With everything I’ve discovered during my research, I think I have narrowed my choices for a new queen sized mattress down to two - Brooklyn Bedding and SleepOnLatex.
Brooklyn Bedding’s price is very competitive. Their holiday sale for 5% off includes two pillows and a set of sheets for $712.50. Their mattress seems to be well made and I like the 2lb density for the polyfoam used in the core.
SleepOnLatex is more costly, coming in at $1099 and does not include any free pillows or sheets. I’m not sure how to receive the 5% discount from your membership list, but that would bring the price down to $1045. edit - I was able to figure out using the search function that I just need to send them an email and tell them I’m a member here, which I’ve done. I like that it is all latex. SleepOnLatex uses natural latex, and Brooklyn Bedding claims that synthetic latex lasts longer, but I haven’t seen that claim repeated elsewhere. I especially like the wool quilted into the 1" thick mattress cover, as I’m a big fan of wool products. I’m curious if a wool cover would be expected to have any benefits over the cotton cover found on the Brooklyn Bedding mattress.
Both brands offer free shipping and returns, with a 100 day period for SleepOnLatex and a 120 day period for Brooklyn Bedding. Both mattresses appear to be good choices. I like some of the features offered by the SleepOnLatex mattress over the Brooklyn Bedding mattress, but the price and free/pillows sheets included with the BestMattressEver are also pretty compelling.
The Brooklyn Bedding Best Mattress Ever (BME) does use good quality materials for the latex (blended Talalay 2" in the top layer and 2" of synthetic Dunlop in the transition layer over the 6" 2 lb. polyfoam core). Brooklyn Bedding is a member here, which means that I think highly of them.
Sleep on Latex uses an all-latex construction of a 6" natural Dunlop latex over a 2" natural Dunlop latex piece, with a 1" cover with wool quilted into it. This mattress uses all high-quality materials and Sleep on Latex is also a member here and I think highly of them as well.
Both the BME and the Sleep on Latex are available in three different comforts (soft, medium and firm).
I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find on the Brooklyn Bedding web site where they make that particular claim, but there is some truth to it, although I would state that the choice here is between “good and good” types of latex, and it is unlikely that you would notice much of a difference in performance between these materials.
In general … NR (Natural Rubber) latex is superior to SBR rubber in most areas with a few exceptions. To some degree this depends on the type of SBR that it is compared to and on the additives that are used in compounding both. The exceptions are heat aging and wear resistance where SBR can have advantages. NR also tends to soften more with oxidative aging while SBR tends to harden with oxidative aging because the oxidative processes affect their polymer structure differently. Both will end up hard and brittle when fully oxidized (which if the latex is protected will take a very long time). With Dunlop synthetic latex may lose height (develop impressions) more than 100% natural, while natural rubber may become softer over time more than synthetic rubber.
These differences in practical terms really amount to a bit of “splitting hairs” as far as practical durability goes, and the difference in these two mattresses would really come down to the different comforts that each product provides, one using Talalay over Dunlop, with the other using Dunlop alone, and the cores being used - polyfoam versus latex. And this ends up being more of a personal comfort preference as part of your own personal PPP.
As you mentioned, it would certainly be part of your own personal preference. Sleep on Latex uses the wool to pass the FR regulations, while Brooklyn Bedding uses the more common silica/rayon barrier. Wool does have good temperature and moisture regulating properties, and does has its own unique feel and will firm up a bit as time goes on.
In this case, you’re certainly comparing two high quality products, but they are a bit different (one being all latex and the other being latex with a polyfoam core), so that of course might come into your personal PPP if it is important to you to have a product that is completely latex or not, and if you like the feel of all latex versus latex on top of a polyfoam core. There certainly is a price savings using a polyfoam core instead of latex in the BME, but it will have a different feel. Both items have a great return policy, so in the unfortunate circumstance that your purchase doesn’t turn out as well as you had hoped, you’ll be able to return it.
It may be a little out of date, as they say all the latex they use is either natural or blended, yet I think the Dunlop layer in their mattress is 100% synthetic. Otherwise what they have to say mirrors what you posted regarding the qualities of synthetic and natural latex.
