Sleep on Latex | Firmness

So here’s the update. I was able to get the latex topper cut to 1’’ at a local foam supplier! Just cost me $10. Unfortunately, it still does not seem to be working out for me (after a week of sleeping with it). 1’’ is definitely better for me, but I’m still getting some upper back pain, though it’s much reduced. Today was the first day it didn’t hurt a ton for me, but I’m going to go mattress shopping this weekend as I don’t think this latex mattress is going to work out no matter what I do with toppers.

I don’t think my back will “adjust” more or anything to this mattress because I shouldn’t have any back pain after sleeping on an adjusted mattress after a week. I really don’t buy the whole “30 days to get used to it” mantra. Pain should appear in the adjustment period.

It saddens me because I really don’t have time to keep swapping mattresses, and my city has only mattress firms and a few $3000 minimum organic bedding stores. So I’m going to have to roll the dice with a mid-level beautyrest I think :frowning:

I can’t fit a bunch of visits to the specialty stores into my schedule to find a bed that’s out of my price range already, and I’m about to send my 3rd mattress to be recycled. It’s so wasteful for no reason (who knows if they even actually get recycled). I just need this process to be over, hopefully for a good while. I’d love to try a different latex supplier, but I can’t deal with the hassle of the returning yet another bed in a box.

Hi Sleepymucho.

Thanks for the update.… Oh well, …at least you gave it a chance to see if it would make the difference for you. You’d be surprised at how stubborn our bodies can be at times… once they learn a pathway it takes a great deal of patience and skill to convince it to unlearn a “bad habit”, but I understand if you feel that you are done with it.

I can’t agree with you more regarding the wastefulness and I am glad that you are mindful of the environment and the ecological footprint. We have a few experts and trusted members that would cheer up with you.

I’d be very curious to find out what worked for you in the end after you visit some local stores.

Phoenix

Update! I tried a latex hybrid (latex/coil) system from Nest Bedding that seemd nice, but I was able to get an exchange extension from sleep on latex. So I’m going to try the SOL soft mattress (a risk since I’m primarily a back sleeper that prefers a medium to medium firm mattress) and see what I think of it. My partner thinks I might just need a hybrid latex coil mattress for more bounce/support, but I’m going to give 100% latex a shot one more time. Will report back once I’ve had time to try it out.

Hi Sleepymucho.

Thank you for your update. This sounds like a wise choice, good to cover all basis… :slight_smile:

I’m looking forward to any additional updates you have the chance to share and hopefully, this will work out well for you.

Phoenix

I’m strongly considering a Latex mattress myself, and have heard the phrase “…as long as you like the unique feel of a latex mattress…” mentioned many times. Can you describe why Latex didn’t feel right for you?

Hi mikej7.

Welcome to our Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

You are at a good starting point with asking the right questions about the differences in feel of various materials. I noticed from your other post that you’ve already found Post #7 here that describes the main differences in feel between Talalay and Dunlop Latex, but if you … like many other people looking for a new mattress are used to a spring or memory foam mattress I’d suggest that along with some “theory at a distance” you do some local testing to “compare and contrast” different foams and mattress types based on your needs and preferences. I’d also make sure to have a look at the differences between latex and other types of foam in Post #2 here for latex vs memory foam comparison and in Post #2 here which has some pros and cons of latex vs polyfoam.

Good luck with your testing and search!
Phoenix

Hi everyone,

Just made an account here to say thank you for all the valuable information in the forum (and this thread in particular)!

My girlfriend and I have been looking for a mattress and we think we’re going to give Sleep on Latex a try. Neither of us have had a latex mattress before, but we liked the feel of them when we tried a few out in-store. Like others in this thread, the biggest point of contention for us is determining what firmness level to order. I’m a pure side-sleeper while my girlfriend is usually on her back (she doesn’t want a mattress that’s too-soft for that reason), so we’re trying to find a firmness that’ll work for the both of us.

After doing some research on their mattress, we think we’re going to choose the 9" Soft. General sentiment seems to be that the “medium” firmness runs a bit “firmer” than expected (but of course, it’s all qualitative), and combined with our relatively light weight, soft will hopefully still be supportive enough for her. There’s only so much research we can do I suppose, I think we’re at the point where we just need to actually try it out!

If Sleepymucho is still around, I’d be very curious to see what they think of their SOL soft.

Hi SwiftExE

I was curious about any follow up with your mattress purchase. Did you settle on the Sleep On Latex soft? If so how was the support for two different sleep types (side and back)?

