First I must say that finding this site has completely changed my mattress shopping perspective and experience, so thanks for all the work you do. I try to do my homework on any major or minor purchase, but mattress shopping had me a little stumped since personal preference is such a big factor and you can’t just go with what has the best reviews and expect it to work for you.
I’m posting to seek feedback on our purchase decision.
Our specs:
Current Bed: Currently sleeping on 15 year old innerspring mattress from one of the “S” brands that was probably never right for us, even at the start - honestly we didn’t connect poor sleep to the bed at the time because I was pregnant and not sleeping well when we bought it and then we had a colicky baby a few months later so sleep problems went with the territory. At age 30 we felt we preferred a medium firm mattress. Our aging bodies, especially mine, don’t feel that way any more. We’ve also changed sleep positions over the years.
Me: female - mid 40s, 5’6" 155 lbs., mostly side sleeper, occasionally back, mostly when I first get in bed or when I need to shift during the night to relieve pressure. My body is hourglass shaped, with a narrow waist and wider hips and shoulders, which often causes pressure point and support issues. I’m currently having a LOT of pain on the old innerspring mattress - hip soreness every day and often shoulder pain, sometimes severe. I can only sleep on my right side because I am susceptible to a type of vertigo when I sleep on my left side, not sure why, but it means I can’t just flip to my left side when my right side pressure points are causing discomfort. The hip and shoulder pain have gotten bad enough in recent weeks that I end up sleeping in the guest room on an old but much softer mattress. I also have a significant dust mite allergy so an allergy encasing will be a required purchase, and I need to consider how that might affect the feel of the bed (more on that below).
Spouse: male - mid 40s, 6’4", 230 lbs. (weight relatively evenly distributed), mostly side sleeper
For years he has had a LOT of trouble getting a good night’s sleep (falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up too early, tosses and turns a lot). Most likely some of the difficulty is related to the bed, though his mother and brother have very similar sleep issues so it is not clear that a new bed would solve the problem. He often gets mild back pain from sleeping and from just daily life due to his height and sometimes he also gets shoulder or neck pain from sleeping. Despite our mattress being old/worn, he usually sleeps even more poorly when traveling and sleeping on better/newer beds, so I’m nervous about finding something that will work well for him. He is very sensitive to light and sound, though, so that might be the major problem with hotels and guest bedrooms - we keep our bedroom very dark at night, and our neighborhood is quiet. Even after trying dozens of beds, he’s still not confident about what he likes, but seems to prefer a somewhat firmer bed than I do. I don’t think he’s had a truly good night’s sleep in years, unfortunately, so it makes the stakes higher.
So…based on experimentation and on our different stats/preferences, I think we need to buy from a vendor or shop with a good return or bed and/or layer exchange policy and with our different bodies and preferences I think a bed that can be customized to suit both of us will probably be a good choice.
What we’ve tried:
Originally we were looking at memory foam, and I think I might have been happy with that choice, comfort wise, but I sleep hot and given my age I will likely suffer from hot flashes at times during the lifespan of this new bed. My husband wasn’t convinced about memory foam, and he wasn’t sure he could get used to the feeling of sinking in. After stumbling onto this forum, I decided I didn’t want to buy anything until I had at least TRIED a latex mattress since there were so many raves here. I finally found some latex options in Northern Virginia after digging around here in this forum.
Healthy Back Store: They were the closest store with latex and we tried their “Essence” bed and we both decided we really liked the feel of latex—it had the soft but supportive qualities i liked in memory foam and supported my curves, but we didn’t get that sinking in feeling. I understand the bed we tried is made by PLB and similar to their Nature model, and it was pricey, over our current budget (no sale at the time). Up to that point the Essence came the closest to a bed we both could agree on, but I decided to try to locate other latex mattresses in town and save up some money and hope for a good sale if we couldn’t find something else we liked. At the time I was still nervous about the idea of ordering online.
Urban Mattress: We tried all of their latex and felt they were OK but none felt as good as the one at HB (at least as far as we could remember a few weeks later). In retrospect I believe this might be due to the thick quilted wool cover on the mattress. Price was a little better, though. Nice and helpful people, at the store, though.