I still haven’t made up my mind, but am leaning toward the SleepOnLatex mattress as I like the 100% latex construction. While the 2lb polyfoam used in the core of the BestMattressEver is a good product, it does seem the latex core in the Pure Green mattress would possibly offer better longevity.
Thanks for the link – I see the post from their blog. Yes, they’re simply making some general statements about latex, the production processes and the blends. If you want a bit of a simplified post describing some of the differences between these types of latex, you can look at post #2 here. As I mentioned earlier, regarding the different types of latex, it really isn’t a “better/worse” comparison, but more of a “good/good” situation. You are correct that the BME uses blended Talalay in the upper 2" layer and the synthetic Dunlop in the middle 2" transition layer (sorry, I’m missing again in the post you referenced where they stated using a different material, but what I listed her and previously in my other reply is correct).
Yes, a latex core will generally have better longevity than a polyfoam core.
I think I have all but decided to order the SleepOnLatex 9" mattress. It’s the only all-latex mattress that fits my budget, and as a bonus it offers a lot of features I appreciate like natural latex and a wool cover. My only concern is whether a single 2" comfort layer will be sufficient. If not I can always purchase a mattress topper to add an additional comfort layer, although it seems like I would miss out on the wool cover were I to go that route. I’m just waiting to hear back from SleepOnLatex regarding the Mattress Underground discount. I’m sure they’re enjoying some time relaxing during the holidays and will reply when they’re back in the office, which is no problem. I may give one of their latex pillows a try as well.
As the Pure Green mattress comes in three different firmnesses, make sure you confirm in a phone conversation with Sleep On Latex which model they think will offer you the best chance at success. You are correct that their topper uses an 80/20 organic cotton/polyester cover (no need for wool to pass FR regulations for a topper and keeping wool out of the cover helps to keep the cost down), but if you end up getting a topper and desire that feel of wool you could always procure a wool mattress pad or protector.
Yes, I know quite a few businesses are closed today as it’s a legal holiday with Christmas falling on a Sunday. You should be able to receive your 5% The Mattress Underground discount with no problem.
Their pillows come in low (stomach sleeper) or high (back/side sleeper) lofts, with a lightweight organic cotton covering or a luxury 80/20 organic cotton/polyester covering.
I look forward to learning about your ultimate decision.
I ended up ordering the 9" Pure Green mattress from SleepOnLatex in medium firmness. It will hopefully ship this week, so I might get it by the following week.
I also ordered a latex pillow from SleepOnLatex to try, as I realized my memory foam pillow is just as worn out as my mattress. I chose the queen high loft size for the pillow.
I purchased Malouf Encase Omniphase mattress and pillow encasements, and a set of percale sheets from Brooklinen. Other than the queen size boxspring I already own, it will be a whole new bed, and I’m looking forward to trying it out!
In your quest for wool, have you considered a wool comforter?
I’m new to wool, but am enjoying my comforter of 2 weeks. Matching it with the right sheets played a role in proper temperature regulation as well(no more layering blankets and kicking half of them off during the night). I rather like the “clean barnyard” smell of wool that permeates the room throughout the day(you’re probably not going to people oft making that comment).
Yeah I have! Great to get some feedback on one as there isn’t a ton of info out there. I don’t have one in the cards right away as I’ve run up against my bedding budget limit for the time being, but a wool comforter is on my list of things to consider down the road. I do have several wool blankets I use on my bed and they are great, but nothing beats the loft of a comforter.
My SleepOnLatex pillow arrived yesterday, and my initial impressions are good. It’s softer and has more loft that I expected, which is great. I slept on it last night, and felt that my head may have been sinking in a little too far, but I think that’s most likely due to my current sleeping situation. I’be been sleeping on the floor for the past couple of weeks on a 2" air mattress with a yoga mat on top. It’s not the most comfortable situation in the world, but has actually done wonders for my back compared to sleeping on my old worn out mattress. Sleeping on my side, I don’t think my shoulder is sinking in nearly as much as it would on a mattress, which is making it feel like my head is sinking too far. Once I am back on a mattress I expect the pillow to work better.
