I bought my king size latex mattress from Sleep EZ last summer. I have been happy with the mattress when I sleep alone…but not when I share the bed with my husband: I feel every movement he makes on his side of the bed…and he moves a lot!
We put the latex mattress on our old box spring, so I am wondering if getting a new foundation would help, or if this is just the nature of a latex mattress. Any guidance you might offer Phoenix would be appreciated!
It will be interesting to see what Phoenix has to say about this, because despite all of the literature that talks about the reduced motion transfer properties of latex, I have found no difference between my all-latex bed and my old innerspring mattress in that respect. Every move my husband makes, I feel it! And I have the mattress on a slat foundation, so I don’t know that your box spring is the culprit.
I was surprised about this as well as I don’t recall motion transfer being an issue. I feel more motion with my latex than my old spring mattress. I was really hoping that a new foundation would make a difference. Phoenix, do you know what we can do to alleviate this problem?
Hi Fairfaxmom,
A foundation under your mattress would certainly contribute to having better motion isolation but it would depend on the type and force of the movement and on the thickness of your mattress as well (a thicker mattress would isolate you more from the springs). You could test any difference it makes by trying your mattress on a solid surface like the floor to see how much difference it makes for you.
Post #2 here talks about latex and motion separation but I’ll go into a little more detail here.
Latex as a whole has better motion separation than most other materials or innersprings but it will also vary by the construction of the mattress and the type and firmness of the latex. In general there are two types of vibration “damping”. One of these is larger more “bouncy” movements which have a higher amplitude and a lower frequency (like changing position or bouncing on the mattress) and most latex mattresses are very good at motion separation in this regard (again depending on the construction of the mattress and its firmness level). You could for example do the "glass or bowl of water test with the glass or bowl on one side and vertical movement on the other and it would do well. The motion separation is not as good as memory foam though which absorbs most energy (has high hysteresis) while latex is much more resilient and stores and returns most of the compression forces. The motion separation with latex comes from its “point elasticity” which means its ability to compress in one area without affecting the areas around it and in this way it is like pocket coils (which can also compress more individually than innersprings that are connected together with helical wires).
The other type of “damping” though is smaller movements or “surface vibration” and this also will depend on the softness of the latex and on the ticking and quilting layer in the mattress (or sometimes even a tight mattress protector or sheets). Firmer latex will have a higher resonant frequency and lower amplitude (transmit higher frequency vibrations) and softer latex will have a lower resonant frequency and a higher amplitude (transmit lower frequency vibrations). If you are directly on the latex it can transmit more “vibration” or smaller movements horizontally through the material in my experience and of course this will also depend on how close together you sleep. With a quilting layer to absorb this (such as natural fibers or memory foam or a mattress pad or other less resilient foams or materials) this will also be reduced.
Overall I would think it’s reasonable to say and most manufacturers would agree that latex is “good” with motion separation, especially the slower heavier types of movement such as turning over or bouncing or getting out of bed and are an improvement over other materials (except memory foam) but again this depends on the type of movement or vibration and the specific construction of the mattress, the ticking and quilting materials, and the materials or components above and below the latex and even the bedding above the latex as well.
Phoenix
Thank you (yet again!) for your help, Phoenix.
I’m curious how you are liking the mattress four years later?
Yes, I wonder how she’s liking the SleepEZ. I’m still enjoying my Green Sleep. Hope you’re enjoying whatever you decided to buy!
Hi rockalicious2013,
Welcome back! And thank you for your update. I’m glad you’re still enjoying your mattress.
Phoenix