Thanks Mattress Underground for all the information on this forum! It really helped my husband and I in making our decision about our recent purchase.
Years ago, we had bought a tempur pedic bed, but before it was delivered, I started to read about the off gassing issues some were having with it. I am very sensitive to chemicals and odors, so I decided to cancel our order. I wish I knew about latex mattresses then!
After researching on the Internet and Mattress Underground, we were fortunate to be able to try out various latex combinations at a local store. We ended up buying our bed from Sleep EZ.com…their prices are extremely reasonable for a quality product. We talked with Shawn several times…He is very helpful. He also gave me a 5% discount when I mentioned The Mattress Underground membership.
We had been sleeping on the same boxspring type mattress for the past 20 years.
Here is what we bought:
10" all organic (3 layers of 3" latex) with an organic cover with wool. We initially were going with the thicker mattress, but Shawn recommended the 10" since we were had a split King Leggett and Platt S-Cape adjustable bed frame…he was right on target! Anything thicker would probably reduce the benefits of the adjustable bed.
My side (I am around 123 lbs give or take), and 5’2"…I sleep on my sides and back.
Bottom: Firm Dunlop
Middle: Med. Talalay
Top : Soft Talalay
We went to our local store three times to test various combinations…spending about 15 or so minutes on each combo. Being able to actually try out the mattress was extremely beneficial, but Shawn at Sleep EZ has been in the business so long, that he has a very good idea of what will work based on his experience, so we probably would have ended up with our current combos based on his advice anyway. Before trying, I had no idea what the difference between dunlop and talalay would feel like, even though I watched all the utubes and read the descriptions.
I initially thought Firm Dunlop, Medium Dunlop, and Soft Talalay was my best fit. But on my second visit to try them at the local store, I decided on Firm Dunlop, Medium Talalay and Soft Talalay. The Med. Dunlop felt comfortable for side sleeping, but I felt it didn’t give me quite enough support for the small of my back…with the little bit of “bounce” from the Talalay, I felt it did give that little bit of extra support, while still being very comfortable on the sides. In fact, I felt almost like I was sleeping on air. I always have favored a firmer mattress, so I was a bit apprehensive about actually sleeping all night on this softer mattress, wondering if I would develop backaches.
I am happy to report…I LOVE my mattress and the combination I settled on. I can’t wait to go to bed every night…I sleep much more soundly than I used to and I don’t rotate as much throughout the night. I imagine this is because of the reduced pressure points. My body is much more relaxed and refreshed when I awake in the morning.
My husband’s side: (he is around 218 lbs. or so), 5’10" and sleeps on sides and back
Bottom: Firm Dunlop
Middle: Med Dunlop
Top: Soft Dunlop
This was his favorite combination at the local store. In fact, he fell asleep each time he tried it. He did try the Talalay, but he felt it was too bouncy (or too much push back as he stated). When we talked with Shawn at Sleep EZ, he said Talalay would not have held up as well with his weight anyway.
Shawn said we really needed to sleep on the latex for several weeks before making any decisions about layer exchanges, as there is an adjustment period. I didn’t seem to have any adjustment time (probably because I was so uncomfortable on my old mattress!). My husband is still “adjusting.” He does tend to have a few more age related aches and pains than I do, but he did say he feels he is sleeping longer…so I take that as a plus. We have only had the mattresses about 3 weeks so far. I have thought about letting my husband try one of my talalay layers, but I can’t bear to sleep on anything else at this point!!! In fact, I’m already wondering how I will sleep when we go on vacation next year!
We ordered our mattresses before a vacation we had planned, so Shawn worked with us to have it delivered on the exact date we requested on our return. It came in several large boxes…the layers were wrapped tightly in plastic. I followed the utube instructions…all very easy to unwrap and put together. I really like the fact that I can open up the mattress and rearrange my layers if I need to. I was worried that the organic mattress cover with the wool top would reduce the flexibility of the latex, so Shawn worked out a deal to swap the free pillows for the 4 way stretch cover. I haven’t tried those out yet, as the wool layer doesn’t seem to cause a problem with flexibility.
I have talked with Robin at Sleep EZ a couple of times after receiving our mattresses. At first, my Soft Talalay layer seemed to feel like it was dipping or sloping to the right, although I couldn’t see a slope or dip. Robin was extremely helpful and suggested I place each layer on the floor and test it for dips or differences in feel when I put pressure on them. I’ll wait until after the holidays to do this. I just mentioned this here, to give you an idea of how helpful the Sleep EZ folks are and how easy they are to work with.
My only regret is that I didn’t purchase a latex mattress years ago!
