We are looking to purchase a king latex mattress and I have been visiting your site frequently the past few weeks. Thank you for the wonderful information! I’m quite a researcher and get overwhelmed easily trying to make the perfect choice, so your site has been very helpful.
My husband and I are in our young thirties with a 3 year old and newborn. I have actually never purchased my own mattress. We are currently sleeping on a 14 year old Queen that my parents bought me when I was a senior in high school. As for our needs, we want a king bed that is as “safe” as possible. I have read about the difference in green, natural, etc. terminology. I want safe. That’s really it in a nutshell. Our 3 year old often ends up in our bed at night and our newborn sleeps in a C0-Sleeper that is attached to our bed. I’m very concerned about introducing a new mattress that could potentially off-gas right next to our baby. But, we need one. I feed our baby in bed during the night (but she goes back to co-sleeper, doesn’t lay down on our mattress). There simply isn’t enough room for that if our 3 year old has already made her way into our room. We are looking for a king sized mattress produced with no harmful chemicals and that will be safe for our 3 year old to sleep on and newborn to sleep right next to. So, organic cotton and wool that hasn’t been chemically treated is important to us. Based on research, I’m thinking latex is the best bet, with cotton/wool cover. We would like to stay around $2000 for the mattress. I came close to falling for greenwashing and feeling like we needed to go over budget out of necessity, but then found you guys and think I have a much better perspective on what is really safe. I believe SleepEZ has the best price for what we’re looking for and I plan to call them in the next few days and most likely purchase. I also looked at SleepingOrganic, FloBeds, and Saavy Rest, but I believe SleepEZ offers the best price from what I’ve seen. Questions i have first though:
We are looking at the Organic 9,000 Mattress, not sure yet what configuration. Am I correct that the latex is all safe, low VOC, non-toxic, and cover has no fire retardant chemicals? I know that it depends on each person’s individual’s standards, but would you consider this mattress to be safe enough for someone with extremely picky “safety” standards, given that a newborn will be sleeping nearby? Is there something safe that you would recommend.?
I believe they use Eco Wool, correct? I understand that isn’t certified organic, but is chemical free still. Is that your understanding? I wanted only certified organic wool, but only because I want to know that there are no checmicals/pesticides off gassing. If their wool is safe, I’m fine with it. Don’t necessarily have to see the “certified organic” label. I do want assurance it is safe though.
I have no idea on firmness. And honestly, I haven’t been to a local store to try out, as is typically recommended. We are spread pretty thin now with a newborn and my husband running our business during its busiest time. And we really aren’t that picky on how it feels. We tend toward something firmer. And knowing that our kids will spend some of their time sleeping on it, since I’m sure the baby will find her way into our bed once she’s older and it’s safe, I know firm is the best way to go. Any suggestions on firmness? I understand Sleep EZ will have recommendations as well. I’d like to stick with 100% natural latex, not blended.
Is there any reason to let a latex mattress air out for a few days after it being shipped, or is it really safe to go ahead and use ASAP, with kids in room?
We aren’t too worried about the thickness of mattress and the 9000 was more in our budget. I’m wondering if there is a significant different in the 9000 and 10,000 and if it would be worth considering. My main objective for this mattress is to be comfortable and supportive and safe to get us through the years of having young kids come in our bed and still be safe/comfortable for all.
Thanks so much for your help. I’m a little concerned about bringing new things into the environment of a tiny baby, so I apologize if I seem a bit too paranoid. Appreciate your input!
Phoenix will surely answer all your questions. If you are able to try latex mattresses locally, it’ll help you narrow down to what you want to order online. That’s what I did. It turned out that I liked a combination of Dunlop and Talalay (Dunlop on bottom and Talalay for the comfort layer), and Flexus Comfort had the best deal for me. after I narrowed it down to SleepEZ and Flexus It is configurable, with all natural latex, organic covers, etc. You can read more about my experience in my Flexus Comfort thread and on their website.
The latex they use is all Oeko-Tex certified for harmful substances and VOC’s and there are no glues or fire retardant chemicals used in the mattress so I would certainly consider this to be a “safe” mattress yes.
As far as I know they use certified organic wool in their organic line but for these types of questions I would ask them directly because manufacturers can sometimes change suppliers. In either case the wool they use wouldn’t contain any added chemicals either and would be safe.
Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to predict whether any mattress will be a good match for you based on specs (either yours or a mattress), health conditions, individual circumstances, or “theory at a distance” (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here) and the only reliable way to know for certain whether any mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP ( Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) is based on your own careful testing or actual sleeping experience.
When you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specific options they have available based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences than anyone else.
From a safety perspective you can sleep on it as soon as it’s assembled.
The extra inch in the comfort layer with the 1000 would be noticeably different compared to the 9000 yes. I would certainly consider both of them and make a choice between them based on your conversation with SleepEZ (see the reply to #3).
You are certainly looking at a great quality/value choice
Thank you so much for guidance. I believe we have narrowed it down to either the 9,000 or 10,000 version…just need to talk to my husband and make a final decision.
I originally was planning on going with the sleepingorganic, but then came across SleepEZ and their prices are slightly lower. I know that both are members of the site so you recommend both. I’m just trying to make sure I’m comparing apples to apples here. I want latex (organic and/or natural), organic cotton and wool, no chemicals. That’s it in a nutshell. Does sleepingorganic have any benefit over SleepEZ? All I’m seeing is that maybe their wool is certified where SleepEZ’s isn’t. I have a call into SleepEZ but haven’t spoken to anyone yet. Am I missing some difference between the two that could sway me either way, or is this a case where they are virtually the same type of product, as it appears? Thanks so much. I’m nervous to finally pull the trigger!
As you mentioned they are both very similar mattresses and the differences between them would really come down to any differences in the type and blend of the latex you choose or have available for each layer, any slight differences in the firmness of each layer, any differences in the cover and quilting material, any differences in their return and exchange policies, and of course any differences in their prices for the specific combination of layers that you end up choosing.
As you know you are certainly looking at some very good quality/value options and I think highly of both of them. Once you are down to finalists that are all choices between “good and good” and none of them have any obvious weak links or lower quality materials in their design and if there are no clear winners between them then you are in the fortunate position that either of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your material preferences, your conversations with each of them, their prices, the return/exchange options they have, any additional extras that are part of each purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
