Suggestions after not so great first purchase of custom organic mattress at Sleepworld

[phoenix]

Hi econchic,

My husband and I bought the organic Katherine from Sleepworld in Austin. We live in Dallas-Fort Worth so it is not totally local. I mention the name because I see that some posters have specific knowledge of this place.

Yes … I have talked with Bob on a number of occasions and I think highly of the quality and value of the mattresses he makes.

HOWEVER, I requested a custom bed in that I did not want latex due to concerns of developing a latex allergy. I should note that my fear is of developing an allergy to latex over time, and perhaps this is unfounded, but I know research is lacking. I also am concerned about the offgassing and air quality issues with mattresses. Perhaps synthetic latex alleviates the allergy issue, but I am not sure of the offgassing issue? So the bed is made with innersprings, cotton, and wool to my knowledge. We also added a wool topper from Cuddle Ewe.

According to the site the Katherine is a latex/innerspring hybrid. Did you have yours custom made without the latex?

You can read a little more about latex allergies (which are not generally a concern with mattresses) in post #2 here and the post it links to. Almost all the latex you will encounter has been tested for harmful VOC’s and substances and certified by Oeko-Tex standard 100 class 1 (safe for babies) or a similar certification.

Two issues are: 1) My husband thinks it is too firm, not comfortable, and contributes to back pain 2) There is a hump in the middle where no one sleeps, presumably due to shifting. After reading here, I am aware that special construction techniques are often required to prevent this, and perhaps these were not used since Sleepworld does not seem to make innersprings without latex typically.

Post #2 here has some suggestions about a mattress that is initially too firm but the suggestions mostly apply to a mattress that has foam in it. The first step as you are already doing is to talk with the manufacturer about any issues you may have and the options that are available to you. I’m not sure about the construction techniques you mean or if your mattress only has wool in the comfort layers and the latex was replaced but thicker layers of wool will compress about 30% of their height and this will happen unevenly when you first sleep on it because as you mentioned the middle area is not used as much. It’s a good idea to sleep on the mattress in different positions until the wool has compressed more evenly across the surface. “Nesting” to some degree is unavoidable with wool as it compresses over time and is part of how wool conforms to the body and is completely normal. If it’s a king size then you can also rotate it 1/4 turn to help with this as well.

We are talking to the owner to see what options we have, and in the end we may decide to purchase a new mattress. My husband likes the Natural Form beds at Hilton Garden Inn. I am aware there are some pros and cons, but I am not fully educated on airbeds. He also likes the Westin beds, which are Simmons Beautyrests.

You can see my thoughts about airbeds in this article. You would also be purchasing a mattress with polyfoam comfort layers which is not tested to the same standards standards as latex although most of the polyfoam made in North America has been CertiPur certified. Their air chambers use PVC which is of some concern to people who are concerned with pthalates.

As you can see in the guidelines here I would avoid the major brands or any brands that don’t disclose the quality of the materials in their mattresses and tend to use much lower quality materials that will soften and break down much more quickly than higher quality materials in comfort layers. You can see some examples of the kind of low quality foams used in Simmons mattresses in post #1 and #2 here. A mattress is only as good as the quality of it’s construction and the materials inside it and without knowing the quality of the materials and components in your mattress it’s not possible to make informed buying decisions or meaningful quality or value comparisons with other mattresses. Hotel mattresses are generally worse value than their equivalent consumer mattresses (they don’t need to be as durable because they are not used as often) and are also not a particularly good quality/value choice (see post #3 here and the posts it links to).

I want to get a bed that he likes, but I would also like to get something that is fairly “safe” in terms of offgassing and air quality. I have recently become aware of CertiPur certification. I know that Simmons is a big name, and they use CertiPur foam, but what about the flame retardants? Would like to avoid those, and doesn’t that mean a mattress involving wool (or getting a prescription)? I also read on here that some beds are tested by Greenguard (TempFlow?). I am somewhat familiar with that certification.

Mattress safety is a complex issue with very little in the way of objective and quantifiable answers in most cases. Post #2 here has links to other posts and sources with more information that can help each person answer the question “how safe is safe enough for me” and the answer may vary from person to person because there are no clear answers that apply to everyone. You already have the “safest” most organic mattress possible with organic natural fibers, an innerspring, and a certified organic cover.

You can see some of my thoughts about the Tempflow mattresses in post #9 here and they will supply the results of their testing to anyone who asks.

If we purchase we want to spend less than $3000 and ideally less than $2000. I am thinking I would rather avoid flame retardants than latex, but am open to suggestions. Given our concerns, any recommendation of where to start? Or what could be done to our existing mattress? Thanks in advance!

Your budget is certainly high enough to purchase a very good quality mattress. Post #1 here is the best place to start any research about mattresses and has the basic information, steps and guidelines that you will find most helpful. I would first talk with Bob though to clarify what your options are because you already have a good quality and value mattress and assuming that your comfort layers are made from wool what you are experiencing sounds normal to me. If the mattress is still too firm after the initial break in and adjustment period and when the surface has evened out to some degree then you can also add a topper to provide any additional pressure relief you may need (although you would lose some of the benefits of sleeping directly on the wool unless the topper was also wool (see post #3 here).

Phoenix