Hi cprice88,
[quote]One of them is an OMI (Organicpedic) bed that’s way out of our price range and if we settle on that one we would end up purchasing something comparable online. It is probably our favorite of the three.
It’s the OMI Duo with all talalay, three 3" layers and we liked it with firm on the bottom and soft-soft for the top two layers.The top layer also was convoluted, though not sure how important that is. But it is $8,000! The sales guy said they also offer the OMI Duo “promo” (?) which is made with dunlop latex, but when I asked if it would feel similar he gave me a really confusing non-answer.
So that said, I’m wondering if there is any way to figure out which of the others (from my earlier post) offer latex layers with the same/similar density to OMI?[/quote]
There is more about the different ways that one mattress can “match” or “approximate” another one in post #9 here but the only way to know for certain that two mattress will feel the same is if they both contain the same types and blends of latex, all the layers are the same thickness and firmness, and they both have a very similar cover (including any quilting). Once there are differences between any of the specs between two mattresses then “approximating” a mattress based on specs can become much more difficult and the most reliable way to know how they would compare for any particular person would be based on your own side by side testing and personal experience because different people can have different opinions about how closely two mattresses with differences in their designs and components compare to each other because body type, sleeping positions, and individual sensitivities can also play a role in how they feel and compare.
Each of the manufacturers you mentioned would be the most reliable source of guidance about which of the options they carry would be closest to the OMI configuration that you tested (or any other mattress where you know the accurate specs) although they may not be the same because of differences between their covers and also because the convoluted topper would be a little softer than the same layer in the same thickness and ILD that wasn’t convoluted (there is more about the effects of convoluting in post #2 here). It would be very helpful if you knew the ILD of the latex layers in the OMI Duo because otherwise they would need to guess and the effective ILD of the OMI “soft” or “firm” layers may be different from the ILD of the soft or firm layers that are carried by other manufacturers.
The density of Talalay latex isn’t as important as the ILD if you are making firmness comparisons. With Dunlop latex ILD will also be a reasonable way to compare them but in some cases the ILD of Dunlop isn’t available or isn’t listed accurately or they can sometimes be tested differently so in these cases density may be a more effective comparison for the relative firmness of 100% natural Dunlop layers (see post #6 here).
You can see the ILD of the blended Talalay latex in the Pure Latex Bliss mattresses (including the Beautiful) in post #2 here.
[quote]-Evolve 10" latex (they said this is a local company) and it is all blended dunlop latex, sewn inside the cover so no changing of layers. For that reason, it is also cheaper than the OMI and Pure Bliss, but in the same range as all the online options for Talalay, so our leaning is toward ordering online. Anyway, they provide all the data on their label and it said: 6" 36lb core, 2" 28 lb support layer, 2" 19 lb comfort layer.
From what I read here, it seems we may want to steer away from blended dunlop, but that’s the one product where we could get real data about the density of the latex. The density numbers do not translate from dunlop to talalay, do they?[/quote]
Comparing the ILD for different types or blends of latex may not be as accurate as the comparing the ILD (for Talalay) or density (for 100% natural Dunlop) of the same type and blend of latex. Like all latex … blended Dunlop is a very durable material (as long as there isn’t a high percentage of filler in the latex) but it may not have the same elasticity and resilience or be quite as supportive as latex that is 100% natural rubber. It is also a high quality material.
This would be Intelligel which is a buckling column gel. You can read more about this type of material in this article and in post #2 here and post #2 here and the posts and topics they link to. A forum search on Intelligel (you can just click the link) will also bring up more information and feedback about it as well.
Phoenix