My SleepOnLatex mattress is shipping today, so I should have it by the middle of next week
Quick question about mattress foundations - my current box spring (if that’s the right name for it) is queen sized like my new mattress. It seems to be some sort of frame with a thick cardboard type material on top. It seems relatively firm, but I wouldn’t want to step on it for fear I might fall through. It’s made by Englander and its label reads “QE PROPER POISE LAUREN MAUVE”. It was produced in 2000. Will this be adequate for my new mattress? I build furniture in my spare time and will eventually make a new bed frame with a slatted base, but that might not happen for a year or two.
I’m glad your pillow arrived already. You are correct that the performance of the pillow will certainly vary with the mattress with which it is paired. Your results should be better once you’re sing it upon your new mattress, as your shoulder will sink in more, effectively making your pillow feel “thicker”.
What you have is properly termed a foundation.
More than likely it looks something like the photo attached to this post, with 9 or so wooden slats with a cardboard deck on top. This certainly would not be an advised foundation for any latex mattress, but for a short period of time it should be fine. Just keep an eye on it to make sure that it does not sag quickly. As you’re a skilled furniture builder, it certainly will be easy for you to create something that works well for your latex mattress. Let me know if you have any questions when you come to that point and I’ll be happy to provide recommendations based upon the design you choose as to proper support structures.
I’m excited to learn about your new mattress once you’ve had a chance to sleep on it for a while.
Yup! I have a feeling that’s almost exactly what it looks like under the cover. I will plan to use it for a year or so, at which point I should have a frame with a better base ready for it. I will let you know when I inevitably have some questions about how to design that.
That would be my guess as well. Just keep an eye on it and make sure that the center support in the frame you are using is providing adequate support so the foundation is not allowed to sag in the middle.
I’ll look forward to your ideas when you decide to craft your own foundation, and hopefully you can post some photos of the completed item here once it’s done.
I received my Malouf Encase Omniphase pillow covers earlier this week. Per the instructions, I washed them before using. They don’t have a crinkly feeling, which is good. They don’t allow for much air movement, which changes the way the pillow feels. When you lie down on the pillow, the air is slowly forced out of the pillow encasement, making the pillow compress a lot slower than without it. When you release pressure from the pillow, the encasement slowly sucks air back in, so the pillow expands a lot slower than it would otherwise. I’m not sure if I like this, but I might be able to get used to it. They’re also huge. I ordered the queen size and they’re much larger than my queen size pillow, and I have to roll the ends up to fit them inside a pillowcase.
I’m still waiting on my mattress. FedEx tracking indicated it was scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday, so I stayed home all day and waited for it, but it never showed up. About 4pm on Wednesday the scheduled delivery date changed from Wednesday to “pending” which it has been ever since. I called FedEx yesterday to see if they could tell me when it would be delivered, so they ran a trace and called me back. They think it may still be in Chicago (where it was shipped from), but they’re not sure. They think it will start moving again today, but since they don’t know where it is, they’re not sure. They think they might have been having some weather delays, but they’re not sure why the tracking information didn’t indicate any delays, and they’re not sure why FedEx | System Down has been saying for the last week that everything is running normally. If I click on “help” on the tracking page, the page that shows up is “page not found”. The tracking information hasn’t been updated since it left Chicago eight days ago.
Needless to say, I’m not very impressed with FedEx. The same thing happened a week earlier waiting for my pillow (also FedEx). It eventually showed up three days later, so I’m hoping the same will be true of my mattress. Waiting for a delivery for days on end without a scheduled delivery date when the courier has no idea where it is is can be a frustrating experience.
I just received an email from SleepOnLatex that they are going to send out a new mattress on Monday. They have been in contact with FedEx, and it sounds like FedEx has completely lost my original mattress and told SleepOnLatex that it will be 5-7 business days before they have any new information.
SleepOnLatex has been very helpful, and they are going to send the second mattress via UPS to avoid any further issues with FedEx. In my experience UPS is much better at both not losing packages, and keeping the customer up to date with any delivery delays.
Yes, their polyurethane H2PRO layer, while permeable for air, certainly isn’t as breathable as a tight weave from something like a natural fiber. This can be an issue with different polyurethane films, depending upon their micron pore size and thickness. One thing you can do, which of course defeats the whole purpose of a complete encasement, is to leave the zipper open slightly, but you’ve probably already figured that out. It is possible that this will even out a little more with a few more washings.
