Hi jwevans01,
Denver Mattress carries 2 mattresses which use latex on top. The Snowmass has 2" of 24 ILD talalay latex (similar to SleepEz) with an inch of firmer polyfoam on top. This is over 6" 32 ILD talalay and 2" of “firm” polyfoam on the bottom. This would be most similar of the two to the SleepEz (bearing in mind that the polyfoam is not latex and that this mattress has a different ticking).
The Aspen has the same 2" of 24 ILD latex but it has 1" of supersoft polyfoam underneath this and then 4" of 32 ILD talalay latex and 4" of firm HD polyfoam on the bottom. Because of the 1" of supersoft poly under the latex on top … this would be softer than the 3" of talalay.
Bear in mind that this is a very rough comparison of the top 3" of the mattresses which can provide a guideline but is not a “duplicate”. The lower layers are also different in terms of layering and firmness (they both have 32 ILD “medium” latex underneath but the layering and layer thickness is different than the SleepEz) so the comparison would be more in the top layers only.
The comparison with the Restonic would depend on knowing the ILD of what they are calling “soft”. There are so many different versions of what different manufacturers call soft or firm or anything else that the ILD is really the best way to compare. Layer thickness also makes as big a difference in the feel and properties of a mattress as layer softness so I wouldn’t say that the Restonic would provide a good guideline without knowing the specifics of the construction. Vague descriptions (which unfortunately are more the “rule” than the exception) can do more to confuse than help.
Based on their website … Bowles does make some mattresses with latex on top but this is mixed with 3" of supersoft poly as well so this would not be a great comparison. In cases like this I would talk with them on the phone to ask some specific questions to help decide if they were worth a visit. Examples of some questions I would ask are “do you have any mattresses with 2 or 3” of talalay latex with no more than an inch of polyfoam in the upper layers or quilting" and “do you give people who want it the specs of each layer in your mattress (including the ILD of any latex and the density of any polyfoam?”. If the answers to these types of questions are positive… then the outlet is worth visiting either as a good place to test different layers or as a place to make a purchase.
Pure Latex Bliss uses various thicknesses of 19 ILD latex on top with different layers underneath but their specs are known and can provide a rough guideline as well even though the layer thicknesses are different.
In general … mattress testing is more about having a guideline and approximation for an online purchase than it is about duplicating a specific construction. Some rough guidelines in combination with the ability to re-arrange or exchange layers can in almost all cases result in a very good choice.
Without specific testing on known ILD’s and layer thicknesses, a recommendation by an online manufacturer based on averages for similar body styles will be the most accurate most of the time because they know what many people who are similar in their makeup have felt about their choices. There are exceptions of course but this is part of the risk and the advantage of layer exchanges.
There are quite a few different versions of KD (knock down) slatted foundations and while they are all similar … the descriptions don’t always seem to match what people actually receive in my experience. This appears to be based on sometimes inconsistent manufacturing which a mattress manufacturer wouldn’t discover until their customer had opened the box and put the foundation together. It seems the quality has been somewhat mixed based on what I have read and heard over time and some people have received “cheap wood” while others seem to receive the higher quality wood that is advertised.
In general …I would tend to choose the foundation which came with the mattress I was buying if the price difference is small. It would probably take so much time on back and forth phone calls with each outlet asking some very time consuming, specific, and detailed questions and a great deal of “analysis” to come to any real conclusion about which was better that I doubt it would be worth the effort. If you purchase from the mattress manufacturer and the one you get is one of those that seems to be of lower quality (say has softer or cheaper wood than the description), then your recourse would be good from the manufacturer of your mattress who wouldn’t hesitate to do what was necessary to correct any legitimate problems.
My personal preference is a wood slatted base and most of the cheaper ones are of the KD type and they are roughly comparable. Of course there are many that are much higher quality than the KD foundations but the better the quality the higher the price and each person would need to decide if the higher prices are worth it when most of them will work well.
The wire grid foundations also seem to work well but here too there is a wide variety of different models. The only way that seems reasonable to compare the lowest cost versions besides by price is to take a look at the spacing of the wire grid because more wires would provide narrower “gaps” and a more even surface. The best I’ve seen so far based on this criteria (which may not be the only way to compare them) is 11 longitudinal wires per side such as this one or this one or even this one (which seems to be different from the other two). There are many more which have what appear to be wider spacing in the grid. They all seem to have sufficient weight capacity (although it seems that some places exaggerate this because I’ve seen the same model with different names and rated weight capacity at different outlets).
The next step up in a wire grid type from these would be a foundation like the Power Stack foundation (Note added later: this is a discontinued product).
Some posts and threads that talk more about foundations and the many options available in many price ranges include post #7 and onwards in this thread, along with this thread and post #47 in this thread (which also includes more about tension adjustable and position adjustable bases).
ADDED LATER: All the foundation information has now been amalgamated in the foundation thread here.
Unless you have a strong preference otherwise (either for better quality or lower quality/cheaper than what a manufacturer recommends for your mattress) or you know of an option for a similar quality foundation for significantly less … I would follow the recommendation of the manufacturer where you are purchasing your mattress.
SleepEz and Plushbeds are both KD types of foundations. Flobeds has several different types but their “basic” models (both in the pine and the slightly more expensive fir) are better quality and more expensive. The Natura is another one that is better quality than the basic KD type.
Phoenix