Hi bbunney13,
It’s good to hear that you don’t have any allergies that can reduce the number of options for you to choose from.
Most (although not all) people that are looking for an “organic” mattress are usually concerned more with “safety” than whether the latex has an organic certification. There is more information about the different levels of organic certifications in post #2 here and some of the benefits of an organic certification in post #3 here and there is more about the different types of organic and safety certifications in post #2 here and more about some of the differences between organic and safety certifications in post #2 here that can help you decide whether an organic certification is important to you or whether a “safety” certification is enough.
There is also more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here. All of the latex you are likely to encounter (either Dunlop or Talalay that is made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will have a reliable safety certification such as Oeko-Tex, Eco-Institut, or Greenguard Gold and based on actual testing I would consider any type or blend of latex to be a very “safe” material in terms of harmful substances and VOC’s. If certified organic latex is important to you then some 100% natural Dunlop latex has an organic certification but there isn’t any 100% natural Talalay latex that has an organic certification. There is more about organic certified Dunlop latex in post #6 here.
All latex will have a smell and there is more about the smell of latex in post #2 here.
Like any natural material … different types and batches of latex can vary in terms of the strength of the smell or how long the smell will last and different people can be more or less sensitive to the smell of latex as well. In most cases it should dissipate and diminish to levels that aren’t objectionable or even noticeable to most people over the course of the first few weeks but for those that are more sensitive to the smell of latex they may notice the smell for much longer (especially if they put their nose close to or right into the latex).
The mattress shopping tutorial also includes a link to a list of the members here that sell mattresses online and many of them also sell latex and latex hybrid mattresses that use different types and blends of latex (including 100% natural Talalay and Dunlop and certified organic Dunlop) that have a wide range of different designs, options, features, return and exchange policies, and prices that that would be well worth considering. Post #3 here also includes a list of the ones that sell component latex mattresses and many of these are very similar to Savvy Rest mattresses except of course they are in much lower budget ranges.
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the Las Vegas area (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your criteria and the quality/value guidelines here) are listed in post #2 here. There is also a list for the San Francisco/Berkeley/Oakland areas in post #2 here and a list for the Sacramento area in post #5 here.
As you know Flobeds is one of the members of this site which means that I think very highly of them and I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency. They have some unique designs and offer a choice of either blended Talalay or 100% natural Talalay in their non zoned component mattresses and their design is a little different than either Savvy Rest or Plushbeds. As you mentioned they also have their vZone mattress as well. A forum search on Flobeds (you can just click this link as well) will also bring up many more comments and feedback about them as well.
Zoning systems can sometimes be useful and worth considering for people that have more difficulty finding a mattress with the right “balance” between comfort/pressure relief (under the shoulders especially) and support/alignment (under the hips/pelvis especially) or who have more challenging circumstances or sensitivities, body types that are more difficult to “match” to a mattress, more complex medical issues, or who have a history of having more difficulty in finding a mattress that works well for them. There is more about zoning in this article and in post #11 here and the additional posts it links to.
There is also more about Flobeds vZone in post #4 here. Once you have found the configuration that is best for you (with either the component layers and/or the zones) then you wouldn’t need to do any further rearranging and there wouldn’t be any ongoing maintenance.
You can see some comments about Plushbeds in post #2 here and a forum search on Plushbeds (you can just click the link) will bring up much more information and comments/feedback about them as well. They use good quality and durable materials in their mattresses (natural or organic Dunlop and Talalay latex) and they would certainly be a “better than average” choice compared to most of the mainstream mattresses that most people end up buying. They do a lot of internet advertising so they do attract a lot of online attention for those that are looking for a latex mattress. They are also in a higher budget range than many other similar mattresses and have less options available to customize their mattress so I would make some careful “value comparisons” with some of the other component latex options that are also available to you (including some of the members of this site).
I’m not sure where you read that they would be $1000 less than Flobeds because if you are comparing mattresses that are as close as possible to an “apples to apples” comparison then this certainly wouldn’t be the case. For example the Plushbeds 12" Botanical Bliss includes a 6" certified organic Dunlop core, a 3" 100% natural Talalay transition layer, and then a 2" top layer (for a total of 11" of latex) with a wool quilted cotton cover and sells for $2499 (queen size). The closest comparison would be the Flobeds Natural Deluxe which includes three 3" layers of 100% natural Talalay and their 2" convoluted layer of 100% natural Talalay (also 11" of latex) and also has a wool quilted cotton cover and sells for $2599 (queen size). With the 5% TMU discount they would be just a little less than the Plushbeds even though the 100% natural Talalay latex they use would be a little more costly than the organic Dunlop.
The Flobeds also has two 3" bottom layers and Plushbeds has a single 6" bottom layer and there is more about the pros and cons of a single 6" core vs two separate 3" layers in post #2 here.
You also have quite a number of options that are available to you outside of the ones you have already looked at but once you have narrowed down your options to a list of finalists that are all choices between “good and good” and none of them have any lower quality materials or “weak links” in their design relative to your weight range (which they don’t) and if there are no clear winners between them (which is usually a good indication that you have done some good research) then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your local testing or mattresses you have slept well on, your more detailed conversations about each of them, your confidence about PPP and the suitability of each one, their prices, your preferences for different types of materials and components, the options you have after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or exchange or return the mattress or individual layers, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Phoenix