We’re thinking about getting a Dunlopillo Mattress from Sherwood Bedding, Retreat Luxury Firm is the model name, and the specs are as follows, from top to bottom:
Matt Build:
2.8" 19 ILD Talalay Core
3.5" o 2.5" 1.8/32 Convoluted
3.5" o 2.5" 1.8/32 Convoluted
I don’t understand a few things. What is ILD? What is the “32” in the 1.8/32 line and similar fractions? I assume 1.8 is the foam density.
It looks like the top 2" layer is some soft, low density foam. Then below, a mixture of somewhat low density and latex foam. I am correct in assuming these low density layers will be a weak link and this build should be avoided?
The mattress was comfortable for both of us, so I’m really just concerned about reliability and price. This one is $2200.
Another mattress that felt good to us in the store was the PranaSleep Vinyasa, which was almost double the price of the Dunlopillo. I do not have the specs for this one yet. We are in Austin if you have any other suggestions for good brands/mattresses to look at. Thank you!
I have to commend you on doing some good research. You not only made sure that you found out the type and quality of all the layers in the mattress but it looks like you read the foam quality/density guidelines here and assessed the quality of the materials accurately.
As you mentioned there is 1 3/4" of low density polyfoam in the top layers of the mattress and then another 1 3/4" under the two latex comfort layers which are certainly more than I would be comfortable with (especially in this price range) and I would agree that this would be a potential weak link in the mattress in terms of durability. I would tend to avoid it as well because of the higher risk of premature foam softening and breakdown.
The first two numbers in foam specs are the density (in this case 1.8 lbs/ft3) and the second two numbers are the ILD (which is indentation load deflection and is usually used for latex) or IFD (which is a very similar spec called indentation force deflection which is most commonly used for polyfoam). Both of them are a measure of the relative softness or firmness of a foam material. There is more about ILD/IFD in the glossary here and here and in post #2 here.
When you are testing a mattress in person then ILD/IFD numbers aren’t important because with careful testing your body will tell you all you need to know about whether mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) although knowing the quality/density of the layers are always important because you can’t “feel” the quality/density or durability of foam layers and both lower quality/density and higher quality/density polyfoam are available in a wide range of firmness levels.
You can read more about the previous versions (up to version 4) of Pranasleep mattresses in post #3 here and in post #2 here and in post #3 here and in posts #1 and #2 here and a forum search on Prana (you can just click this) will also bring up more information and feedback about them as well.
The good news is they changed the design in version 5 and the top layers of polyfoam are now higher quality/density and are no longer what I would consider to be a weak link in the mattress in terms of durability but they are still in a significantly higher budget range than other similar mattresses and the top layers are still polyfoam so you would still be feeling and sleeping on polyfoam as much as latex. There is more about the new version 5 in post #19 here.
You can see the specs of the Pranasleep Vinyasa here (click on overview) and as you can see there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress since they started using higher quality polyfoam in the top layers but I would still make some very careful value comparisons with other similar latex mattresses that are in lower budget ranges.