I am also curious what those who have purchased from Sleep On Latex have felt with their mattresses. I am a 5’11" 165lb male and my wife is 5’8" 155lb. She is a side/back sleeper and I am a back sleeper. I tend to like firm, as I have enjoy a good floor sleep more than the next guy. I am trying to decide between their medium and firm mattresses. The firm sounds tempting to me because like the initial post stated, it is easier to make a firm bed soft than a soft bed firm, so this may come down to us getting the firm and adding a topper to one side of the mattress. Luckily Sleep On Latex has their free return policy, though it is only for one purchases every 365 days from the looks of it, so if the first purchases did not turn out, purchasing a second makes me wary. Any thoughts from anyone?

I’ll chime in to update. The soft mattress didn’t work for me as well, but I found good relief with another brand of traditional spring mattress (winkbeds). Here’s the thing with the sleeponlatex beds. Even though feel is subjective, I can assure that their medium mattress is much closer to the feel of a firm mattress if you are a normal weight (that describes you and your partner, Cameron). I can guarantee that the sleeponlatex firm will feel like an absolute rock, if that’s what you’re going for. You will absolutely need a topper for that one, and even then it may be too firm. Even with the medium, with my 155 frame, my butt barely sunk down enough to give me comfort.

Something to keep in mind that no one talks about. If the mattress is too firm, it can be nearly impossible to fix it with a topper (you end up sinking in and losing support). People often say, “you can always make a firm mattress softer” but that doesnt mean it will provide the balance of comfort and support that is ideal for a given sleeper. 3" of soft latex might work if the medium or firm SOL mattress is too firm. You can also do one comfort exchange with their mattresses, but then you’re stuck with the second mattress no matter what.

Hi CameronMattress and Dsma.

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! for both of you :).

Thank you for the posts and questions. And Sleepymucho, thank you for your input as well, very helpful to get more perspectives. As you may have noticed Sleep On Latex is one of the trusted members of our site which means that we think highly of them and that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency so I would highly recommend calling and talking to SOL about the differences between their soft/med/firm and how they may apply to your particular needs and preferences. Ultimately you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and what may be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range).

There is no doubt that sleepymucho makes very good points about the ability to make a firm mattress softer. In some mattress companies, the difference between firm and medium may only be 2 ILD differences, and when put into a cover the difference is distinct but not as far as “sleeping on a rock”. More importantly, as we many times state in articles and in multiple forum postings … every person is unique and has different needs and preferences and the best and the perfect comfort/support fit is highly personal as it involves some testing, and research as well as a deeper body awareness as it relates to its sleeping needs,. You can read a bit more about this on Sleep On Latex firmness thread here.

There is no doubt that SOL uses high-quality materials, and many people have discussed there high-quality customer service, which is very important. I’d certainly make sure to talk to the people at SOL and ask all the questions you can as they are much more familiar with their own mattress designs and materials than anyone else (including me) and they can use the information you provide them about your body type and sleeping positions, your preferences, your history on different mattresses, and the results of your local testing to make suggestions based on the “averages” of other customers that may be similar to you. The more accurate and detailed the information you provide them the better you will help them to help you make the best possible choices out of the options they have available.

You can also read about the SOL shipping and returns page about one item per customer returns - 12 month period, which IMO is fair and common business practice.

Good luck going forward and please send updates or other questions you may have.

Phoenix

Thanks for all the great info. I was set to order a firm SOL but after reading thread this will go with a medium. I’m in Hawaii so shipping is an extra $150 so getting it right the first time is important. That said its for my 6 year old and anything will be an upgrade on the $350 spring mattress from the chain store he (and often I) sleeps on:) Now off to go get that discount code;)

Hi kailuak1,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :).

Congratulations on the new Sleep On Latex(SOL) for your 6-year-old (and sometimes Mom) SOL are certainly a reputable/worthy option and being a member of this site it means that I think very highly of them and that I believe they compete well with the best in the industry. so much for buying from one of our trusted members. I assume you emailed Scott (at) TheMattressUnderground.com to get the discount coupon code they offer to TMU Consumer members.

I am glad that our forum was assistive in your research and helpful in making an educated choice. Yes, the shipping to HI, something Hawaiians deal with often so it is important to get it right.

Good luck with your new mattress and let us know how it works out once your loved ones have a chance to sleep on it for a while :)!

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix and Sensei,
I was looking at Sleep on Latex’s website and noticed this:

Do either of you have any comments about this enhanced process? I wasn’t able to find any discussion of it after searching the forum. Thanks.

Hey The Toddler,

First off, I have not spoken to SOL or other people who have been to their partner factory and asked specific questions about the Earthfoam Dunlop process. I do have to say that SOL has worked quite extensively setting up their manufacturing, and there is no doubt in my mind that the engineers and chemists in Malaysia have worked to “enhance” this Dunlop process compared to some other Dunlop process.

