Great questions! A couple background notes… My wife and I have a master bed, and also I have a twinxl bed. I snore, so at sleeping time i go to the other room with twinxl. The twinxl has the linen fitted sheet and linen pillow cases. I have a duvet in a cotton duvet cover, and don’t use a flat sheet.
Is linen worth the price? Ans: I like it and am planning on getting some more, so yes.
Does my wife like it after several washings? Ans: no, or at least hasn’t said so. That said she doesn’t try it often. We have a really nice St. Geneve cotton on the king.
For mine, I paid … Well whatever the price for a twinxl fitted sheet and 2 queen pillow cases is at tmasc.ca. I think $150 for the pillow cases and $275 for the fitted sheet.
Have I felt rough linen? Ans: yes I have one of their sample cards. The Rough Linen smooth linen feels near identical to my St. Geneve linen (which is good because St. Geneve is supposed to be pretty premium). St. Geneve and Rough Linen smooth seem comparable.
Other misc notes. What I did was start small… i.e. pillow cases and fitted sheet, without doing the full linen treatment of everything. I’d recommend that approach, unless there is a significant discount to buying everything at once. That way you can see if you like it.
Linen doesn’t stretch, so when used with latex for next go around I plan on getting a fitted sheet that’s too big. I didn’t do that, and while it doesn’t interfere with the feel of the bed, it does mean the fitted sheet hikes up the mattress showing the mattress protector under it (Tricia’s beef at Rough Linen).
My next linens would probably be a Rough Linen flat sheet in the natural color, or maybe a duvet cover.
I use Leblanc linen wash to clean it. It’s what tmasc.ca recommends. I seem to recall other reputable linen shops recommending it. But likely any mild detergent would be good. I hang (inside the house) to dry, which takes about 4-5 hours.
Yes … this is part of how different latex /memory foam combinations (or any material over memory foam) can have a very different “feel”. It will depend on the material above the memory foam, the specific properties of the memory foam (temperature sensitivity, recovery time, etc), and the thickness of each layer. My own personal preference is a thinner layer of latex (to allow more of the “feel” of the memory foam to “come through”) and a relatively thin layer of memory foam (I’m not a fan of the “in the mattress” feel of memory foam) but each person may have a different preference. There are many different combinations that can feel very different from each other even though they are in the same general “category” of a memory foam / latex (or other materials) combinations in the comfort layers.
I guess you could call that the “doctor at the party” syndrome! … except instead of free medical advice it’s free mattress advice.
I received a sample from both Linoto and Rough Linen. The Linoto White Eco-Belgian definitely feels the softest to me. Even so, it still feels like a coarse material; just how much do these soften with washing? If I’m not loving the samples, will I not love the material given how it softens with washing?
Still no toppers from Selectfoam and Matt’s phone number appears to have changed.
[quote=“GrandMasterJ” post=29384]I received a sample from both Linoto and Rough Linen. The Linoto White Eco-Belgian definitely feels the softest to me. Even so, it still feels like a coarse material; just how much do these soften with washing? If I’m not loving the samples, will I not love the material given how it softens with washing?
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Hard to say. I’ve been about 10 washes of mine so far. It is softening slowly, but not yet close to the softness of (good) cotton. I would still describe it as fairly course. I find I generally enjoy the texture of linen on the fitted sheet. Undecided on pillow case (I have both, and I flip flop). And haven’t tried duvet cover or top sheet in linen yet - (I use the duvet like a top sheet, and my duvet cover is cotton).
I asked my wife again, she still much prefers cotton to washed linen.
One thing i don’t understand yet, is I’ve come across samples of linen that feel way softer than other samples of seemingly the same kind of linen. E.g. My rough linen sample card, the st Bart’s blue was noticeably softer than everything else (including the st Bart’s in other colors). I don’t know if that’s somehow accidental, or if it’s predictave of how it’ll feel when bought, or if it’s evidence of how it’ll feel after about 100 washes, or if it’s because the diff colors are totally different linens, or what. So far,the samples I’ve felt that are that soft haven’t been a color or style I’ve wanted to buy, so I haven’t got any first hand experience. The same happened to me while feeling and selecting the st Geneve linen I got.
I have had linen clothes that have been washed a ton, and I wouldn’t say it becomes so soft that you wouldn’t recognize it as linen. Whether you grow to like it or find it softer with washing is a big unknown.
With linen there are many people who will tell you that you have to “beat it into submission” and it will soften slowly over time (read seasons of use) … but it will take a while. Hot washing and dryer balls in the dryer can help (just make sure you don’t use fabric softener to try to soften it faster because it can apparently interfere with its breathability).
I know that different types of linen will soften at their own speed but the quality of the linen, the weight, and the finishing can make a difference. It’s certainly not an area of expertise for me though and the retailer is probably the best source of information about how long it will take their particular linen to soften. I currently don’t own any linen sheets but I do really like them so it’s high up on my purchase list.
I talked to them today (Peter) and apparently Matt is on holidays but when I mentioned your post Peter was aware of the topper and it’s in the pipeline although he wasn’t sure if it had shipped. I called Matt first but as you mentioned his cell is not in service so I don’t know what is happening there.
