I bought your 3" Talalay Latex topper, and it does not “sleep cool” as advertised. Since you ignored my post on the topic, I’ll start a new thread and see if you, or the mods Sensei or Phoenix will speak to this.
I don’t know why the mods on this forum say Talalay Latex sleeps cool. It absolutely does not! It sleeps terribly hot. Buyer beware!
I thought this forum was a beacon of light in the corrupt and deceptive mattress industry. But I have been very disappointed.
Latex is an open-celled and naturally breathable product that is known to sleep cooler than most other mattress materials. If the topper isn’t working for you please just call us and we’ll get the return process started for you. We can be reached at 1-800-637-0872, thanks and we’ll talk to you later!
I’ve been following yours and fellow consumer posts regarding “sleeping cool” on Talalay latex from your topic Hoping Latex Will Sleep Cool, post #9. For clarity to other consumers viewing the original post, I am moving the new post and its comments back to the original one to follow your experience and avoid confusion.
For reference, it may be of interest to revisit Phoenix’s post Do latex mattresses sleep hot? post #2, explaining more about the 3 main types of foams, their positioning in different areas of the mattress and review of their characteristics contributing to the sleeping temperature of a mattress.
Your characterization of Talalay Latex “sleeping terribly hot” is a personal opinion and should be stated as such, with all due respect to the TMU Forum, its trusted members and consumer members who are following your topic. It is a broad belief by all of the mattress industry that Talalay latex’s breathable circulation style promotes a superior “sleeping cool” experience for many sleepers. However as we always point out, the search for your mattress purchase is about all the many preferences that are more or less important to different people and that are part of your personal “value equation”.
I completely understand that you were frustrated by a lack of communication and I will take responsibility for not following up on your concerns (I apologize, Leslie ); however, to lash out at one of our trusted member manufacturer/ retailers during a peak volume season is unfair. And to be quite clear on your last point citing “this forum (was a) beacon of light in the corrupt and deceptive mattress industry”, your tone completely dishonors the countless hours/ days/ years that are worked here to provide research and advocate on behalf of You, the Consumer and to educate, advise and support transparency in the mattress industry. We stand by the value of our Trusted Member program, it uniquely offers a way for mattress industry leaders to share their expertise with consumers needing advise in a moderator-supported community, all free from the noise and influence of advertising and promotional clutter. While you may be “very disappointed”, I hope that you continue to find the available resources and contributing consumer members’ opinions helpful…
And lastly, a Thank you goes to trusted expert memberLatex Mattress Factory for helping Lesley with her topper return; here’s to a speedy and satisfactory consumer experience . Lesley, feel free to check back and let us know how things went.
Hi there! I’m brand new to the forums, but definitely had to register when I saw this thread. Specifically:
For what it is worth, I would like to echo that part of Lesley’s sentiments.
I purchased a locally made talalay latex mattress from Fawcett (this model in particular). While I found its firmness and comfort to be top notch (along with the sales experience, the whole team there was pleasant and knowledgeable), I returned it because it was simply too hot for me - as bad, if not worse, than the memory foam mattress I’d been moving up from.
For those of us with high heat sensitivity (I grew up very far in the north of Canada), latex can indeed “sleep terribly hot.” It isn’t meant as an insult towards latex, nor towards the manufacturers who use it. I had spent ~$3k because I sincerely wanted to believe in it, but it simply wasn’t right for me. While I may not agree with Lesley’s other sentiments (thank you to Sensei, Phoenix, and the rest for putting in as much time as you do!) I wanted to at least express that very hot sleepers may want to exercise a bit of caution before fully buying in to Latex.
Your “caveat” to “very hot sleepers” is well-stated, makes me think of one of the basic concepts of the Mattress Underground, How to Understand Your Personal “Value Equation”, a previous post with some good advice from Phoenix. Thanks again for sharing your “high heat sensitivity” perspective .
Thanks for your response. Your desire to protect LMF’s interests during “peak volume season” merely confirms my suspicion that you are in their corner, not ours. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s livelihood. But people need to know the truth.
I thought this forum was for telling the truth about mattresses? Well that’s the truth. Latex sleeps hot.
And I don’t need to qualify it as an opinion, because obviously it’s based on my experience. Who else’s experience would I be reporting on? My next-door-neighbor’s?
Lesley Hilton
P.S. I did read Phoenix’s post and that’s why I chose Talalay. And respectfully, it doesn’t matter how many years you’ve put into mattress research, or whatever. It’s dishonest for you to say latex sleeps cool when it doesn’t.
Thanks for weighing in. I would like to add a counter point. You grew up in Canada; I grew up in Hell’s Armpit, Texas, where summer days are over 100 degrees for weeks on end.
So it’s not really about where you grew up. It’s about whether the mattress allows airflow. And latex does not allow airflow. That’s why they make condoms out of latex.
Anyways, I just wanted to make that point, because otherwise it leaves an opening for Sensei to write that sleeping hot depends on “a variety of factors,” rather than admitting the truth about latex, which is:
Latex is an impermeable material, and thereby retains air, liquid, and…you guessed it. Heat. No matter how many holes you punch in it. Those holes get squished down when you lie on it anyway.
Lesley - I’m sorry to read that latex sleeps so hot for you, and nobody can dispute your experience with it. However with all due respect I think you should keep a few things in mind about it. First of all your description of latex being a non-breathable material is true when it comes to their use in condoms, but when used in mattresses it’s a completely different material which is latex foam. It has been shown in numerous studies and tests to indeed be the most breathable type of foam for use in mattresses. While it’s apparently not a good match for your comfort that doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone else. I’m a very big guy at 6’4"/300 lbs. and I run pretty hot, but I find latex to sleep very temperature neutral while providing excellent support and breathability. So again while it doesn’t work that way for you does not make latex foam an impermeable material as you have stated. I hope that you find a mattress that better suits your needs and offers you the ultimate comfort and temperature control you seek.
