Hi sdmark,
As you know from your other post in the Ikea thread … Spindle sells the synthetic and 100% natural continuous pour Dunlop from Mountaintop. (Note: They now only sell 100% natural continuous pour Dunlop in their mattresses and toppers)
Sleeponlatex sells the Latexco Puralux continuous pour which is a blend (I believe it’s 20% natural and 80% synthetic).
Phoenix
NOTE ADDED: Sleeponlatex no longer sells continuous pour Dunlop latex and Spindle no longer sells synthetic latex.
Phoenix: you mentioned that Sleeponlatex sells Latexco Paralux and I suspect this is what Ultimatesleep.com is also selling as their economy “Talalay” ( https://www.ultimatesleep.com/talalay-latex-toppers) . I purchased a Medium 2" topper (“Latex Sleep Therapy”), marketed as Talalay. From several e-mails I was able to determine they get their “Talalay” from the Latexco/GA plant, which only makes dunlop (verified this with that plant directly today)
The Latexco rep confirmed today: “Latexco does not make Talalay. We sell some Radium Talalay from our California factory to many internet customers. See the attached for a description of the two processes.” (I am also attaching the file for reference) .
The Ultimatesleep rep described their “Talalay” process as follows: “The original Talalay Process included the flash-freezing step as a way of preventing the air bubbles in the batter from rising and causing a stratification of density from top to bottom, because the total process was slow enough in a batch molding process that such would occur. There is no other reason for that step of the process. Most modern Talalay Processes actually use a semi-continuous batch process that allows for a much faster curing of the latex batter before the air bubbles have an opportunity to cause a density stratification. This process is also much more energy efficient (rather than freezing and then cooking), and makes the product more affordable.”
This description is accurate as it relates to Latexco’s continuous dunlop process, it just does not correspond with the facts about a True Talalay process, so they are either very confused, or intentionally misrepresenting what they sell as Talalay.
I will say that for the price, this product is springy and supple and appears to be a good quality if you don’t want Talalay. Assuming it is the Paralux, Latexco seems to be producing a very good dunlop product in that line. It does have a sightly darker/firmer side and a lighter/softer side and the holes are punched, (not pin-core molded). I am not overly impressed with the tear resistance, so it is not as durable (IMO) in tear-resistance as what I would prefer (and assume Talalay is better for) in a top layer, but unfortunately I don’t have any personal experience with real Talalay to compare directly in this regard.
And now, for the rest of the story: I also bought a 2" layer of their Firm “Talalay” which was really firm. I rolled it up for about a week and when I unrolled it again, it had formed several splits on the outer side of the roll (the darker side) in both directions-- one split went all the way through for about a foot from one end. I sent pictures to Ultimatesleep and they were very good about issuing a refund–they said neither they or Latexco had seen a topper with the magnitude of splitting like mine, that it was rare and that when they have had any splitting complaints, it was always with the firm and never the softer toppers. I have had no tearing or splitting with the medium, but I can tell is not very tough from some small surface fissures that can be seen when it is folded.
Overall I would grade Ultimatesleep.com as follows:
Customer Service A (except for accuracy in their facts about their products)
Value B+ (for Dunlop)
Product Quality B+ (for Dunlop )
Truth in advertizing F (they will hopefully rectify this, as they do not seem like a bad company to work with otherwise, but this is a deal killer since I don’t know what to believe now).
Hi Ioway,
This is what I believe it is as well.
They are either very confused or don’t have much knowledge about the different latex production methods (or are purposely misleading in an effort to sell their toppers to people who believe it’s Talalay) but regardless what they are saying isn’t accurate at all.
Continuous pour Dunlop is still a good quality and durable material even though it has different properties than Talalay or even 100% natural Dunlop. All latex tears very easily and needs careful handling.
This would clearly be a defective layer.
Accuracy and transparency is one of the most important parts of deciding who to deal with and this kind of misrepresentation would also be a “deal killer” for me as well. I would have a hard time believing that they aren’t aware of it since there have been several forum members that have mentioned them over a period of time and many others that would probably have read my comments and would likely have questioned them about their topper as well and they certainly wouldn’t have received the information that they are using from Latexco so I believe it’s a “made up” story in response to questions they have had about whether their latex was Talalay which wouldn’t speak well to their credibility or integrity.
Phoenix
According to their website their Topper is
100% NATURAL LATEX
“Our Pure Green™ natural latex mattress toppers are made from 100% Natural Latex. If you are looking for a latex mattress topper which is all natural, this is the way to go. These toppers are made with only natural latex, no fillers or synthetic latex.”
Hi papalion,
Sleeponlatex used to sell the continuous pour synthetic/natural blended Dunlop toppers but the topper you linked is 100% natural Dunlop (made in a mold and not continuous pour) and they don’t list the blended latex topper any longer.
Phoenix
I purchased a 3 inch Medium Firm Blended Talalay Twin size from Ultimate Sleep in October 2015. It was fine for a few weeks but then became uncomfortable. I rolled it up and checked on it 2-3 weeks later and it had split completely in half in 2 locations. I threw it out in disgust but a few days later called. They did refund my money as I had no pictures and could not return it they made it sound like they were doing me a big favor, which I guess they were, but they insisted they had never heard of anything like that happening with their toppers. Just wanted to share my experience.
I am going to be purchasing a Sleeponlatex Pure Green 100% Dunlop topper in a couple of weeks. So theirs is not a blended topper, correct?
Hi smmimp14,
Yes … the Pure Green toppers are 100% natural Dunlop (see post #18 here for more information about what 100% natural latex means).
