Trying to buy a natural, soft-type mattress (Houston area)

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

I have been trying to utilize this forum as much as possible and have gone through most of the tutorials. My computer time is limited but I’m doing my best. However, the more I read, the less I seem to know! :frowning: I have made a few phone calls to a few different companies (all members of this forum). I thought I had made up my mind that a latex mattress would be the best way to obtain an organic type mattress within my budget.

However, when I went to the only close place recommended by this site, the latex mattress didn’t seem very soft at all?? Before making the trip, I noticed the latex mattresses were gauged toward the firmer side via the website. But when I called and asked about the firmness, they said they could make them softer. The employee helping me was very helpful and polite but made it sound like there was no adjusting firmness. I described my old mattress to him and explained I was trying to stay as natural as possible (flame retardants, VOC’s, off-gassing etc.).

He took me over to another bed with springs and a euro-top. Much more similar to my old bed(before the sagging) except my old bed was memory foam. He recommended this bed or a plush which was more firmer initially than the euro-top. Due to age he suggested plush, but I do love the pillowtop feel and I am fairly active and “think” I would be okay with the softer bed.

Now, while he gave me a discounted price, my spouse is not on board-- thinking I was looking at mattresses in the $1500.00 range. I had quotes for other mattresses within that range (latex and non-latex).

Also, I do have reservations about ordering a mattress online. Sleep trial or not…

I guess my questions are: Does anyone have any experience purchasing a mattress (little added chemicals as possible) from any of the commercial members of this forum?

Or has anyone purchased a latex mattress and had the good kind of sinking feeling. Where your mattress envelops you a little bit.

Or does anyone recommend another type of mattress from one of these members that has that soft feel?

I know you get what you pay for, but I guess if I could purchase an equally nice and safe mattress for a lower price, it would be a great help.

I know this post is all over the place. I do apologize. I thought I knew what I was doing but it turns out I really completely don’t!

Thanks for reading.

2

Hi JB,

Your questions are very broad and subjective so there is no way to really answer them with any degree of specificity.

There are no consistent standards between the firmness ratings of different manufacturers and different people will also have very different definitions of what feels soft or firm to them so the only way to know how soft or firm a mattress will feel for you is based on your own testing and experience regardless of how soft or firm it may feel for someone else (see post #2 here).

I would probably start by asking yourself “why” you are looking for an “organic” mattress or materials and why it may be important to you because in many cases people that think they want organic materials are really looking for “safe” materials and these are two very different things. Post #2 here has more information about the differences between organic, natural, safe, “chemical free”, or green materials (which all have different meanings) that may help you to narrow down which materials you are most comfortable having in your mattress or can help you answer the question “how safe is safe enough for me?”.

There are hundreds of people who have purchased a mattress from one of the online members of this site and been very happy with their purchase. A forum search on any of them will bring up much more information and feedback about each of them. None of them add any chemicals to their mattresses (and most other manufacturers don’t add chemicals to their mattresses either). When you can’t test a mattress in person then one of the most important parts of a successful online purchase is a more detailed conversation with any of the manufacturers or retailers you are considering (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

This again would depend entirely on the person and on the specific mattress they purchased. Some latex is much softer and some is much firmer and you would sink in more with a softer latex mattress than a firmer latex mattress. Whether you “like” or “dislike” the feeling of any specific mattress or material would depend entirely on your own personal preferences because one person that would say a mattress has a “good kind of sinking feeling” may completely disagree with someone else who would describe the same mattress very differently. These are all questions that would be best answered based on your own individual perceptions and testing.

I think that one of the biggest reasons for the existence of this site is to help people realize that “you get what you pay for” isn’t always the case and sometimes it may even be the exception depending on which manufacturers or retailers you are considering or dealing with. There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here than can help you make more meaningful comparisons where you won’t have to use price alone as an indication of the quality, comfort, or value of a mattress.

If you follow all the steps in the tutorial post one at a time (without missing any) you will have the best possible chance of making a successful purchase.

Phoenix

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Phoenix,

Thanks for the response. I’ve gone back to read and re-read. I’m hoping it will help me with my future conversations. I guess I had thought from previous reading that memory foam had the most chemicals. So I had been trying to find a softer yet more natural option. In addition, staying around or less than $1500.00 would help.

Thank you again, I hope to put all your knowledge to good use.

4

Hi JB,

Memory foam does have the most “chemicals” out of the three main types of foam materials (memory foam, polyfoam, and latex foam) and anecdotally there are probably more people that are sensitive to memory foam than the other types of foam (especially if they have medical conditions such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) but for most people memory foam that is either made in North America and/or is CertiPur certified is “safe enough” for their criteria.

You certainly have some good options that will hopefully meet all your criteria either in the Houston area list (that you could test in person) or from one of the online manufacturers that are members of this site that are listed here.

Phoenix