Hi MBKUltra,
It sounds like you are looking in a good direction and I hope you have the chance to let us know when you pull the trigger.
Of course it would also be great to hear your feedback about Tuft and Needle and the mattress when you receive it.
Ten weeks can be a long time … but if it leads to better sleep then it’s certainly worth the wait 
Phoenix
Hello All,
First post here but have been lurking for a few days as I search high and low for new mattresses. Have had a pretty negative experience with the Habitat Furnishings latex mattresses. They developed deep ruts after less than 5 years, as shown below. Definitely did NOT perform anywhere near what was advertised. These broke down faster than any inner spring I’ve ever had in my 54 years on the planet and lasted nowhere near as long as the Sleep Comfort air bed I have in a spare bedroom, which is going on 15 years now and still kicking…even after being used as my main bed for nearly a decade before I got the latex.
Mattress #1:
Mattress #2:
I’m now 7 years into this “investment” and should have acted more quickly to replace these as my low back pain due to these ruts has been increasing over the past couple years and got to the point recently where I injured my back severely a week ago and lost a few days of work as a result. It’s all muscular, but extremely painful. Happens every time I let my mattress get this bad.
So, instead of blowing any more hard-earned cash on another scam like latex, I went for a T&N 5 and 10 today. Didn’t realize I could get a discount by being a member here, so I’ll need to let them know about that. I realize the T&Ns won’t last forever either but at $250 for the Five and $350 for the Ten, I could replace them every 4-5 years and STILL never blow as much as I did on “all natural Talalay latex”. Don’t waste your money on that stuff, folks. They feel great for a short while but break down extremely quickly, as my photos show.
Dave
Hi DaveC,
It’s unfortunate to see that you had such a negative experience but just in case I would also check to make sure that your foundation isn’t the cause of the impressions and check the depth of the impressions with the mattress on the floor.
If they are still there then it’s likely that you would be eligible for a warranty replacement and you have a defective mattress (see their faq #18 here).
Although there is certainly some misinformation on the Habitat site … it certainly isn’t accurate to call latex a “scam” as it’s the oldest foam material in the industry and has unquestionably been proven to be the most durable of all the different foam materials over the course of many decades (although there are also more or less durable versions of latex as well). You can see a video of a latex mattress here for example that was in use for almost 50 years although that also wouldn’t be a reason to expect that every latex mattress will last that long because there are many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of any mattress. While your experience certainly isn’t the norm for latex (although softer versions of 100% natural Talalay are likely to be less durable than blended Talalay) and one person’s experience is probably one of the worst reasons for someone else to avoid any material (you will find even more numerous and more negative comments about polyfoam or memory foam and innersprings for example), at least you made a good quality/value choice with your new replacement purchase.
So congratulations on your new mattress
I hope you have the chance to share your feedback once you’ve received it and had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.
Phoenix
Phoenix,
Thanks for the reply and congrats! Hey, don’t get me wrong. We really enjoyed these mattresses for the first few years. And, I’m sure what you say about other latex examples are true. In fact, I did a fair amount of research before I bought these and read the same things, which is why I bought these in the first place. I have some pretty bad allergies, which is another reason I went for latex. We also tried several memory foam mattresses but the out gassing was overwhelming and one of them actually started sagging like my pics above within a few weeks! So, I’ve lived the memory foam thing too. The only mattress I’ve ever owned which stood the test of time and alleviated my lower back pain has been the old Select Comfort air mattress. Being very old (and probably bottom of the line at the time), it doesn’t have much in the way of comfort layers above the bladders, so there’s almost zero cavitation under the pressure points and whatever tiny amount of compression exists in the padding can be more than compensated by the adjustable air pressure.
In fact, I swapped that old Select Comfort in for the latex tonight and we’ll see how it goes. My back is begging for relief, one way or the other! 
BTW, those Habitat mattresses had a few other fishy issues. Despite being sold as identical pieces, they each “felt” quite different to lay in. One was softer than the other and they each came with a completely different casing. Oh, one other thing. On both of them, the latex in the areas most laid upon became much softer than the latex around the edges. So, you’re constantly rolling to the center of the bed, even when trying to escape the cavitation to enjoy a small piece of relatively flat and stable real estate! LOL.
Anyways, thanks for the great website and your reply and I’ll be sure to post again after I/we have had a chance to evaluate the Five and Dime (sorry, couldn’t resist). 
Dave
I forgot to mention that I DID examine the foundation for both beds. They were both in perfect shape and both mattresses still had the cavitation when placed on the floor. I would love to know who still sells a latex mattress that won’t sag after 50 years! Hell, I’d be overjoyed with 15-20. Should also mention that I am only 150 lbs and a bit of a health nut, doing low fat vegan diet (chol of 116 as a result), exercise 6-7 days a week, etc. So, there’s really no excuse for this kind of cavitation. Hoping the T&N gives me a similar feel and holds up for at least 4-5 years.
Hi Dave_C,
Have you contacted Habitat to ask about a warranty replacement?
Even if you don’t want to use it any longer it seems that your mattresses may be defective (or used a bad batch of foam) and a phone call and a warranty claim would certainly seem to be worth it. If nothing else you could sell them or use them as a spare. If I was in your shoes it’s the first thing I would do.
I agree that some of these “anomolies” seem odd to me as well although a material that softens will do so under the areas where they are most subject to constant compression and greater weight. I’m not sure which version you bought but I believe their top layer is N1 which is the softest 100% natural Talalay that Latex International makes and would be a less durable version of latex than the Talalay blend (see post #2 here). Assuming that the materials are what they say they are, using N1 as a “standard” comfort layer may not be the best design choice. Their base Dunlop layer is apparently 26 ILD which is also on the soft side for a support layer (and this could also be the defective layer) and the overall softness could contribute to a feeling of “roll together” in the center of the mattress for some people even without the latex softening.