Phoenix
Looks like things may have changed over at ultimatesleep.com? They confirmed by email that both the natural and blended Talalay Toppers sold on their site are manufactured by Talalay Global (formerly latex Intl) in CT. The natural comes in N1-N5 and the blended comes in ILD 14, 19, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40 & 44. I could be wrong, but it appears that those are the correct ILDs. Am I missing something?
Once in a while, there will be a defective product. nothing new to that, just make sure to keep the warranty card.
So does this forum consider ultimatesleep.com a trusted company? I look at their prices and they seem really low for talalay compared to the reputable bedding companies on thus site. But it says it is from Talalay Global just like the others.
mae67: I can only speak for myself. I DO NOT consider them reputable. When I bought what they wrongly advertised as a “Talalay” topper, they were actually selling a continuous-pour dunlop-ish product that was clearly NOT made using a Talalay process. One side was darker & holes were punched- (not a molded process like Talalay) and it tore easily when folded–total garbage. I have since bought a real Talalay topper and it is worlds different in all respects. On a happier note, I will add that after much angst over trying to find a mattress that my wife and I can stand, we have been pretty happy with a continuous coil mattress with a 2" medium Talalay topper. I actually got the Mattress from Menards as it matched the spec’s I was looking for after we liked a mattress we slept on at Dollywood’s Dreammore resort , of all places. It took a while to get to what the specs were, but i was finally able to track them down sufficiently to confirm these were essentially the same core mattress (surface materials being the only difference). I never would have thought a continuous coil would isolate movement as well as it does and be as comfortable as it is for both back and side-sleepers; it has also held its shape well (as has the Topper ) for almost 3 years now. No regrets, finally!!
Dear Fatboy (that felt wrong saying that): if you have not already bought from them, see my reply to mae67, below. If you have bought from them and don’t feel cheated, then you can post a meaningful update as my experience is from a few years ago, but I was so totally lied to by those people, that I will personally never do business with them again.
Hi Ioway,
I did pull the trigger and purchased a 2" Natural Talalay Topper N2 (medium/soft) from Ultimatesleep.com before I saw your posts. Looks like things may have changed for them for the better. My experience so far has been positive. I’m not looking to negate your experience. I only speak for myself.
From a customer service perspective, they were solid on the ordering side. They confirmed by email that both their Natural & Blended Talalay Toppers come from Latex International DBA Talalay Global and their ILDs matched. They sent 12" square samples of each to test out before ordering. They responded to emails same day.
The topper was dropped shipped directly from Talalay Global and came in a Talalay Global box with a Latex International DBA Talalay Global packing list.
It was packaged professionally - vacuumed rolled with felt paper in between the layers, sealed in plastic and then boxed in a Talalay Global branded red box. The King is basically two (2) TwinXLs seamed together. It is a consistent color throughout and didn’t have any tears.
I feel like they were transparent throughout the ordering process & I received exactly what I ordered. They offer a 30 day money back guarantee, but you have to pay for shipping back which could make it cost prohibitive to return.
If anything changes I’ll make sure to update this post.
Hi Fatboy.
Thanks for your update. I appreciate it. 
I am glad to hear that USleep changed their Talalay supplier and that they were responsive. We ’ll be certainly looking forward to any other updated you might have.
Phoenix
I researched on your site before buying my mattress topper (just like I did a few years ago when I bought my mattress). I ended up buying from ultimatesleep, so thought I’d reply. This thread made me a little nervous, so I emailed them first to make sure their supplier is Talalay Global, and it is. Just got my topper today (2" regular Talalay medium / 24IDL). The box had the Talalay Global logo, and I found their name on the invoice. Put it on my bed, and thought it might be softer than I wanted, but after lying on it for a bit, I would say it is right there between firm and soft. Like I could see wanting firmer when lying on my back, and softer when lying on my side, so just about right. I’ve read that there is a slight smell like waffles from Talalay, and yep, there is a slight smell. Not chemically, but more like vanilla cream or something. Not real bad, but I’m super sensitive to smells, so if I notice it tonight I might air out the topper. Overall happy with the purchase.
Hi howdy2u.
Welcome back after almost 4 years! but most importantly congratulations on the new TG Topper that you seem to be enjoying
It is nice to get confirmation from multiple sources that Ultimatesleep is now sourcing their Talalay latex from Talalay Global. Thanks for your update.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the smell at this point as this usually dissipates quickly especially if you plan to “air it out”. Almost all foam materials will have an initial smell that will dissipate fairly quickly to levels that most people don’t notice although some people can indeed be more sensitive to certain smells (or even describe them differently than others … but your description of a “semi-sweet” or “vanilla-like” odor is fairly common. The more natural (100% NR) can have a more “rubbery” smell. This usually dissipates in a few weeks. There is more about the smell of latex in post #2 here but in most cases, it is reduced to levels below what people will notice in a few days to a few weeks but this can also depend on how acute your sense of smell is and on how sensitive you are to that particular smell. There is also more about the odor of new materials in post #3 here that may be helpful as well
I look forward to any further updates you may have a chance to post.
Phoenix
Thanks for the info. The slight smell was nothing. Did not notice any odor after that initial unpacking. And after sleeping on the topper for a few nights, I can say it was exactly what the doctor ordered. 2 inches is thick enough, and 24idl seems just right for me. Very satisfied with the purchase.
Hey howdy2u,
Thank you for the update, 24ild talalay is a sweet spot for a lot of people. Glad to hear it’s going well.
Thanks,
Sensei
Hi, just curious as to how your topper from Ultimate sleep is working for you? They seem to have the best prices that I can find for either blended or Natural Talalay toppers anywhere. As you said in your post in 2018, your topper was shipped directly from Talalay Global in new condition. If so, I would tend to believe it is what they are advertising, as opposed to what they were shipping several years ago. Just wondering if you were still glad you purchased from them, and it the topper was still living up to your expectations?