Savvy Rest: We felt like we learned the most there and we appreciated being able to try various combinations, and that visit confirmed that I prefer a much softer bed than my husband does. My husband’s favorite of the ones we tried was the mixed latex with Firm Dunlop/Medium Dunlop/Soft Talalay, but I don’t think we had him try any firmer combos in either Talalay or Dunlop, which seem to be often recommended for bigger/heavier people (I didn’t know that at the time or would have asked to try that). I’m not sure that I found my perfect bed, but the closest were an all Talalay Firm/Med/Soft, which was not quite soft enough, and a mixed latex Firm Dunlop/Soft Dunlop/Soft Talalay, but I’m not sure if two soft layers would be as durable. Price is high, but we were told they will have a 20% off Black Friday sale on SR products. Again, in retrospect I think the Talalay Firm/Med/Soft might have felt a little firm may have been due to the quilted wool cover.
Pure Latex bliss:
My husband has not tried these yet, but I tried the Pamper (definitely too firm), the Nature (close to the Healthy Back Essence) which was close, but still a little bit too firm for me, and the Beautiful, which felt very dreamy (I almost fell asleep in it) but I’m certain that it will be too soft for my husband and may be a too soft for me in the long run, too, based on the comments Phoenix has made here about that much soft foam in the top layers. Still, I felt like the Beautiful hugged all my curves where I needed it to and I felt no pressure, even though my hip was quite sore from our current bed on the day I tried it. It filled in all the gaps. There is a local dealer that offers a good price on the PLBs, but again, I’m pretty sure sure my husband’s and my preferences will not match.
Where we are now… I think we will probably order from SleepEZ, either the 10" or 13", trying to duplicate what we’ve liked best, though I understand that is inexact. I like their prices, of course, and their refund/exchange policy because I’m still terrified of making a mistake with our choice that we’ll have to live with for years.
Specific SleepEZ questions:
[ul][li]Does anyone know if SleepEZ typically has sales or specials for Black Friday? Not sure if I want to wait, but it may take me that long to make a choice. [/li]
[li]Does SleepEZ allow you to mix Dunlop and Talalay layers? [/li]
[li]If my husband had 2 Dunlop layers and one Talalay and I had 3 Talalay would there be a height difference in the 2 sides?[/li]
[li]I assume I should get the stretchy/thin cover option instead of wool to get something more similar to the feel of the PLB/HB covers?[/li]
[li]Though the 10" model is probably adequate I am considering the 13" model because it would allow more layering options and it might also be good since my husband is a big guy. Is there likely to be a real benefit to doing this? For example, would a firm/medium/medium/soft be worth considering for me to create something that feels a little softer than the standard firm/med/soft? Or xfirm/firm/medium/soft or xfirm/firm/medium/medium or something even firmer for him?[/li]
[li]pillows: If I get the two free pillows from SleepEZ, do you get a choice of pillows? what are the main differences in the natural latex vs. shredded latex? Is the ability to scrunch the pillow into various positions the main advantage to the shredded? What would be best for a side sleeper (my current pillow isn’t working for me)[/li][/ul]
I do plan to call Sleep EZ to ask for personalized advice, but I wanted to post all my questions here first so I can ask better questions and make the most of my conversation with SleepEZ. Based on what they recommend for my husband I will probably send him back to Savvy Rest to try something comparable if they recommend something firmer than he has tried so far.
Mattress protection/encasing: As I said, I have a dust mite allergy that causes rhinitis and mild asthma symptoms. I know latex is less likely to collect dust mites, but I still will need an allergy encasing and will most likely need to purchase a new one because my old bed was not as thick and will not fit a 10" or thicker mattress. After all of our testing I’ve realized that I much prefer the stretchy thin coverings like on the PLB’s to the thicker quilted coverings like Savvy Rest or Urban Mattress had, and I prefer that feeling of being closer to the latex. I assume I should get the thin/stretchy Sleep EZ cover, but when I purchase a new mattress protector, should I try to get one that has an extra couple of inches of room so it doesn’t compress so much e.g. a 12" thick encasing for a 10" mattress, or a 13" for a 12" mattress? Some vendors make them for beds in a variety of thicknesses. My allergist had originally recommended an encasing that zips and completely covers the mattress, so I bought the recommended one (Pristine by Allergy Control Products) that is what I’ve used for years, and it’s nice, but I don’t think it offers waterproof protection and I’m not sure how it would affect the feel of the latex. It’s pretty tight and drum-like on our current mattress. I will pay a premium for the right cover if necessary. I saw a thread where you recommended the Protect-A-Bed Elite for those who want a very thin cover that won’t affect the feel of latex as much, and it does offer some dust mite protection but I am not sure the “fitted sheet” type stretch covers will offer the same level of protection from dust mites that the full zip types will offer. Thoughts? Any other covers to consider?
Thanks for all you do to educate consumers and thanks in advance for any specific advice for us.
