Searching for a mattress...take 4

[phoenix]

Hi camb,

Support layer(s): 9 to 10 inches of 28-30 ILD Dunlop latex, in progressive layers (firmer on bottom)
Comfort layer: 2 inches of 24 ILD Talalay latex

This felt comfortable, but harder than the bed I’m used to. That being said, it felt good. It had a perimeter beam and cotton cover. The total cost was $1670 for a King, I believe. Is that a good deal?

I would want to know the blend of the latex and I would also want to know the thickness of all the layers in the mattress (see this article) so that you have confirmed that all the layers and materials are included in your description but if all the layers are latex and there are no other materials then there would be no weak link in the design.

There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress in post #13 here. As you can see there is much more to the value of any mattress purchase than just the price you pay or the cost of the raw materials. Value is always relative to how a mattress compares to other similar mattresses or to any other mattresses you are considering and are available to you and are included in your finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are important to you. While I don’t know whether the price you quoted is for a “mattress only” and I’m not sure if you included all the layers in the mattress in your description, or any of the other criteria that may be important to you and their “value” to you (such as return or exchange policies) … the price seems to be very reasonable for a 9" to 10" latex mattress. I’m not sure what you mean by a “perimeter beam” if you are referring to some type of edge support then there is more in post #3 here about edge support for latex mattresses.

(2)
Reversible mattress
Support layer: 5.5 inches of 22 ILD Dunlop latex
Comfort layer(s): 1.25 inches of 24 ILD Talalay latex, on each side

The King size was $2200, being more expensive because it is reversible, I was told.
No perimeter beam. Even though the support layer was softer than #1, it felt about equally firm.

I would make sure you do some careful testing on this mattress to make sure that it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP because the ILD of the support core is a little softer than the norm … and again I would want to know the blend of the latex … but if you are confident that it’s a good match for you then there would be no weak links in this mattress either. There is more about the pros and cons of a two sided mattress in post #3 here and the posts it links to.

I then tried a “Murphy” bed:
(3)
Support layer: 3-4 inches of ILD 33 synthetic latex called XL33
Comfort layer(s): 3-5 inches of polyfoam, ILD 15
Perimeter beam

King price was $844.
I like the softness of this one a bit better than the first two. But I am concerned that the synthetic latex loses some of the benefits, and its buried in polyfoam, which I am concerned will degrade more quickly.
Does that make sense to anyone?

Polyfoam comes in a very wide range of grades from very low quality to very high quality and unfortunately these specs are incomplete and are missing the density of the polyfoam layers so I can’t make any meaningful comments about it. If you can confirm that the latex is actually synthetic latex (and not just polyfoam that may have a tiny percentage of latex inside it) and the density of the polyfoam comfort layers then I’d be happy to make some comments about the quality of the materials or let you know if I can see any obvious weak links in the design. I would make sure that the law tag includes latex in the materials (it should be well over 50% of the materials by weight if these are all the materials in this mattress).

TEXAS MATTRESS MAKERS

The showroom was somewhat nicer here, but the return/improvement policy did not feel as flexible.

I tried several latex mattresses with a bamboo cover, which felt nice.

But the salesmax (Lax), who was nice, steered me to this bed:
“Madrid”
Support layer: 8" of “microcoils” (Quantum trademarked pocketed coils)
Comfort layer: 1" of 2.5lb 33 ILD polyfoam.
No perimeter
King $1900

Would someone point me to some information on the “microcoils” and whether they are any better than regular pocketed coils? I think the salesman was explaining that having more of them allowed finer pressure relief. I am concerned about durability, squeaking, etc. compared to latex. The price of $1900 seemed high for a non-latex bed, but is that consistent with “microcoils”?

You can read a little more about Quantum Coils in post #5 here and in post #8 here. They are high quality pocket coils (although they are also more costly than many other innersprings) and 2.5 lb polyfoam is also a very high quality and durable material so if these are all the layers in this mattress and nothing is “missing” then there would be no weak links in this mattress either.

As you probably also know Texas Mattress Makers is also a member of this site which means that I think highly of them and I believe they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.

You are certainly looking at some good options (with the exception of #3 because I don’t have enough information to say anything about it) and you have some very good final choices that would all be well worth considering.

Phoenix