We’re going on 6 or 7 weeks(I lost count) now since the original toppers and pillows were promised as restitution for the mattress errors. I negotiated the partial refund instead of the pillows after they had not shipped 2 weeks after they were originally promised. I sent both Peter and Matt an email and tried to call Matt over 2 weeks ago and have not received any replies. Apparently I should have negotiated a higher refund and just bought the items that were promised. I’m a patient man but every time I talk to Matt (who, I maintain, is a nice and knowledgeable guy and seems considerate to my concerns) there is a lack of follow-through on any promises made.
I purchased a Cozypure Pure Perfomance Lanoodles pillow and I really like the feel of it. I took out a lot the Lanoodles and made a second flatter pillow from it, but find that I am getting neck pain a lot during the night and in the morning when I awake. Since I am a back and side sleeper and since you sink into the bed a significant amount, I am trying to use the relatively flat pillow for back sleeping and the higher pillow for side sleeping with my arm under it. The side sleeping on the higher pillow is causing me back pain, however. I had a crappy polyester beaten down pillow prior to this, and while I didn’t like it very much, I had mostly alleviated my back pains and didn’t have neck pains. I am looking for any advice on this and was going to make sure my spine was straight when on my side.
I certainly agree that you have been very patient.
I talked with Chris today (the other co-owner) and Matt is apparently out of the country and Chris said he would be back around Jan 9th. When I last talked with Peter about your topper (when I posted last) he told me that he had submitted the order through Chris (who does the actual ordering). Chris told me today that your order had been submitted to Latex International but didn’t have the details at hand. He said he would contact you today.
It frustrates me as well to see these kind of delays in customer service and/or lack of followup and IMO they should be more on top of following up with their commitments … especially when the ownership is involved. Their customer service is normally very good in “normal” situations when their customer service people are involved but for more unusual situations where the ownership becomes involved it still has a ways to go IMO.
Pillows can be tricky as you know and it’s not really possible to give advice at a distance that can be any more effective than your own personal experience or trial and error but based on your comments it seems that the thinner polyester pillow was working well in terms of alignment (even though it didn’t feel very good) so I would probably try adjusting the latex pillow to be closer to the thickness that was working well for you. Do things improve when you just use the thinner latex pillow?
Thank you, Phoenix. One of the original reasons for choosing Selectfoam was that I would have the backing of the Mattress Underground and its owner should things go wrong. I am disappointed that I had to invoke this amenity so many times but am thankful that someone is willing to help “get things moving.”
Chris did indeed contact me that same day to say that he would check with his latex supplier on Monday. He also provided his personal contact number and apologized for the incident. He called back Monday to inform me that the topper had shipped and should be here next week.
I haven’t adjusted the filling on the pillows further than what I previously did. I have been making a point to use the less-full pillow and “fluff” it up every night. I note, when used with a sleep aid like Lunesta that gives me 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, that I wake without back and neck pains. I surmise that this may be due to the fact that I do not toss or change positions when using a sleep aid.
[quote]Thank you, Phoenix. One of the original reasons for choosing Selectfoam was that I would have the backing of the Mattress Underground and its owner should things go wrong. I am disappointed that I had to invoke this amenity so many times but am thankful that someone is willing to help “get things moving.”
Chris did indeed contact me that same day to say that he would check with his latex supplier on Monday. He also provided his personal contact number and apologized for the incident. He called back Monday to inform me that the topper had shipped and should be here next week.[/quote]
I’m glad that I could “grease the wheels” a little as well and hopefully you will receive your topper “on time” and then let us know how it works for you.
The new topper may also affect the pillow that works best for you.
I did receive the toppers from Matt finally and have rotated through them over the last few months. I also did purchase a full linen sheet set from Linoto which I will put in a separate thread.
The latex toppers in addition to the memory foam add buoyancy, however it does subtract from the effectiveness of the memory foam. I have perpetual back pain (stenosis - thoracic) and find that the toppers help with side sleeping, but the pure high density memory foam helps more with back sleeping. I’ve gone through the 2 toppers and back to the memory foam and returned to the 24ILD topper (Matt sent me both a 24ILD and 28ILD). I will comment that I feel like royalty in a 17" bed with latex topper and linen sheets. It’s very lush. Right now rotating between no topper and topper does not seem like a bad idea.
By the way, the toppers from Latex International do have a smell that lasts a long time. Mine still smell, although less strong than first arrival.
This is such a great thread. I have been contemplating purchasing the Grandis-HD for the past few weeks. I love the feel of the TempurPedic Grand Bed, but the price is a bit out of my range. I’m going through a divorce, and my ex will be taking the bed with him (thankfully.) We have a 6 year old TempurPedic that I have hated since day 1. I don’t remember the exact model, but at the time we purchased it, there were only 3 models to choose from, and I believe we bought the one that was the middle price point. This mattress has always been too firm for me, and I wake up several times throughout the night with aching hips and sleeping shoulders. I sleep on my side, so I know I need a softer surface. The Grand Bed seems to provide the perfect combination of support and softness, so I’m really hoping that the Grandis-HD represents the closest match at a better price point. Thank you for the extremely detailed review. It helps a lot.
