I have been researching new mattresses and have found a T3 ironman mattress online. However upon reading on their site I can’t tell the exact configuration of this mattress apart from the fact it has 2" of latex on the top. Are you familiar with this product? And if so could you please give me your take on it and tell me what exactly the core is made from.
Thanks
Hi Canadan99,
The Ironman mattress is a partnership between T3 Recovery products who designed them and licenses the Ironman trademark and Park Place Corporation who manufactures it. It was originally manufactured by Spring Air and then Englander before Park Place took over. The last time I looked at these they only had 3 models and now they have expanded to 9.
It is a mattress with an interesting branding story and in this case … there is some truth to the story. Like all branding stories though it has also been used to significantly increase the price that the materials that are the basis for the story would otherwise justify.
Celliant is a fabric used in the ticking or all the models (and in fabrics used in other products including some Serta mattresses) that enhances oxygenation. There is some clinical evidence for this.
Cellitex is Celsion latex made by Latex International and used in a wide variety of mattresses. It incorporates a phase change material which helps to regulate temperature.
Tellelux is a fabricated latex where the top is made with a pillow contour for softness.
The memory foam is an unknown density (quality) but I would assume that a phone call could confirm that it was good quality considering the other materials used are high quality.
The Original series uses a polyfoam support core (which like most “plant based” polyfoam made by almost all foam manufacturers has replaced a small percentage of the petrochemical polyols with plant oils) with various layers of latex, Cellitex, and memory foam.
The Inspire series uses a 5 zone pocket coil made by Leggett & Platt instead of the polyfoam with various layers of latex, Cellitex, and memory foam.
The Lux series is similar to the Inspire series except it uses Tellelux instead of Cellitex latex.
I personally like their use of memory foam in thinner layers mixed in with latex in the comfort layers. This is one of my favorite uses of memory foam and one of the most effective as it allows for much more free movement on the mattress and more breathability than thicker layers of memory foam alone.
Overall these are very nicely designed mattresses with a good selection of different choices and a great story and I can see how they could be attractive to many people. Looking strictly at the materials though and comparing them with mattresses that use similar materials or even superior materials such as latex in the support core (more expensive than either polyfoam or zoned pocket coils), it is difficult to justify their prices. Comparing them against most major brands sold at mass market outlets, they compare well … comparing them against the value that is available at many independent manufacturers across the country … they don’t compare nearly as well.
Phoenix
Thanks for the information.