I would like to echo the words of others here who have expressed their disappointment that you have yet to find the perfect mattress for yourself. It can definitely be a tough journey, especially for people who are very sensitive to the qualities of their sleeping system.
However, I’d also like to echo the words of others in stating that your experience of latex sleeping hot is just that — your experience. It is not a universal truth as there are many people for whom latex either sleeps neutral or cool. There are no hard and fast truths about different materials, only observations relative to other materials. That does not negate your experience in the least — but it doesn’t make your experience the only valid experience out there for everyone else.
I also think it is unfair of you to accuse TMU of lying to the public or protecting the interests of “trusted members”. This forum is extremely careful to provide information with the proviso that “your mileage may vary”. That doesn’t make what is said untrue anymore than what you’ve said about your personal experience is untrue.
I wish you the best of luck in finding the perfect mattress — hopefully you can use your experience as a building block in determining what works for you personally and what doesn’t. Latex apparently doesn’t work for you, so now you can check that off your list and move on to other materials that may be a better fit.
I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I’ll be interested to hear what you eventually come up with. Best of luck to you!
@Sweet Dreams & @Turquoise,
Interesting to see that this thread has become a little bit of a “hot” topic on TMU.
After reading your posts which bring a balanced approach to this discussion there is little that I can add except to thank you for chiming in and for your vote of confidence.
Hi lesley_hilton,
After Sensei made me aware of your post I decided to also chime in and perhaps bring a little more clarity from TMU perspective.
While nobody negates your personal and subjective experience … this does not make it “the truth” or “truer” than the experience of the majority of consumers who find that latex sleeps much cooler comparative to any other type of foam. There are also those more temperature-sensitive individuals, as bassman2112, points out, who sleep hot regardless of the foam or of the materials closer to the skin that are used in the top layer of the mattress.
This is no more “dishonest” than you stating that
(For the record… the wording Sensei used about Latex was: It is a broad belief by all of the mattress industry that Talalay latex’s breathable circulation style promotes a superior “sleeping cool” experience for many sleepers.)
The temperature microclimate issue is a complex one and painting it with a broad brush is not helpful and is negating factual and scientific evidence. Latex, in general, is the most breathable and “temperature neutral” of all the different types of foam materials but the firmness of a mattress and how much you sink into it can also affect sleeping temperature as well. While it’s also not always possible to track down temperature regulation issues for any particular person on a specific mattress because there are so many variables involved (including your room temperature and humidity, your sheets and bedding and bedclothes, your mattress protector or any mattress pads you are using, and where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range) and some people can sleep warmer on mattresses that most people are generally fine with … there is more about tracking mattress temperature regulation issues potential causes ~ Post #2 here (at least to the degree possible for a specific mattress) and the posts it links to that may be helpful.
As an aside though … while your experiences may be a small minority it does not mean that it is not “real”. The issue here becomes trying to determine the reason for your experience and have enough information to make an educated guess at why you may be experiencing this.
I also do not want to overlook or downplay the meaning or effect that such words can have and somehow give the impression that it’s OK to say anything just because it is an open forum. IMO the type of comments you’ve made are much too common on the internet and our goal is to help educate and to broaden the context of the discussions here especially when consumer subscribers make unreasonable assumptions that attack the character of other people or the businesses. This site helps consumer visitors and vetted trusted members alike and cannot be used as a vehicle to harm the well-deserved reputation of TMU or the 5 decades long-standing reputation of a good mattress manufacturer such as Latex Mattress Factory that is always going out of their way to help and support their customers long after the purchase.
Bill,
Thanks for your response. I’m glad latex works for you. It did not work for me, but apparently that’s too controversial for this forum.
Best,
Lesley
Thank you for your thoughtful response. You are right that I can now check latex off my list, but I never would have tried it if not for the mods on this forum. I could have avoided the time, trouble, and expense of trying latex if Phoenix and Sensei hadn’t written about it so positively.
So that’s why I’m calling on them now for transparency.
Thanks for caring about my sleep experience. My current sleep surface is cotton quilts on a hardwood floor. It has worked fine for three nights. Thank you for asking.
Thanks for your response. It’s an honor to hear from the founder. Your post was what convinced me to give latex a try.
As for your response, most of it feels like deflection (about microclimates and whatnot) so I’ll go straight to your last paragraph, where you write that it’s not OK to attack someone’s character.
I have not defamed anyone’s character. But I have quoted people’s words back to them. Is that considered abusing the forum?
I don’t really care about all the time and money I wasted on latex. I do care that you present this as a neutral forum, but — and I may get banned for pointing this out ---- evidence suggests you are actually just the outreach arm for your friends in the mattress industry.
You’ve made it clear that negative reviews are not welcome, because they might harm the sales of one of the companies that ---- maybe not, but I can only assume ---- fund this website?
While we’re on the topic, who funds this site? I couldn’t find anything about it in your “About Us” section.
Thanks for your response to Phoenix, appreciate the comments on your latex sleep experience. If you’re interested in sharing your on-going mattress shopping progress with the TMU Forum or have other questions, we would enjoy hearing from you.
); however, to lash out at one of our trusted member manufacturer/ retailers during a peak volume season is unfair. And to be quite clear on your last point citing “this forum (was a) beacon of light in the corrupt and deceptive mattress industry”, your tone completely dishonors the countless hours/ days/ years that are worked here to provide research and advocate on behalf of You, the Consumer and to educate, advise and support transparency in the mattress industry. We stand by the value of our