Sold on Latex, but from which company??

[phoenix]

Hi scoobie,

I like the construction of the Flo Beds in terms of the V-Zone types of approaches in which the top layer is made up of latex in varying degrees of softness or firmness depending upon what area and range they are contacting the body. This seems key to side sleepers? My quandary is that they are significantly higher in price for two twin XL mattresses and foundations then are those of Sleep EZ or Arizona Premium. In addition, they also charge for shipping. They offer a foundation called a European foundation with a curved base. Do you have any feedback on that in terms of value and utility?

You can see my thoughts about zoning in general in post #11 here and the posts it links to. You can also read more about the FloBeds vZone in particular in post #4 here. Zoning can certainly be very useful for people who have more challenging circumstances or sensitivities or body types that are more difficult to “match” to a mattress, or who have a history of having more difficulty in finding a mattress that works well for them. The ability to rearrange and customize the zones for each particular person is very unusual and makes the Flobeds zoning system somewhat unique.

You will find that some people do better in terms of PPP with a tension adjustable slatted base and some that don’t (or some that don’t notice a difference either way) depending on the specific mattress, your sleeping position, your body type, and how sensitive you are to changes in your sleeping system. It can certainly help with “fine tuning” for some people but there really isn’t a formula that you can use to decide whether it would be an improvement for you or not so without trying it in person under the mattress you choose, it will really be a matter of “best judgement” based on the specifics of your conversation with them. They will tend to have a bigger effect on thinner mattresses (generally less than 8" thick) than they will on thicker mattresses.

You can see more of my thoughts about tension adjustable slatted foundations in post #13 here and post #2 here and post #2 here.

The only way to know whether any zoning system or set of tension adjustable slats would be beneficial for a particular person would be based on their actual sleeping experience.

My question: Do you feel that there is a big enough technological/material difference in the V-Zone approach to justify what would amount to be a difference of $1413.22 in my case? I know it is subjective in many regards, but in terms of comparing materials to materials: 3-3" layers customizable verses 2" upper layer, 3" medium latex layer all over a 3" soft latex layer below? I am trying to understand the price difference here and quantify benefit verses value.

Just for clarification … the vZone has a 2" convoluted top layer, a 3" vZone layer, and two additional 3" layers for a total of 11" of latex.

Unfortunately there is no way for me to know the answer to this because there is no way to specifically “quantify” the benefits so for some people the answer would be yes and for others the answer would be no and I have no way to know how someone will feel about their mattress when they sleep on it. A mattress is meant to perform specific functions and is much more than just a commodity where the value can be measured based on the price per inch of the latex, the price per yard of the fabrics, or the price per pound of natural fibers. To me the most important part of the “value” of any sleeping system is how well you sleep on it (followed by how long you sleep well followed by all the other parts of your personal value equation that are important to you) and how well you sleep is affected by the specific design of the mattress and not by the amount or cost of the materials inside it. In other words the “commodity value” of a mattress will have very little to with the most important parts of the “value” of the mattress in real life.

Choosing a mattress based on the price per inch or price per pound of the raw materials would be similar to choosing between two suits of clothing or two pairs of shoes that used similar materials based on their cost per pound of material rather than on how well they fit, how they look, how they feel when you wear them, and if you hadn’t tried them out in person what your options would be if they don’t fit as well as you hoped for.

Just to put it in perspective … a difference of $1400 over only 10 years of use works out to less than 40 cents a day. If there was a noticeable difference in one mattress over another that I believed would have a positive effect on how well I would sleep on it then it would certainly be well worth it to me if I could comfortably afford it. Of course if I didn’t believe it would make a difference then it wouldn’t but these are questions that can only be answered based on your conversations with each of the manufacturers you are considering and on “informed best judgement”.

Phoenix