Thinking of switching from a water bed to a latex bed

Hi mjstroven,

Your experiences with Tempurpedic are fairly typical. They are very high quality … and pricey … and their memory foam has a slower response and a more “motion restricting” feel than many other memory foams. The Cloud Supreme has a total of 4" of memory foam (2" of the softer 4 lb and then 2" of their regular memory foam). The Luxe has a thicker 2.75" of the softer memory foam on top and then 2" of their HD (hig density) memory foam underneath this. It would be softer but is also thicker which means you will sink in more (even though the denser HD foam may take a little extra time to soften).

The GoldBond uses 4 lb breathable and faster reacting memory foam (which you noticed in how it didn’t “trap” you as much). I’m not sure which models you tried but their various models have from 3" - 4" of memory foam (not as thick as some of the Tempurpedics which I think is a “good” thing for most). As you also noticed … even more breathable memory foams can sleep hotter than other foams for some people.

The Pamper is 1" of 19 ILD (soft) over 6" of 40 ILD (very firm) and with the thinness of the comfort layer you would be feeling the firmness of the layer below. This would be too firm for most peopl;e but it can provide a good base for either their 2" or 3" soft latex topper.

The Nature has 2" of 19 ILD over 1" of 28 ILD over 6" of 36 ILD. For many side sleepers, only having 2" of soft and then only a very thin layer of medium in between that and the firmer core would also be a little on the firm side. With a topper it would become either 4" or 5" of very soft latex on top which would be too thick/soft for most people.

The Beautiful has 3" of 19 ILD over 2" of 24 ILD over 6" of 36 ILD. this seems tobe about right in the top layer and the middle layer is also a little “softer” than normal so it seems clear tht you like “plush” mattresses :slight_smile: Of course height and weight, body shape, and sleeping positions all make a big difference in how soft or firm a mattress will feel for any person (lighter people generally feel the same foam firmness as being firmer than someone who is heavier).

Overall … some clear patterns are emerging as to the type of layering that seems to work for you (as you mentioned “high plushness”)

This would depend on the price of course and based on your experience you would also need a topper over it (like the pamper) or it would likely be too firm. A phone call with a rough description of your preferences so far could probably tell you how close they could come but without a layered approach it seems likely that they would not work as well for you. Some manufacturers will actually custom build and put together any firmness and thickness of layering you may wish.

Land and Sky will be interesting but they are firmer Dunlop and you may find them too firm.

Jamison has several mattresses that also use various thicknesses of 19 ILD talalay latex but they are layered a bit differently and have a quilted ticking so it will be an interesting experience for you to compare them.

Sleepeasy.net is the only local manufacturer near you that I know of.

In terms of “duplicating” the PLB … the best answer is probably “to a degree”. SleepEz can order 3" of talalay in 19 ILD (their “regular” soft is the next step up at 22-24) which would give you the same top layer but their layering is all 3" layers and layer thickness can affect the feel of a mattress as much as layer softness. Their typical layering would be 22-24 for soft, 30-32 for medium, and 38-40 for firm so the ILD’s and the layer thickness would both be different. So you could build something “similar” (with a 19 ILD custom order for the comfort layer) but it wouldn’t be the same. In terms of the ticking … SleepEz does have a non quilted cover as well as their wool quilted cover so this would also be “similar” to the non quilted cover on the PLB.

I’m assuming the PLB beautiful you are quoting is in queen size? In general I normally recommend giving preference to a mattress that you have personally tested unless there is a significant enough difference (say more than 20% depending on how much the differences justify the “risk”). Some people are much more tolerant of smaller differences and some will see a bigger difference in smaller variations.

Post #21 here has a list of the manufacturers that are members of the site that specialize in mattresses that can be shipped anywhere in the country. Of these … Custom Sleep Design would probably have the best odds of duplicating the feel of the Beautiful (using a different zoned approach) but they like the Beautiful are a more premium mattress and wouldn’t have the savings of some of the other options. One of the advantages of a “choose your own layer” approach is that each side can be made differently to accommodate differences in a couple and many offer a “layer exchange” after purchase in case you decide to make changes after you have slept on it for a while and decide you would like to make some changes.

I’m looking forward to your feedback from the rest of your testing.

Phoenix