Hi paulfranco89,
I’m sorry to hear that your Casper mattress didn’t work out as well as you hoped for.
If you have a horrible experience with any retailer or manufacturer or if you aren’t able to find out the information you need to know to make an informed choice about a mattress then I would certainly be cautious about dealing there as well. It’s also possible that the particular salespeople you were dealing with weren’t particularly knowledgeable or helpful and it may be worthwhile calling the Innomax head office and talking to their management to let them know about your experience so that they can take any “corrective” action that may be necessary if your experience was more the norm than the exception.
[quote]The Bonnie Brae at Sleep Nation has 3" of Eco-Gel foam on top of talalay latex, I am wondering if there are concerns about the longevity of the foam, or if there could be chemical off-gassing.
Does anyone have experience with this? The salesperson told me that the density of the foam was 24 ILD (I think that’s the spec) if that makes a difference. [/quote]
ILD is only a “comfort specification” that is one of the factors that can effect the relative firmness of individual layers in a mattress (but not the mattress "as a whole) and it really isn’t important to know because with your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post) your body will tell you what you need to know about whether the mattress is “comfortable” and is a good match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).
There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).
While you are the only one that can decide whether a mattress is “comfortable” or is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP based on your testing or personal experience … outside of PPP the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability and the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (if two mattresses use equally durable materials then the mattress will also be just as durable).
If you can find out the specifics of all the layers and components in the mattress and post them on the forum (see this article) then I’d certainly be happy to make some comments about the quality and durability of the layers inside it and help you compare them to the quality/durability guidelines here so you can make sure there are no lower quality or less durable materials that would be a “weak link” in the mattress.
While some people may be unusually sensitive to some materials due to certain medical issues such as MCS (multipal chemical sensitivities) or may be sensitive to some materials that the large majority of people would be fine with that are really impossible to predict … if the foams they use are CertiPur certified or they have a reliable certification for the safety of the materials (see post #2 here) then outside of these more unusual circumstances or outside of those people who may prefer more natural materials for “personal” reasons (rather than “safety” reasons) … the materials and the mattress would certainly be “safe enough” for the very large majority of people to sleep on.
Phoenix