Good morning, we’ve recently received a new mattress through a warranty call. It is a Beautyrest Black Oceanside Extra Firm from Macy’s. We added a 2" soft (22 ILD) talalay latex topper from foambymail.com about 10 days later. This topper made it much better for my wife but I’m still not sinking in enough for proper alignment or pressure alleviation. I am primarily a stomach sleeper.
I think I need about 1-2" additional topper. I’m trying to find an extra-soft/plush in the 14-15 ILD range. I would like to sample the material before buying - this is proving excessively difficult. At present I’m waiting for the Latexco/Latex International representative to provide me with a regional retailer/manufacturer so I can try before I buy. I’ve struck out looking for a Radium foam retailer other than Arizona Mattress, where I was steered to a sale item without any inquiry into my background sleep info. Additionally, we’re also somewhat intrigued by slow-response latex but only if 1-2" thickness is available. Neither of us can sleep on memory foam due to heat build-up. Can you help direct me to vendors around Houston, TX area that might have these product? Any other topper suggestions?
Additional background: we’ve had a terrible experience with mattresses over the last 8 years (5 mattresses) and have reached the philosophy that it’s better to buy a firm, tight-top mattress and add our own toppers.
Unfortunately the topper you purchased isn’t Talalay latex and is probably firmer than you were led to believe as well. I would read this post and this post and this topic (about their polyfoam and sources) and this post (presumably from a past employee) before buying anything from Foam by Mail (AKA FBM and Foam Factory) or considering them as a reliable supplier … especially if the specific properties or firmness level of the foam you are buying is “application critical” and would make a significant difference to you.
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the Houston area are listed in post #2 here but I don’t know if any of them would carry a topper that meets your criteria so you may need to make a few phone calls to check.
Post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to also includes more information about choosing a topper that can help you use your sleeping experience as a reference point and guideline to choose the type, thickness, and firmness for a topper that has the best chance of success and also links to the better online sources for toppers I’m aware of as well.
I don’t know if they still carry samples, but Sleep Like a Bear used to carry latex foam samples (their latex is made by Latex International)- I bought a set of various ILD’s about 5 years ago. They were not huge- something like maybe 3"x4" samples- but big enough to test firmness. But it’s still hard to choose even with small samples- I originally thought the 19 ILD would be perfect, but when I bought a topper in 19 ILD, I had to return it because it didn’t feel good to me. I returned the 19 ILD and ended up with a 14 ILD. Which was better, but in the end, realized that I am one that doesn’t prefer latex! I did use the 14 ILD topper for about 5 years before our recent mattress purchase, which doesn’t require a topper.
I was really happy with Sleep like a Bear’s service- you might try contacting them- I didn’t see the latex samples on their website, but I didn’t look to hard.
I would be a little cautious about using a small sample as a reliable way to assess how soft or firm a material will feel when you lie on it. While samples can give you some sense of the relative firmness/softness of a material based on its “hand feel” or be a good way to find out if you are sensitive to a material … the weight distribution of the body when it is lying down is very different from just pressing down on a material so they won’t tell you much about how it will actually feel when you lie down on it with the full length of your body. It would be similar to testing a mattress by pressing down with your hands which will also tell you very little about how a mattress will feel when you actually lie on it.
Good morning, I’ve narrowed down my list to KTT, SLB and possibly Mattress.net. Maureen from KTT is sending samples of the blended and natural latex. I was unable to get samples from SLB or M.net. KTT distributes Latex International’s talalay, correct?
Is there any way to verify the manufacturer before/after receiving the topper - certs, physical markings, etc.?
Sometimes they will have the original stickers attached and sometimes they won’t (depending on where a layer was cut from) but all the suppliers you are considering are reputable and reliable and will send you exactly what you ordered.
Hi Phoenix, I was able to buy sample sets from Flobeds , both natural and blended, that were 12" ×12" approx (they also sell the little block samples). It was useful to see the differences between the 2 types of latex.