The Great Mattress Hunt....

[phoenix]

Hi sunlover1978,

I think you may be crossing the line into becoming overly analytical and starting a learning curve that will take you months (or longer) before you end up buying a mattress.

As I continue my analysis, could you elaborate further on the average ILD? Is it the average ILD of the entire mattress or the average ILD of the first 6 inches, cushioning + perceived support? As I narrow my choices, if I calculate the average ILD for the mattresses I prefer, can I use this to better select DIY mattress layers from Sleep EZ or others by matching up the average ILD’s? My attempt at averages is below : )

Average ILD is not particularly meaningful. I use it sometimes to illustrate various points but it’s certainly not something I would use as a way of choosing a mattress.

How does the sag factor calculate in? How do I determine/calculate it?

Sag factor is the ratio between IFD/ILD @ 25% compression and IFD/ILD @ 65% compression and is an indicator of how quickly a material gets firmer with deeper compression. More than that I wouldn’t pay any attention to it. It would be a spec that a foam manufacturer may provide to you but wouldn’t generally be available to a consumer. As an example of how technical this could be you could read post #26 here which is still not likely to have any practical benefit to you. I would work with people who already know what you would otherwise take months to learn and avoid the temptation to get as technical as you are. I would let the designers design and limit your own role to “reporting” what layering works best for you.

[quote]
As I weight these possibly conflicting goals, what am I sacrificing in durability to choose the 100% NR talalay vs. the blended talalay? Is this still an issue given our relatively low/well distributed body weight? Is there ways to mitigate decreased durability by selecting a higher ILD 100% NR talalay—of course without compromising cushioning and support functions?[/quote

I don’t think there is any way to give specific answers to these kinds of questions except to say “some”. You are looking for a degree of specificity that probably doesn’t exist and is relative to each person anyway. You can read more about the different factors that affect durability in post #4 here and the differences between 100% natural and blended Talalay in post #2 here. Many if not most things involving mattresses don’t have specific quantifiable or certain answers and involve intuitive judgement or relative answers more than people are often comfortable with … even though they are the only truly “accurate” answers.

Is there a comfort/durability benefit to selecting the 12" vs. the 9" NR talalay? There is a $300 price difference from Sleep EZ between the options. This could be a less expensive than a future purchase of a replacement layer if the top layer becomes compressed or less supportive. It also allows for more combination options without needing to exchange a layer.

You can read about the potential benefits of a thicker mattress in post #14 here. As you mentioned … it also allows for more layering possibilities.

I would suggest that along wth your personal testing … some extended conversations with SleepEZ or some of the other online manufacturers here will give you more meaningful “real life” information than months of analysis based on specs.

Phoenix