First off… Phoenix, I’m amazed at how helpful you are in the forum; it seems like you reply in every topic. I’m also amazed at how much information is in these forums. Thank you for pointing me towards the information I was looking for about local retailers.
Let me share what I found in Champaign and Urbana, Illinois. I could find three of the mattress retailers locally in the list from the referred post. I was searching for latex mattresses I could try out. I found two mattresses.
Denver Mattress Co. – They claimed they made an all-latex mattress but didn’t have it in the showroom. They told me to check their website for information on their all-latex mattress, but I couldn’t find one on their website.
Lebeda Mattress Factory– They carry and had one all-latex mattress in their showroom. The two-sided mattress was made out of 8 inches of 24 ILD Talalay latex with a bamboo cover.
I weigh about 180 pounds and am about 6 feet tall. The mattress was soft and pleasant. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. This being my first latex mattress. What I didn’t expect: if I jumped onto the mattress or moved up and down forcefully, I would hit the bottom. The mattress was on plywood. I’m not sure what was underneath. So… in the end, I was surprised at how normal a latex mattress feels, but also surprised at how I could hit the bottom.
Bender Mattress Factory – This place was interesting. The showroom wasn’t fancy, but they had many models on the floor. The most interesting part was the same building contained their small factory. The Sales Manager I interacted with said they had something like six employees. Even he helps build mattresses. He went on the say the owner delivers most of the mattresses. The factory wasn’t building anything when I was there, but the “salesperson” gave me a quick tour. Most of the components in the mattresses you could see and touch. He was extremely nice in a not salesperson kind of way.
On their floor, they had a two-sided three zone mattress with 7 to 7 1/2 inches of 32-34 ILD Talalay latex depending on the zone. Over the core, they had 2 inches of 2.0 quilted foam (It is a multi-layered affair.) on either side. I guess, the foam disqualifies the mattress from being all-latex. This mattress felt more substantial in a good way, but I’m disappointed I didn’t get to try another all-latex mattress.
I should also add since Bender has their own onsite factory. They will custom make mattresses - unique sizes, swapping specific components to request… So, the mattress I tried out could be made with a latex instead of foam top with an organic cotton cover. They also will just fix stuff if something goes wrong on one of their mattresses. Just a matter of getting it to the factory and back. I don’t mean to sound like an advertisement, but I was impressed.
I wish I would have found more all-latex mattresses. Since I found a model with soft latex, I really wanted to try something with firmer latex. I really like to try things out before I buy or at least, very similar things. I’m hesitant to try an online seller until I have more experience. I’m really intrigued by something like Brooklyn Bedding’s Best Mattress Ever or at the higher-end, something like SleepEZ’s 2 or 3 interchangeable layer mattresses.