Time to get a real mattress - Will Latex suit me? SleepEZ Hybrid Reviews?

[Sensei]

Hey M4Bear,

Welcome to The Mattress Underground ! Thanks for your question.

My wife and I purchased a King Sized mattress when we got married about 5 years ago. Needless to say we went to a brick and mortar store, and bought one of the cheaper kings we could find with a “euro top”. Now fast forward five years later and you know the story, the foam is shot/flat, and the springs are sagging. Between then and now I’ve educated myself a bit about mattresses as a result of buying a bed for our son, he sleeps on a MyGreenMattress Pure Echo, with their 2 inch plush dunlop topper.

I’m sorry to hear that your current king size mattress has reached its expiration date, M4Bear. 5 years use isn’t much life to have offered, but if you’re experiencing compression and sag issues, it is indeed time to move on. Hopefully now that you have some self-education from your son’s mattress purchase, as well as having found the TMU, you will be better informed of what
details to look for when choosing your next mattress. Thanks for your support of expert trusted member My Green Mattress for purchase of your son’s Pure Echo! I’d be interested in his “review” of the mattress, perhaps he can offer a few lines through you during your next post .

Sleeper details: Me: 6 ft 170 combo back and side sleeper. Wife 5’4" 160, combo stomach and side sleeper.
My only experience sleeping/laying on latex is on my son’s mattress (Pure Echo is a true firm mattress coils/wool only mattress, the dunlop topper is 14-19 ILD, 55 density), and laying on a Southerland Wrangell at a local box store (3 inch copper infused Talalay top, unknown ILD). The Southerland Wrangell 3 inch Talalay honestly felt a little too soft for me, where wasn’t much support, just “fluffy”. My son’s Pure Echo mattress with the super soft dunlop topper gives me some back pain in the upper middle of my back. I can lay on his mattress without the topper and have no pain, but as soon as I add the 2 inch soft topper, I get a little upper middle back pain. It’s odd. Perhaps the topper is too soft for me, but with such a firm mattress underneath I wouldn’t think that a soft 2 inch topper would cause back pain.

As a combo back and side sleeper, you will need a slightly shallower cradle in the back sleeping position to provide pressure relief for filling the small of the back/ lumbar area where your body has a less curvy profile. Keep in mind that toppers provide comfort and pressure relief, where the support core provides spinal alignment and support, you may find Phoenix’s article "Basic Functions of a Mattress"a useful reference for further reading. You don’t say what age your son is or what his height/ weight are, but children and teenagers have different comfort and support needs, and while an extra soft 14-19 ILD topper would suit his comfort needs well, a 6ft 170 lb. adult body profile would likely sink through to the support core, with perhaps some of the 2" comfort material engaging your lower lumbar area incorrectly. These sorts of issues are extremely difficult to diagnose through an online forum, M4Bear without some supporting visuals for more clues. You may consider having someone take some side view snaps of your back sleeping position to better understand how you are interacting with the mattress. Just curious: do you like the feel of his Pure Echo sans the topper? What pillow were you using?

QUESTION: Does the fact that I’m getting back pain with a 2 inch soft (14-19 ILD) topper mean that my body just doesn’t like dunlop latex? I can literally lay on that same mattress without the topper and no pain.

Your body probably doesn’t have a problem with dunlop latex; it does, however, have a problem with too soft of a dunlop latex comfort layer. You may also find that you’d like a 3" layer, the added inch of latex would provide more pressure-relieving qualities to a topper. Are there any COVID-safe manufacturers in your area for latex mattress testing?

My wife prefers soft/pillowtop like comfort. I prefer a little bit more of a medium firm. If I’m honest I probably like the hug of memory foam better than the cradle of latex, but I’m wanting to avoid all the bad foams and chemicals, and invest in something that will last longer than 4-5 years before going flat.

There are perfectly respectable memory foam mattresses available, if both you and your wife like its pressure-relieving properties and have no problems “sleeping hot” like some do with its use. These TMU trusted members offer high quality memory foam mattresses:

Fox Mattress

Ghostbed

Magic Sleeper

Mattress To Go

MFC/ Memory Foam Comfort

Texas Mattress Makers

The Beloit Mattress Company

Their memory foams are of quality manufacturing, designed to have an optimal lifespan, and carry CertiPUR-US or similar product certifications to ensure of its safety from toxins. This postexplains in depth different component certifications and their significance.

This has led me to targeting a latex hybrid mattress, and I’ve narrowed things down to the EcoSleep Hybrid, the SleepEZ Hybrid, and the Birch mattress. I’ve had some conversations with SleepEZ (great customer service) and they feel the “medium plush” side of the Hybrid they offer would be a decent fit for us based on our sleep styles and weights. QUESTION: Anyone in roughly our weight ranges able to comment on the feel of the medium plush side of the SleepEZ Hybrid? Again, we’re both about 160-170. Thanks so much!

Thanks for considering TMU expert trusted members My Green Mattress and Sleep EZ for a possible mattress purchase ! Happy to hear that you’re already having initial conversations and looking forward to hearing which way you decide to go. As this question is for the consumers who may have insights, I will step back and let them weigh in with their experiences… .

Thanks,
Sensei