Thanks to the contributors of this site my wife and I were able to adequately educate ourselves and become aware of the many retailers we had not previously known that all lent to us purchasing a very comfortable latex mattress online from SleepEZ.
Even though the loads of information and showroom testing was helpful, for us it really only contributed to a fraction of the final decision making process, albeit a necessary fraction.
We tested dozens of mattresses of all types to dial in on an understanding of what quality, honest marketing and valuable customer service is in the mattress retail industry.
We had started with a 15 year old BeautyRest inner-spring/memory foam mattress that failed. We investigated high quality inner-spring and latex mattresses from Shovlin; a local mattress manufacturer. We were pretty sure we were going to buy one of their inner-spring mattresses, when I thought that it would behoove us to further investigate the latex mattresses out in the world. Shovlin’s latex mattresses didn’t feel as plush or comfortable to us in the store, weren’t adjustable and were a bit more expensive than we really wanted to spend. I started researching latex and where a multi-layer latex mattress could be tested within reasonable driving distance.
I discovered two SavvyRest showrooms and I went and tested first and then the second visit to the second store was with my wife. We spent a lot of time rolling around, reorganizing the layers, mixing in toppers and eventually found that we could probably make this system work. While the mattress we ultimately wound up with was different from the SavvyRest, developing the confidence in the concept of a split, multi-layer, all latex mattress is essentially the only, but valuable function that the SavvyRest performed.
We had a spreadsheet outlining every conceivable supplier of latex mattresses within our budget and had reasonable return terms should there be a problem. Ultimately, we decided to go with SleepEZ due to their:
- being in business for longer than their known-to-us competitors
- prompt and complete responses to all of our questions
- taking the time to discuss our needs, wants and concerns related to our bodies, our sleep preferences, our sleep problems and our expectations from a new mattress.
- no sales pressure, zero.
- no marketing talk. They disclose EXACTLY what’s in their mattress and components. No secrets or marketing terminology to hide the truth.
- giving us confidence that should we have a problem, any problem, that they will help us resolve it
- Sterling and Jeremy were the primary people we dealt with and they have been superb.
We wound up with their 10", 3 x 3" split eastern king latex mattress with cotton/1.5" wool zippered cover containing from bottom to top, split Dunlop Firm/Medium with Blended Talalay Medium on one side and Dunlop Soft on the other. Topped off with a 2" Blended Talalay Soft topper in a stretch bamboo zippered cover + 2 Twin XL foundations.
We had the mattress alone for 3 months and found that we were getting some slight upper back pain towards the end of that 3 months. During the first few weeks of ownership we’d reconfigure the layers each week and make notes at the end of the week and adjust from there. We thought we found an optimal combination, but after sticking with that “optimal” for several more weeks, we started feeling some upper back pain that hadn’t been there before.
We were also concerned because the layer exchange time-frame had nearly run out. We were concerned about going softer in the mattress and that it would wind up causing lower back pain, just being too soft, just be ineffectual given the cover we were using or wind up going through some other sort of layer change. So despite Sterling offering us a layer exchange beyond their prescribed deadline date, we opted to go for the ($300+, eastern king) 2" topper to give us a bit more plush feeling, some more sinking in and pressure relief for our shoulders. Even though it was an additional expense, it’s been worth it!
We both really look forward to getting into bed! It’s still supportive and just the right amount of plush and low-pressure. It’s not 100% perfect. We do still occasionally get slight pain, but we suspect it’s more from the manner in which we sleep and not so much a fault of the mattress. We never expected the mattress to resolve all of our sleep issues, but this particular configuration has thankfully mitigated the most egregious of them.
So, the point is that while all of the information and people on this site are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable, selecting the best mattress and/or combination of mattress components really comes down to spending a bunch of time on it.
Fortunately, SleepEZ afforded us the time we needed without pressure to determine that the system we put together was going to work out and if it didn’t for whatever reason, they would work with us in a what we found to be a very reasonable way to get as close to perfect as possible. I feel as though that should we ever have a problem, their door is never closed and they’re not going to try and sells us stuff for no sensible reason. Again, no sales pressure. They really want you to have a good nights’ sleep and be happy with their product.
To add to the whole latex mattress thing, it’s a fantastic concept and we love the fact that should any one or multiple components wear out or our preferences change, we can easily replace them without having to toss the whole mattress. The topper will take the brunt of the wear and tear and it’s nice that it’s separate and also adjustable in terms of having other options as our bodies and preferences change over time.
We did order the split eastern king foundations and they were very easy to assembly and are quite sturdy. We also used a Legget and Platt 9-leg steel frame to fully support the foundations.
So, that’s the end of our mattress buying story! A big thank you to Phoenix and all the other people who participated in my threads, answered my questions, wrote about their experiences and wrote excellent education material and produced videos.
We and our cat love our bed!