Living in Canada there seems to be less availability of latex matresses and information. Very happy to have found this very useful site, however. We have recently put a deposit on a clearance King size Stearns and Foster ZenBody Pure Smart Latex matress. There seems to be no specific online info on this particular mattress and have not been able to find any customer reviews. Product knowledge at store level is sketchy at best. We have not been able to determine what percentage of latex is synthetic versus natural for example. Apparantly this product is “patented” and detailed info product is confidential? We were told by the salesman who has “sold” us this matress that the process used to produce this was Dunlop but after enquiring at other Sleep Country outlets have been told it is Talalay. The sales people seem surprised to have us ask them these questions. We are still confused as to how important it is to look for ALL NATURAL as opposed to the synthetic. I have read on some of your previous posts that it really comes down in the end to personal preference but still keep coming across conflicting info elsewhere. It is my understanding that as far as the Pure label goes - PURE means there are no fillers? i do not know whether more synthetic latex in the mix will mean that this mattress will be less breathable making it therefore more hot? is synthetis likely to be toxic in any way and/or less hypo -allergenic? Also in this mattress the two density layers are glued together and not sure why or if this would be a plus or negative. The mattress cover is polartec. My husband is getting frustrated with all this research and because he likes the instore feel of this mattress just wants to go ahead with the purchase. Because this is a clearance warehouse item we will have no sleep comfort warranty. It does, however, have a full 10 year warranty and then another 10 years pro-rated. We would so much appreciate some feedback on this as we have to make a decision in the next few days as we have put a 10% downpayment on this mattress and not sure if we can have this refunded without some dispute? Has anybody else out there purchased this partcular mattress? We live on Vancover Island in B,C. (Campbell River), any outlet information would also be appreciated. We are a little nervous about making a sight/feel unseen online purchase for such a big item but not totally averse to this idea. Confused and needing help, Sorry this enquiry is so loaded but we are suposed to be on vacation and this is taking up too much time! Thankyou!
Hi susan@1,
The Zenbody in Canada is similar to the Embody line in the US except it is actually better because it uses a smart latex support core rather than the engineered polyfoam used in the US.
The “smart” latex that Sealy uses is made by Sapsa (which Sealy used to own) and is a mostly synthetic form of Dunlop (in other words a lower quality and the least expensive type of latex). Sapsa doesn’t make talalay and “smart latex” is a continuous pour version of Dunlop. This article will give you some reference points about the different types of latex (two different processes called Dunlop and Talalay are used to make it and each of these can use either 100% natural latex or a blend of natural and synthetic latex). In general the best combination of performance and value is either blended Talalay or 100% natural Dunlop although this may not be the “best” choices for everyone because personal preferences will also play a role and each person has different ideas about what is most important to them.
Salespeople in most mass market mattress outlets are trained in marketing but know very little about the materials in the mattresses they sell. they are used to customers who are “following advertising” and not to customers who are educated about mattress materials or who know more than they generally do. Hopefully the previous article I linked will help you decide which of the differences between natural and blended are most important to you.
Pure can mean whatever someone wants it to mean. It is mostly a marketing term. Pure latex for example could be 100% synthetic latex because synthetic latex is just as much “latex” as organic latex. It’s just made with chemicals (usually Styrene and Butadiene called SBR) and not from the “milk” of the rubber tree. “Pure” memory foam means that all the chemicals are part of the memory foam formula and this could be a very wide variety of different formulae. It’s meant to mean “no fillers” but that leads to the question of what is a filler because even organic natural latex has other materials that are used in its manufacturing and is only somewhere in the low - mid 90’s in terms of percentage of actual rubber content.
The airflow and cell structure of the latex will have more to do with breathability than the type of latex. In general … Talalay latex is more brathable than Dunlop latex. There are many other factors in how hot a mattress sleeps besides just the type of foam and some of them are in post #2 here.
This would depend on the type of glue and on whether you wanted to ever change out any of the layers of the mattress. It is standard practice though and it is unlikely that you will find out the specifics of the glue that is used in terms of any potential chemical or offgassing issues and they will only tell you it is “safe”. Tthis is just one of the reasons (no real details of the ingredients of the mattress and when you do know it will usually be poor value) I advise against buying a mattress from a mass market outlet or made by a major brand who will not disclose the materials they use. This article may give you a useful set of guidelines that can help people avoid most of the traps and pitfalls of mattress shopping and this article will give you some guidelines in knowing whether you are dealing with a higher quality outlet.
I personally would not buy a mattress from this type of outlet and while it is one of the “better” Sealy models … I also would also not buy a mattress made by one of the major manufacturers regardless of the outlet. The very fact that you have so many questions that can’t be answered would give me enough warning to think very carefully before pulling the trigger.
If I was in Campbell River (and I love Campbell river by the way and was originally from Victoria) … I would refer to post #2 here and take a trip to Nanaimo which has some of the best value on the island and better than most places in BC.
Phoenix
Thankyou so much for such an incredibly prompt response and offering so many new resources for us! We need time now to go through all this and mull things over. We did actually visit John ( foam guy) a couple of days ago, as a nice sales lady in one of the Sleep Country outlets directed us there as we were having so much difficulty sorting through the chaffe. His prices did seem good but he was only offering a pro -rated 10 year warranty and we thought a latex mattress should last longer than that? Shipping up island is $100. He also mentioned your site as another customer had been directed to him just before us. We found you just prior to meeting him! Anyway we will certainly revisit him, he was very pleasant to deal with and always nice to keep local businesses ticking over. Back to the Stearns and Foster - we have since learnt that we have 30days to make a decision without compromising our deposit (pressure off for now), Could you please confirm that there is NO natural latex in this mattress? THANKYOU AGAIN FOR ENABLING US TO FOCUS ON THE FACTS and passing the information to us novice mattress consumers! So NICE TO BE DEALING WITH AN EX - VANCOUVER ISLANDER!
Hi susan@1,
Sapsa has the ability to make latex with any mix of natural and synthetic latex they wish but the Smartlatex that Sealy uses is an SBR/NR Dunlop blend (mostly SBR). The Intuisoft Smartlatex has more natural latex but is still a blend. They use 100% natural latex in the Silver Dreams (2") Limited Edition Silver Dreams (.75") and in the Golden Elegance (3") (and the B&P version which also has .75") which are their top end Stearns and Foster mattresses. They don’t release the exact mix but if it’s “smart latex” then it’s blended Dunlop and is the least expensive type of latex. It is still a relatively “good” material … but not as good as 100% natural Dunlop or blended Talalay and prices should reflect its use (which in the case of Sealy or Stearns and Foster it certainly doesn’t).
So there is no 100% natural latex in this mattress (except to the degree that natural latex is in the blend).
Phoenix