tell me what latex mattress to buy

ok, i’ve done the research on types of latex, layering, ILD, everything.

my brain hurts.

i just want someone to tell me what to buy given the following parameters:

-medium to medium firm, something like a 6-6.5/10 in firmness
-all natural latex, preferably Talalay
-good return policy

price at this point is little to no object. i’ve spent too much time and effort on research already. i just want something good. frontrunners include the zenhaven, astrabed, plushbed botanical bliss, or the ultimate dreams total latex.

Hi sleepymike,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!.

The one thing that doesn’t occur here is choosing a product for someone else. We provide the tools that you can use to make your own decision.

To questions like yours, I have a bit of a standard reply, with some excellent resources should you want to “help yourself” in making an educated decision:

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see post #2 here).

I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

You can do a search on the forum regarding these brands and others you might be considering.

There are also some comments about the Zenhaven mattress in post #2 here. This is an all latex mattress that also uses high quality and durable materials but it’s also a “finished” mattress that only allows you to choose between different firmness levels on each side of the mattress and doesn’t have options to customize the support or pressure relief of the mattress either before or after a purchase by rearranging layers or exchanging a layer that are available with component latex mattresses that use the same materials and are in a similar or even lower budget range.

Astrabeds is just part of a larger marketing company (and somewhat high pressure at that) that sells latex mattresses … they are certainly not manufacturers or even “mattress people” and I would take much of what they say with a grain of salt because much of it is certainly not factual and they don’t provide what I would consider to be accurate information. While latex is certainly a great material … these are also not the best value available to you. You can read a conversation I had with them here and you can read more about this group of companies in post #4 here and post #4 here. A forum search on Astrabeds or Simplyrest or Amerisleep (which along with others are owned by onemallgroup which specializes in viral marketing in partnership with Kim Tyrone Agapito) will bring up more information about them.

You can see some comments about Plushbeds in post #2 here and a forum search on Plushbeds (you can just click the link) will bring up much more information and comments/feedback about them as well. They also use good quality and durable materials in their mattresses (natural or organic Dunlop and Talalay latex) and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in their latex mattresses that would be a cause for concern either and they would certainly be a much “better than average” choice compared to most of the mainstream mattresses that most people end up buying. They do a lot of internet advertising so they do attract a lot of online attention for those that are looking for a latex mattress but I would make some careful “value comparisons” with some of the other component latex options that are available to you because they may not be in the “best value” range for many of the members here that are aware of the many other similar options that are available to them.

Dreamfoam (Ultimate Dreams Total Latex) is a member of this site which means that I think very highly of both of them and that I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency. I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a mattress from either of them.

Post #3 here also includes a list of many of the online manufacturers that sell component latex mattresses with loose layers and zip covers as well, in case you are looking at other options.

Phoenix