Small differences between latex options - HELP my head hurts! :)

[phoenix]

Hi cprice88,

So, I’ve read that article 2 or 3 times now about dunlop vs. talalay and it confuses me b/c my experience in the store here is that the one dunlop mattress feels noticeably softer and I sink into it more than any of the talalay mattresses in the same showroom. Since I went in there having read that dunlop should feel more dense/firm, I kept going back and forth between the mattresses over and over to make sure I wasn’t imagining it b/c what I was experiencing did not line up with what I had read. The plusher Evolve is a full 12" (I think it’s a 6-3-3 configuration) but that doesn’t seem like it would make a difference as big as what we felt.

Both Dunlop and Talalay come in a wide range of firmness levels so Dunlop will only feel firmer if you had a single layer that was the same thickness and ILD as a Talalay layer but it can feel softer if the ILD was lower. There are also other factors that can affect how soft or firm a layer or a mattress feels as well besides just the ILD of the material (see post #4 here) and all the layers of a mattress will also affect all the other layers of a mattress to differing degrees and the mattress as whole … not just a single layer. There is also more about the effect of thickness in post #14 here.

Careful testing will be the most reliable way to know whether a particular mattress is suitable for you in terms of PPP and I would avoid using more complex combinations of “comfort specs” to try and decide whether any particular mattress would be a good choice for you.

That worries me a little in terms of long-term durability as well as how “healthy” the bed is.

All latex is a durable material relative to other types of foam materials. The “safety” of latex is also not something I would be concerned about and all the latex you are likely to encounter (Dunlop or Talalay made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will all have been certified by either Oeko-Tex or Eco-Institut for harmful substances and VOC’s (see post #2 here).

Once you have narrowed down your choices to to a list of finalists that are all choices between “good and good” and you are confident that they would all be a good match for you in terms of PPP and there are no “weak links” in any of them and if at that point there are no clear winners between them then you are in the fortunate position that any of them would likely be a suitable choice and post #2 here can help you make a final choice based on your local testing and experiences or online conversations with each of them, your confidence about the suitability of each one, the options you have before and after a purchase, and on “informed best judgement” based on all the other objective, subjective, and intangible parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Phoenix