Hi Phoenix,
I have been lurking on this site for a few weeks and have gotten some great insight into the world of mattresses. I have been wanting to try out a latex mattress but it is hard to find a store that has them on display. Well this weekend my husband and I stumbled upon a Healthy Choice Organic Mattress store so I was able to get a feel for latex. I fell in love with their most expensive (of course) mattress. http://hcmattress.com/html/mattress_collection/healthy_choice_violet_mattress.html It felt like heaven in the store. This mattress is all natural taladay latex, 6 in firm core, 3 in soft inner layer and 2 in medium top layer. I did not get the ILD or density of the foam.
We hesitated to buy for a few reasons: 1. price $4300 for King. 2. Nothing to exchange for if I don’t like it. 3. The salesman was giving us the “sale ends Sunday” schpel. 4. You can’t exchange out the top layer if you get body impressions.
My biggest fear when making such a big purchase is body impressions. We have had a big hump in the middle of our last 3 beds, it’s ridiculous. We are big people, I am 180, side sleeper and my husband is 220 side/stomach sleeper. I also tend to have my arms fall asleep when in bed. We love a soft bed that is very supportive (that is what I got with the above mattress). Earlier today I read this on-line and it really scared me away from the HC mattress: Can you confirm it this is true?
Important: To prevent possible body impressions over time you should never put a softer layer beneath a firmer one. The Softest ILD you order should be on top/Firmest on bottom. Given the thickness of each layer, rotating or turning this mattress (or the layers within it) over time is also highly recommended for even-wear and long life.
Can you recommend any other latex mattess dealers in or near Westchester County, NY. Is $4300 reasonable for a latex mattress? I see that mattresses are way less expensive but can’t bear to buy on on-line without trying it out first. Your knowledgeable insight would be appreciated.
When you are testing a mattress in person the ILD is not as important as how the mattress feels for you. Your body will tell you more than the “comfort specs” in other words. In the case of latex the density is also not as important because the different ILD’s are related to density with latex unlike polyfoam or memory foam where density is the main factor in the quality of the foam.
Even though the mattress uses good quality materials … I would hesitate to buy it for all the reasons you mentioned. You can see a little more about healthy Choice in post #21 here and some of the other posts it links to.
[quote]My biggest fear when making such a big purchase is body impressions. We have had a big hump in the middle of our last 3 beds, it’s ridiculous. We are big people, I am 180, side sleeper and my husband is 220 side/stomach sleeper. I also tend to have my arms fall asleep when in bed. We love a soft bed that is very supportive (that is what I got with the above mattress). Earlier today I read this on-line and it really scared me away from the HC mattress: Can you confirm it this is true?
Important: To prevent possible body impressions over time you should never put a softer layer beneath a firmer one. The Softest ILD you order should be on top/Firmest on bottom. Given the thickness of each layer, rotating or turning this mattress (or the layers within it) over time is also highly recommended for even-wear and long life. [/quote]
To some degree all materials will soften which can create soft spots in the mattress. Latex will do this less than other materials however and in most cases these types of issues are because of lower quality/density foams used in the upper layers of the mattress. There is however some risk with the use of all natural Talalay in softer ILD’s (see this article). Shifting of components and layers can also cause a ridge in the middle and valleys on each side (especially in larger sizes).
While it’s true that softer versions of foam will be less durable than the same foam in a firmer version … there is no reason to believe that this type of layering (firmer over softer) is any more risky than the same two layers with softer over firmer. As a matter of fact, if anything, having a firmer layer over a softer layer can make the softer layer more durable because the firmer layer will take up some of the stress from constant compression.
Post #2 here includes the better options I’m aware of in the Connecticut area and post #2 here includes the better options in the NYC area (there is also a more categorized and descriptive list of many of these in post #4 here).