The pillow industry is odd. While queen pillows are generally in the 20" x 30" range, these sizes aren’t adhered to as strictly as mattress size guidelines. And of course there are different thicknesses of pillows, so many brands, like Malouf, defer to a larger sized product to accommodate anything that might be termed a “queen size pillow”, and also to hopefully allow for some flexibility if the pillow used is shapeable, such as a down or shredded latex product.
I’m sorry for your delays with FedEx. They did issue service warnings because of the weather in Memphis on the 6th and 7th, which did impact deliveries across the entire US. With that being said, I’m glad that Sleep On Latex reacted proactively and is sending you out a new mattress on Monday. It’s always nice to hear about good customer service like this. I’m hoping that UPS is able to get your new mattress to you asap.
Thanks Phoenix. I must not have checked FedEx | System Down on the 6th and 7th, as I never saw the warning you are referring to. Nevertheless, the tracking information on the mattress hasn’t been updated since it left Chicago on the 6th, and it hasn’t had a scheduled delivery date since the 11th. I do not believe it is delayed, I think they lost it, as evidenced by the lack of tracking information and their inability to tell either SleepOnLatex or me where the mattress is or when they expect to deliver it. It’s possible the shipping label was damaged in transit or something along those lines.
I tried your suggestion of unzipping the pillow protector halfway, but as I have to roll the ends of the pillow protector up to fit in the pillowcase, it didn’t make much difference. I may still get used to it, or as you say it may become more air-permeable through a few more washes. It does seem there is a degree of trade-off between protection and comfort. I’ll be interested to see if I notice the same issue with my mattress encasement when my mattress arrives. Even with the encasement on, I think the new pillow setup is an upgrade over my old worn out pillow.
Those service alerts are usually sent to shippers, so it’s normal that you may not have seen them. Regardless, your guess about the item having been “lost” or in a claim area missing a label is probably as good a guess as any.
Regarding the pillow protector, you are correct, there can be a tradeoff to comfort versus protection, just like a mattress protector. Another way you can try the “unzippering” of the pillow encasement is to “roll up” the end of the encasement that doesn’t have the zipper (like a toothpaste tube from the bottom) and that way the zippered end that is slightly open will be directly against the pillow. I know it’s a workaround, but maybe worth a try.
The mattress was originally scheduled to be delivered last Wedesday, 1/11. I stayed home to wait for it, but it never showed up. At 4pm on 1/11 the delivery date changed to “pending” where it stayed until yesterday, 1/16. SleepOnLatex had been planning on shipping a replacement mattress yesterday via UPS, as it appeared FedEx had temporarily lost the original, but yesterday the original FedEx shipment was scanned back into the system with a scheduled delivery date of today. Given this new information, SleepOnLatex decided to hold off on sending the replacement. FedEx put it on a truck for delivery this morning.
I spent another day waiting at home for FedEx. Two FedEx trucks drove past my house this morning. One of them stopped to deliver another package I had ordered, but no mattress. At 4pm the delivery date was changed to “pending”, again. I called FedEx to ask what the heck was going on now, and they assured me it would still be delivered today, before 5pm, they said. I told them last time the delivery date was changed to “pending” it never showed up, but again they assured me that was normal and it would arrive today, as it was on the truck for delivery. 5pm came and went, and no mattress, so I called FedEx again. Don’t worry, they said, we deliver until 8pm, and it’s still on schedule to be delivered today.
At 6:45 the delivery date was changed to tomorrow.
Delays are unavoidable sometimes, but FedEx is really bad about keeping track of what the status of a shipment is, and it leads to a lot of frustration.
SleepOnLatex had promised to express ship a replacement mattress via UPS if FedEx missed their delivery date for a second time, so I have decided to take them up on this. I contacted FedEx and told them to return the mattress to sender. I may have to wait a few extra days now, but at least I should get a more solid delivery date or some forewarning if there is a delay, so I can plan accordingly.
Sorry to vent, hopefully I’ll be sleeping in comfort soon enough.
