My wife and I have been looking at latex mattresses to replace a 15yr old (or so) handcrafted Aireloom innerspring. We’re both in our mid-60s and my wife is about 5’0", 100 lbs, and I 5’9", 145. We’re mostly back sleepers, although we both occasionally switch to our fronts. My wife has been having back pain for a few months and recently it has become more hip pain (like a pulled muscle). I have a little stiffness upon wakening that goes away in a few minutes. The Aireloom was advertised as mostly cotton rather than foam, and has always been rather firm and not too soft. In the last year we added a thin memory foam topper that my wife got from Macys.
Recently we found a small local mattress dealer who advertized a100% Natural Talalay Latex Mattresses. The graphics are Spring-Air Organics Back Supporter. And the model is Sunrise Lux. We tried it out briefly and it seem comfortable, but did not seriously do an analysis using your PPP approach. Instead, I thought I read about it online... but could find absolutely nothing using a lot of search terms. I emailed to store about the mattress make up and here's what I got.
6" 36 ild talalay latex
2" 19 ild talalay latex
1" 14 ild talaly latex
organic joma wool (not sure how much)
organic stretch knit cotton cover. The sides are covered in a proprietary rayon. No chemical fire retardants.
The latex is made by Latex International.
Apparently it is made in Fresno by Pleasanton Mattress, which seems to manufacture some of Spring Air’s beds. There is also a 4-layer model called the Paradise Lux available at $200 more. The Sunrise Lux is being offered for $1650 for the mattress.
This seems like a good deal, and I think we’ll go back and try it more seriously. A local chain carries PLB mattresses, and while I haven’t gotten prices, I think they will be higher, as will a 6"+2" mattress at the Natural Mattress Store ($2800). European Sleepworks’ Latex Classic is 8" and 2" all-natural talalay for $1600. This seems like a similar deal and they have 4 firmness options, but delivery to our place in Santa Rosa is more expensive, and more importantly, they quoted 6 weeks delivery time to our home in Santa Rosa, which may be a deal-breaker for my wife who is looking for help with her pains. I’ve also been considering Seep EZ and Arizona Mattress.net, but as you point out there is value in being able to try out the mattress in person.
Do you have a take on the Paradise Lux? The comfort layers seem soft, but neither of us is a heavyweight, so it sounds reasonable to me. Any thoughts on a Pleasanton Mattress with a Spring Air name?
Hi SleepyGary,
I think you may mean Pleasant Mattress in Fresno AKA Cannon Sleep Products.
They are larger regional manufacturer and are a licensee manufacturer for Spring Air and Paramount Sleep and A.H. Beard (an Australian higher end brand). They also manufacture their own line of mattresses as well as many private label brands for various retailers. They have been in business for over 50 years and have been manufacturing new mattresses and futons for about 40 years. They certainly have some long term roots in the industry. Of course regardless of the brands they manufacture or the name on a label … any mattress is only as good as it’s construction and the quality of materials inside it.
[quote]Recently we found a small local mattress dealer who advertized a100% Natural Talalay Latex Mattresses. The graphics are Spring-Air Organics Back Supporter. And the model is Sunrise Lux. We tried it out briefly and it seem comfortable, but did not seriously do an analysis using your PPP approach. Instead, I thought I read about it online… but could find absolutely nothing using a lot of search terms. I emailed to store about the mattress make up and here’s what I got.
6" 36 ild talalay latex
2" 19 ild talalay latex
1" 14 ild talaly latex
organic joma wool (not sure how much)
organic stretch knit cotton cover. The sides are covered in a proprietary rayon. No chemical fire retardants.
The latex is made by Latex International.[/quote]
If these are all the layers in the mattress and add up to the thickness of the mattress which would probably finish closer to about 10" (and they probably are) then it uses all high quality materials and there are no weak links in the mattress.
There is only an inch of the very soft 14 ILD which would provide a soft surface feel and the 19 ILD would work well for many people in your weight range so it would certainly be “in the range” of a mattress that could work well for you.
If you have done some careful and objective testing for PPP (hopefully with both of you on the mattress) then the materials are all good quality and if you are also comfortable with the other parts of your personal value equation that are important to you then I think it would be a good value purchase for a queen 9" blended Talalay latex mattress with a wool quilted cover.
It would be somewhat “in between” the PLB Pamper which has 8" of blended Talalay latex in a 6" + 2" design and the PLB Nature which has 10" of blended Talalay latex in a 6" + 2" + 2" design except it has a little more costly cover with wool in the quilting and the ILD’s of the comfort layers are a little softer.
It would also be great to know who you were dealing with and if they have other good value mattresses on their floor they may be well worth including on the Santa Rosa / San Francisco list.
Phoenix
Phoenix,
Thanks for the quick reply.
The shop is Lori’s Half Price Mattresses in Sebastopol, CA. Lori is the only employee, and although it looks small, she has lots of mattresses crammed into the shop. In addition to the 10" Sunrise Lux I previously mentioned, I also looked at the following:
Sunrise Paradise Lux (12" all latex… a 1.25" layer of convoluted latex in addition to what’s in the Sunrise Lux). $1850
Sunrise (3" of all natural talalay and soy based core) $1195; Serene (2" of all natural talalay and soy based core) $995. I don’t remember the ILD on these. All these mattresses have a 20 year warranty. All of these are made by Pleasant Mattress and carry Spring Air Backsupporter Organics logos.
We were the only ones in the shop thisafternoon and my wife and I did some fairly long PPP testing. We wound up buying the Sunrise Lux with foundation for $1800. It was very good on pressure relief (especially compared to our old innerspring) and support seemed good. I thought the two soy-based beds were not as pressure relieving.
They will be delivering our new mattress and taking the old next Thursday. Thanks for such an informative and interactive website.
Gary
Hi SleepyGary,
Thanks for the heads up about Lori’s Half Price Mattresses … I appreciate it.
I talked with Lori today and she is planning to contact her supplier let me know if she can find out more information about the quality of the materials in her “other” mattresses (besides the latex and latex hybrids) but in the meantime I’ve added her to the list and mentioned the Spring Air latex mattresses as the ones I would consider there which are all are good quality and value.
Thanks for letting us know what you ended up deciding and most important … congratulations on your new mattress 
I think you made a good choice and I’m looking forward to your feedback when you’ve had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.
Phoenix