Thanks for the bevy of information on this website. I’ve read through everything and will likely be visiting a local shop on your member list shortly. However, I was wondering if you’ve heard anything or could comment on the ‘Douglas’, which appears to be a new bed in a box mattress made by Novosbed to compete with Endy’s lower price point (and heavily play on Canadian nationalism based on their marketing). I’m curious if it’s any better than the Endy given that Novosbed is a member here and your comments on their products were more favourable than the Endy.
And the FAQ section states:
“Doulgas mattresses are made with Canadian-built foams and fabrics. The top 2” comfort layer is made of ecoLight™ cooling gel foam, developed to be 50% less taxing on our environment but just as durable as high density memory foam. The middle 2" layer is made of Elastex™ foam to give the mattress just the right amount of bounce. The bottom 6" support foam isolates movement and provides better edge support. The washable cover is made from an eco-friendly Natural Eucalyptus Fabric™."
I’ve emailed them to ask for full specs for each layer, particular weight/densities and ILDs if available. Waiting to hear back but thought I’d see if you could weigh in with your knowledge of the brand and materials.
Edit: the specs I’ve been given are:
Top layer - 2" Luxury ecoLight™ Cooling Gel Foam - 2.5lbs and 10 ILD
Middle layer - 2" Premium Elastex™ Foam - 1.8 lbs and 11.5 ILD
Base layer - 6" Motion Isolation Support Foam - 1.8 lbs and 32 ILD
More info: I’m a 5’11 200 lbs side sleeper and my partner is a 5’5 120 lbs side sleeper.
Sorry, but I seem to have glanced over your post. :S
Ho[quote]
wever, I was wondering if you’ve heard anything or could comment on the ‘Douglas’, which appears to be a new bed in a box mattress made by Novosbed to compete with Endy’s lower price point (and heavily play on Canadian nationalism based on their marketing). I’m curious if it’s any better than the Endy given that Novosbed is a member here and your comments on their products were more favourable than the Endy.
[/quote]
You are correct, this is a new Canadian-only offering from Novosbed, and it is indeed Canadian-centric in the marketing, as well as some of the focus of the sourcing and production of materials.
You’re correct, this is a more affordable offering (again only available in Canada). The polyfoam would be a good density, but at 2.5 lb the memory foam would be below what I would normally like to see, and as such it is an item I would consider more if a lower price point was a main concern and you would be comfortable with the potential trade-off in durability.
Hi Phoenix
I was wondering about the kiss mattress. It seems suitable for all weight ranges but I am wondering if a 10" mattress (other then all latex) is really suitable for anyone around 225 and up?
Ari, I wondered the same thing, as I have a higher BMI, but I am tending to think it might not work as well as a thicker mattress using the same quality of components. I am currently in a quandary about what to choose, so let me know if you make any headway with your choice!
The thickness of a mattress is just a side effect of the design and by itself isn’t particularly meaningful, because whether a thicker or thinner mattress would be better or worse for any particular person will depend on the specifics of the materials (type, firmness, etc.) and on all the other layers in the mattress. Thickness is only one of many specs that are used to make different mattresses that perform and feel differently and that makes a mattress suitable for one person and not another. There is more detailed information about the effect of thickness in post #14 here. Regardless of how thick or thin a mattress may be … the most important part of the “value” of a mattress is how suitable it is “as a whole” for your particular body type, sleeping positions, and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) regardless of how thick it may be.
As for latex, the main benefit of a thicker latex mattress (or any mattress that uses similar materials) is that it can be more adaptable for heavier weights and multiple sleeping positions. It will compress from softer to firmer more gradually which means that there is more “range” of compression without the mattress becoming too firm for heavier weights (or parts of the body). A thicker mattress can also be part of a specific design that requires it such as some types of zoning or layering that needs more layers to accomplish the design goal of the mattress. It can even just be a matter of preference rather than “need”.
If you can imagine for example a 2" layer of latex (or any foam material) on the floor you would compress it to it’s maximum and feel much more of the floor (it goes from soft to maximum compressed firmness within the space of a 2" layer) but if you had the same softness of latex in a 6" layer on the floor … it would feel much softer and compress more gradually and to a lesser percentage of its overall thickness and wouldn’t reach the same level of firmness or “bottom out” (which means reaching the maximum level of compression or firmness that a layer or a mattress can effectively achieve).