In any case … I hope you call them and see how they respond to a warranty claim.
Phoenix
[quote=“Phoenix” post=33686]Hi Dave_C,
Have you contacted Habitat to ask about a warranty replacement?
Even if you don’t want to use it any longer it seems that your mattresses may be defective (or used a bad batch of foam) and a phone call and a warranty claim would certainly seem to be worth it. If nothing else you could sell them or use them as a spare. If I was in your shoes it’s the first thing I would do.
Phoenix[/quote]
Phoenix,
Yes, I did leave them an email and a voice message, but have not heard back yet. It would be great if I just got a bad batch of latex and wasable to get some new mattresses made properly!
I watched the video of that 51 year old latex you posted and it was very impressive except they didn’t do the ruler trick and photograph at an angle which would reveal any cavitation, if it existed. So, it’s tough to tell how that latex actually held up. At those camera angles and with that lighting, even my defective mattresses would look good. That said, thanks for posting! It does give me a little hope that perhaps someday I might be able to get back into some properly manufactured latex.
Dave
How do you enter the discount code, or do you have to call the order in? I don’t see a place on their web site for coupons.
Send them an email after you place the order. Give them your username and they will process the refund.
Yep, just send them your username and they’ll cross reference it here. I just went through the process myself. I ordered a Five and a Ten and should be seeing them within a couple weeks. Hoping for the best. Will report back.
BTW, regarding my latex drama above, I did talk to Habitat and they had me take a look at the foundations with somebody standing on them. I used some heavy weights and it looks like about 1/3 the sag was coming from the foundation and the rest from the mattress. So, I don’t think Habitat will cover that.
I’m surprised the foundations did. They were high quality slatted ones recommended for latex beds. In order to prevent that with the T&N’s, I went overboard and ordered one of these.
Hi Dave_C,
I think that any slatted foundation would have some bending in the slats if someone was standing on only some of them or with more concentrated weight in a smaller area. If you measure the visible impressions with the mattress on the floor and they are deeper than the warranty exclusion then you should be entitled to a warranty exchange.
How deep are the impressions in your mattress? Their warranty covers anything more than an inch of visible impressions.
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix,
Habitat claims that if someone stands on the foundation and it caves AT ALL, they won’t cover the mattress because the foundation caving could cause the mattress to cave in a permanent way that would NOT happen if the foundation didn’t cave at all. I don’t buy that excuse myself, but that’s what they said. As an engineer myself, I believe the physics dictate that the two componentsin this case will act independently. The mattress still has almost as much cavitation on the floor as it does on the foundation. Athough I didn’t get out the calipers, I did run a yardstick across it while on the floor and it looks like it’s greater than 1". So, I still believe the product did not perform as advertised. I may have to push this a little harder with them
Dave
Hi Dave_C,
I completely agree with your thoughts and they actually sell a KD slatted wood foundation (see the video on this page) which would have some slight flexing if you used the same test. The audio under #22 here says that a foundation with about 1/2" to 1" of “give” with their test would be fine.
Their audio under #8 here also clearly states that if you have an impression that is more than 1" that it would be eligible for warranty replacement and if you have a foundation is similar to the EZ Sleep that they sell or that meets their own audio guidelines then I don’t see any valid reason that it could be used as a justification to deny warranty coverage and if this is the case then I would also pursue it further.
Phoenix
Thanks, ordered my mattress today and emailed them about the discount. Wasn’t sure if I should have used the email prompt at the order details page or reply to the email they sent in confirmation like they said I could, so I did both to be sure.
Hi berfles,
You certainly made a great quality/value choice … and congratulations on your new mattress
I hope you have the chance to share your feedback once you receive it.
Phoenix
[quote=“Phoenix” post=33992]Hi Dave_C,
I completely agree with your thoughts and they actually sell a KD slatted wood foundation (see the video on this page) which would have some slight flexing if you used the same test. The audio under #22 here says that a foundation with about 1/2" to 1" of “give” with their test would be fine.
Their audio under #8 here also clearly states that if you have an impression that is more than 1" that it would be eligible for warranty replacement and if you have a foundation is similar to the EZ Sleep that they sell or that meets their own audio guidelines then I don’t see any valid reason that it could be used as a justification to deny warranty coverage and if this is the case then I would also pursue it further.
Phoenix[/quote]
Wow, my foundation looks more solid than theirs. But, one thing working against me is that they claim I am outside the meager warranty period in place at the time I bought mine 7 years ago and the only way out of it would be to “make a strong case”. This stuff is such a hassle. I work a lot of hours and take care of an elderly parent and really don’t have the time to mess with something that never should have happened…at least this soon!
Hi Dave_C,
You can read the earliest version of their old warranty I could find on the Wayback machine here (from the time when they were first online) …
… which doesn’t mention anything about “making a strong case” as a warranty requirement (which I think is ridiculous) … only that after 3 years the warranty is “modestly prorated”. The specifics are described in #17 here.
To me … you would would either have a valid warranty claim or you wouldn’t based on facts. If your foundation meets their requirements (which it likely does) and you have visible impressions in the mattress (on the floor) that are deeper than their warranty exclusions then it seems to me that you would have a valid claim and the facts would be your “strong case” without needing to be reinterpreted.
Phoenix
Thanks for all the work you put in here and for arranging the discounts!
Hi drogers,
You’re very welcome … and I’m glad you found us
Phoenix
I just ordered one yesterday as well, thanks to this website. Today Tuft & Needle confirmed the Mattress Underground discount. the website says that each one is made to order so it may be a while before it ships.