That said, I have known many of the latex people pretty well from my prior and current experiences, and it is not an easy thing to enhance the quality of the best European and Asian producers, but some investment will lead to incremental improvements over the shall I say, mediocre latex producers. I have no doubt that SOL’s Dunlop process is as good if not better than most others.

I also think that SOL is being pretty solid with their marketing language, it’s not over the top, IMO. On another point, people can like or dislike Talalay but I have never seen any Dunlop manufacturer that can replicate a soft Talalay topper, regardless of whether the “ILD rating” is the same. If I get more info, I will make a new post discussing this.

Thanks,
Sensei

Does anyone know what factory the SOL “earthfoam” from Malaysia comes from? I’m interested in some pieces from them but shipping from US to me in Australia is as much as the actual foam so it doubles the price. If I knew the factory I could ask them about any Australian importers or resellers.

Also in my ongoing saga of fixing my locally bought all latex mattress I bought a 3" layer of Talalay Global blended 19ILD and put it on top of my existing 75kg/m3 (supposedly) medium core in an attempt to soften it up. My wife is now happy with this result (she’s 35 pounds lighter than me and needs her hips to sink in more) but it’s giving me lower back pain as I think I’m sinking too far in this top 3" layer and going out of alignment. I’m 6"1/2’ 183lb (BMI 24.4) mostly side sleeper and also find the core too firm so I’m thinking to try the 20ILD dunlop SOL in 3". Going to the dunlop vs talalay in very similar ILD would I be right in thinking I will get a bit less softness feel but also less compression travel so hopefully avoid the back pain?

So I got really lucky and found someone locally selling new, “liquidated” “Earth foam latex toppers and I bought a bunch of them. One of them was. 3” Soft “20ILD” layer
I had also purchased a 2" ViscoSoft Gel infused latex topper which I found out was a 20 ILD topper from a continuous pour style similar to the EarthFoam however other than the gel infusion, it was a blended mixture of 20% natural latex and 80% synthetic which makes it feel a little softer then the EarthFoam. It also is pretty uniform where the EarthFoam has a softer, “airier” side and side with a smoother finish, (that feels amazing to lay on directly)
I have also purchased a Soft (17-21 ILD) Blended Talalay topper from Mattress247. “Shoutout to Valarie for going out of her way to really try to understand my specific situation and guide me! I am really grateful for her insight and expertise because she got me to realize how different latex can be comparatively which made me do my homework which led me to this site!!
Anyways, I’d say that I have played around with those three layers separately, and together, and over both a pure EarthFoam core, and over 5” innersprings, and it have come to the conclusion that
The blended Talalay is my favorite, but it is the firmest of the 3, and a little too firm for me to sleep on my side the whole night.
The EarthFoam is actually softer than the Talalay but feels to “Dead” for me, I really enjoy the “Lively feeling of Talalay”
The Talalay feels the most supportive however so if your going out of alignment with the Talalay, then going to the EarthFoam you will probably sink in a little more, IMO.
I honestly want to go softer, and try the extra soft (12-16ILD) range to layer on my (17-21ILD) Talalay with a medium to firm core.
But I really want the “in the bed, on a cloud feeling” so I want to go softer, but that’s just me!

I work in physical rehab and before I got my “Beducation” I would recommend to patient playing around with extra “smaller/thinner” pillows above the waist and/or slightly below the thigh when sleeping on the side to keep the spine in alignment, you could always play around with that and see what works!

Thanks for the input Seanec. What Talalay manufacturer is your foam from because I thought the blended talalay was a lot closer tolerance in ILD so often quoted as a single number like 19ILD and the all natural talalay has more production variance so is often quoted as a range like 17-21ILD. I’m wondering if you have the all natural not blended?

I bought the blended version, but I’m just basing that off of the 247mattress website where I bought it.

Happy to hear that you are interested in our products! I’m sorry that the shipping cost is prohibitive. I would recommend reaching out to Latex Mattress Austrialia (https://www.latexmattress.com.au) as a local option.

As far as your question about dunlop vs. Talalay in a similar ILD, they are technically the same firmness as ILD is just a measurement of the firmness. The perception, of course, may be different, but this is hard to predict. The problem with comparing ILD between different companies and especially between different types of foam is that there are several variables that can be adjusted which completely change the measurement. There is no set standard for how to make this measurement. I do not agree with the “conventional opinion” that Talalay is softer than Dunlop. It can be made at lower densities but they both can be made in a wide variety of firmnesses and densities so most of the time this is not really relevant.

I hope this helps. Please let us know if we can help any further.

Karl