In the large majority of cases … 8" - 9" of latex is easily enough to include the combination softer layers (or sometimes sections) for pressure relief and firmer layers for support that most people of average or even higher weights would need. In some cases, people that have much higher body weights or larger body types may choose more than the “average” thickness and may prefer the feel and extra adaptability of say 12" of latex. Thicker mattresses can also use firmer materials because thickness and softness are very related and work together. These are all good questions to ask the manufacturer or retailer of a mattress so they can discuss the differences between the different options they have available in terms that are more specific to the layers they use or options they provide.
Phoenix, thank you for weighing in (pun intended) on this. Earlier today I spoke with Greg of Arizona Mattress and he was fairly insistent that at my weight and with my low back pain that a twelve inch all latex configuration would give me the best outcome. Stefano at Luma was cautious about recommending all-latex due to the high price. He also thought the Luma with the 1.5 inch latex topper would be a good starting point for me. So I’m still confused. Two good companies, two different opinions. I did manage to test out briefly a few latex mattresses in person today, two of them hybrid models, one of them a Reverie with the Dream Foam cells, and one all-latex, and all of the beds immediately gave relief to my lower back. So I know I like latex now, but I don’t know which bed to try next.
The reason i asked about the 10" KISS was because most of the mattress review sites(which is where i started out before i met you all here ) recommend 11" or more for heavier sleepers.
SleepEZ said 10 inch thick all latex for anyone under 275 was fine. I would love a 13 inch that i could load up with layers but I am short so I was happy they said I was good with 3 layers and a 10"
I have had 14 inch mattresses with a pillow top fail on me when i was 115 lbs LOL the bed business is crazy.
Honestly - before I got sick and gained all this weight I could sleep on anything. Or…mattresses were less complicated then
My personal preference has always been a nice thick mattress but now i have been very happy with an 11" (height wise anyway LOL)
While I wasn’t a part of your phone conversation, the mattress chosen for you wasn’t because it was 12" (wasn’t chosen based upon thickness), but because at your weight it is what they felt provided enough material to provide adequate support and contouring, based upon the information you provided them and their extensive experience with their products and your BMI. The advice they provided certainly falls within the general guidelines for people with a higher BMI I provided to you previously.
Again I wasn’t a part of your conversation with Luma, so unless you mentioned that you were looking for something in a lower price range then I don’t know why price would have been brought up, as the componentry used in an all-latex certainly can work well for someone in a high BMI range. A product using a supportive innerspring unit can also work well. Which would work best for you would be up to your own personal preference and testing. There is no one perfect mattress.
Unless you are comparing products using the exact same componentry (or relatively close) to what you are comparing online, the comparisons will not be representative. The Reverie mattress is different in construction from anything you are comparing, so I would not use that as a comparison to anything but itself. Depending upon what all-latex configuration you tried out, it could be comparable to something you were considering from Arizona Mattress. But you’d need to know the specifications of all of the layers of foam contained within in order to make that determination.
As I mentioned previously, do not select a mattress based upon thickness. This tells you nothing except how high the product will be off of the floor. You need to focus upon the componentry on the inside.
That advice sounds reasonable and there’s certainly no reason a 3 layer all-latex mattress couldn’t work out well for you. And if you desired extra comfort a few years into the future, you could always add a latex topper.
Regardless of thickness, if the quality of componentry is poor, the product will fail.
It’s been quite a journey, so appreciate your advice along the way, Phoenix. I just ordered an all-latex from Luma and am excited to receive it. I’ll let you know how it feels once I’ve had time on it, but I’m confident that I’ve chosen well, and it’s certainly due to your site and your careful advice and cautionary words on choosing mattresses.
Congratulations on your new Luma mattress purchase! :cheer: You certainly did choose something using high quality materials, and I’ll be interested in learning about how things are going for you once you’ve had a chance to sleep upon it for a while.
Most of the hundreds of pages of information online about latex allergies (and most of the concern as well) is with medical equipment … and particularly latex gloves … and there is not a great deal of information (or concern) with latex foam, at least for people who don’t have a type I latex sensitivity (in which case all natural latex should be avoided). It’s rather remarkable to me that in all the online and anecdotal information available, there are almost no reports of latex allergies regarding mattresses. There is quite a bit of detailed information about this in the latex allergy thread.
It’s slightly higher in density and a 31 ILD - a good quality polyfoam base core.
I’m sorry to hear about your brain tumor. If you feel that you may have a sensitivity to latex, I would strongly recommend a visit with your primary care physician to schedule a screening and testing with an allergist, just to be sure.
