refer it to the production staff, but they were all on holiday and will be for a while yet. My own schedule means that the shopping had to be done before I have to go back to work.

Having managed to borrow a car for a day, today we went to more showrooms. First stop was IKEA primarily because they are affordable and have several close variations to let us compare feel between constructions. They also have an X-ray vision wall of cut-through samples clearly labelled with materials. This made it clear that I like latex and pocket coils for the lively feel and responsiveness, while polyfoams have a somewhat dead feel by comparison. I’m not sure I’d buy a mattress at IKEA, but it’s a good place to do mattress type testing!

We tried to go check out MFC, but it turns out to be online sales only, no showroom. This was not obvious on the website – the address given there is on Boul. St-Joseph, which is a major commercial corridor, so it was reasonable to think there was a showroom.

We were running late and decided to head to Matelas Dauphin because we had not checked them out before and they were having a 50% off Boxing Day sale. The location was a little hard to find from the address and from the north – it’s a multi-building strip mall, and while the address is on Greber, the storefront is on Maloney.

Dauphin has a reasonable variety of mattresses, mostly single-sided. I’m not too fussed about that in this case. Since we want to upgrade in size some years down the road, something that’s very comfortable for 10 years is a better bargain than something pretty comfortable for 20. We tried on about 5 different models, focusing on part-latex and all-latex, since the sale was putting them in reach of our budget. It came down to the Albizia or the Ceiba. We inquired about the construction of each of them before deciding, to clear up what weak links there might be. Here’s what the salesperson (who was attentive and helpful) said:

Ceiba: pocket coil core (same in each), latex comfort layer (website says all-natural Talalay), organic cotton ticking with wool quilt. This list matches the pricing pretty well, which was $1900-ish regular and $950 sale. If the Albizia had not seduced us, we would have bought this and been very happy with it. Moderately plush and very supportive underneath that. It was almost as comfortable as what we tried on at Obasan, at a fraction of the price. (The all-latex Euphoria was significantly more costly and less plush, even in its plush variant.)

Albizia: pocket coil core (same in each), latex comfort layer (website says all-natural Talalay), super plush foam, bamboo ticking with wool quilt. Pricing $2600-ish regular and $1300-ish sale. It felt heavenly and had really good posture alignment for both of us, and the price gap was around the same as an extra latex topper for the Ceiba would have been, so less work and option to test before purchase won.

We ordered the Albizia. It should arrive soon after my birthday. The super-plush foam part was a bit mysterious, but I think I have figured it out. The salesperson said it was bio aloe-infused foam. Next to it was a rack of Blu Sleep foam pillows, including an aloe-infused flavour. It seems very probable that Dauphin, being Quebec-based, bought this fancy foam from Blu Sleep’s Quebec office. It’s Oeko-tex certified natural memory foam with extra marketing, basically. Other parts of the site say it’s made in Italy, and a 2" double topper of it retails for around $500. This would explain the price and feel gaps very neatly.
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Other details: the salesperson was kind enough to not upsell us on a new foundation, and instead suggested how to modify what we have. (Unbolt slats, bolt on plywood skin.) There’s a 120 day comfort exchange, and they were up-front about the $75 fee for the extra delivery/pickup involved. 20 year warranty, 10 full 10 pro-rated. They also were clear on the expected delivery period, and can offer some flexibility to ensure someone can be home. If the old mattress still has life, they can take it to a charity for a small fee ($10?) We were also able to pay a deposit rather than the full amount, and we can settle the rest before delivery, which is in 3 weeks starting next week. So they were generally very nice to deal with and did not pressure us, despite a situation where it would have been easy to.

Of the local concerns (Obasan/Sleeptek, Lapensee, Dauphin), all were pleasant to deal with and had good products. Obasan is firmly aimed at the premium market but was very educational. Since Lapensee does double-sided mattresses, they would be better for someone looking for a very long-lived mattress. Dauphin’s value proposition for us during the sale was very good since it opened up upgrades in feel and quality, with little real downside. I can’t speak to what we would have chosen without the sale – it would probably have depended on what the affordable models had felt like and who was able/willing to tweak the feel within our budget constraints.

Hi arndis,

Thanks for taking the time once again to share such detailed comments and feedback. I think it will be very helpful to others in the Ottawa area.

I think you may have meant to link to the Albizia Mattress here (your link led to the Matelaslanpensee website).
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It’s likely that this is the bioplush foam in your mattress and is made by Valle Foam (see here). It is a version of polyfoam that has replaced a small percentage of one of the two main petrochemicals that are used to make conventional polyfoam (the polyol) with a polyol that is derived from soy oil. There is more about “soy foams” in post #2 here. If this layer is more than “about an inch or so” thick then like any polyfoam layer I would want to know the density of the polyfoam to confirm that it wouldn’t be a weak link in the mattress.

Other than this … you did some very good research … and congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

Phoenix

We’ll try calling the main customer service line on Friday when they might be open, I think, and ask about the materials in both the Albizia and Ceiba. If the foam quality does not seem worth the extra $350+tax, we could ask the store to change production to the Ceiba at the sale price, and reserve the remaining budget for a mail-order latex topper. They knew we were dithering between them and would probably be understanding about it.

I am going to Matelas Dauphin this afternoon, I think my choice will be the Euphora which is supposed to be 100% talalay latex.

I can not see the specifications of this matress anywhere on Internet,

can you please tell me if this is a good choice.

I am in Quebec city…

Hi latcho drom,

Matelas Dauphin should be able to tell you if you ask them.

There is more about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here 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 suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).

I can’t speak to whether any mattress will be a good match for someone else in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) because you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and your own careful testing (hopefully using the guidelines in the tutorial) and/or your own personal experience will be the only way to know this.

In terms of durability I would need to know the information in this article to make any meaningful comments about the quality and durability of the materials in the mattress. If you can find out the information in the article about the materials and components in the mattress and post it on the forum I’d be happy to let you know if there are any lower quality materials or weak links that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress and would be a reason for concern.

If the only material in the mattress (outside of the cover) is Talalay latex and there are no other materials or components in the mattress then it would certainly make a very durable choice.

If you have done some careful testing and are confident that it would be a suitable choice in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (or it has a good exchange/return option if you aren’t), and if you have confirmed that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress and it also compares well to your other finalists based on all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you then it would certainly be worth considering.

Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines I linked earlier in this reply … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Quebec City area are listed in post #276 here.

Phoenix