I tried out and liked Berkeley Ergonomics’ all-natural 8" latex mattress in firmness C. There are four levels of firmness A-D. A being the softest and D being the firmest. Does anyone know the ILDs on the 6" dunlop core and the 2" C firmness talalay comfort layer? If I have the ILD specs could sleepez make pretty much the same mattress? Sleepez’s April 8" all latex mattress special has pretty much the same material and thickness as BE’s 8" latex mattress except that Sleepez uses two 3" dunlop layers as the support instead of one 6" layer, but the price would be almost a $1000 cheaper compared to buying a BE mattress locally.
Hi mapadoobu,
If all the layers and components are identical including the cover and quilting then it would be the same yes but this would depend on whether SleepEz carries the specific latex and ILD’s that BE uses and the covers would also be different (which can make significant difference in the cost and “feel” of a mattress). you can read more about trying to “match” another mattress in post #14 here. Every difference between then would make a difference in how they compare in terms of feel and performance.
There is no doubt that the SleepEz “special” is unusually good value but it would not be the same as the BE. Once again the cover and quilting is different (the SleepEz special cover is unquilted and has no wool which and is a much less costly component) and the latex layers may be different as well so to the degree that you could match the latex types and ILD it would be similar but the different covers and quilting would certainly make a difference both in terms of feel and performance as well as value. A better comparison in terms of matching the layers and components would be in between the SleepEz 9000 natural (which gives you the option between 100% natural Dunlop which would be similar to the BE or blended Talalay if you choose the Talalay) and the SleepEz 9000 organic (which gives you options between organic Dunlop or 100% natural Talalay which is what BE uses in their comfort layer) and has a wool quilted cover similar to the BE.
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix,
Thanks for the reply. I’ve learned a lot from your website. As far as the latex layers are concerned with the 8" special, even though the website says 8" Dunlop all natural latex mattress, if you look at the description it’s different. I called Shawn to confirm what they use for the 8" special and he said two 3" 100% natural dunlop for the core and one 2" 100% natural talalay comfort layer which is the exact same thickness and type of latex used in the Berkeley Ergonomics 8" all-latex mattress. Does the cover and quilting make that much of a difference, and if so, would upgrading the cover and quilting on the SleepEZ 8" special to what the BE all-latex mattress uses cost that much more?
Also, do you happen to know the ILD specs of the BE all-latex mattress in firmness C?
Thanks
Hi mapadoobu,
Yes … this is what I was trying to explain. The “special” uses the same type of latex but the cover and quilting are different. In the 9000 models … the types of latex would be slightly different in both versions. The natural 9000 would use the same Dunlop on the bottom 6" if you chose it for these layers but the top 2" would be blended Talalay if you chose Talalay. In the organic 9000 the bottom 6" would be organic Dunlop instead of 100% natural Dunlop if you chose Dunlop (organic is more costly than the natural Dunlop) but the top 2" would be 100% natural Talalay if you chose Talalay. The reason these would be more comparable would be because the covers are more closely equivalent (wool quilted with cotton).
It would certainly make a difference in the cost of the mattress yes and it would also make a difference in the feel and performance. Some people would say the “feel” difference was smaller and some would say the difference was larger … depending on their perceptions … but it would certainly be noticeable. You can’t “upgrade” the cover on the special as far as I know because then you would be buying one of the two 9000 models (although they could confirm this with them because they are the ones who will provide the most accurate information about the options they have available).
I don’t know what the BE covers cost or the details of their profit margins or any of the other considerations that would go into how they price their mattresses but I know that the difference between the SleepEz 9000 models and their special would be partly because the special has a lower margin and fewer options for latex choices (which is why it’s a “special”) and also because of the lower cost of the cover. The lower margin is also why SleepEz offers a pillow bonus instead of the 5% discount to forum members on this particular mattress (see post #2 here).
More than anything though I wanted to get across that a cover can make a real difference in both the cost, feel, and performance of a mattress because many people only look at the foam when they are trying to “approximate” another mattress in terms of either performance or value and may be surprised at the difference a cover can make in both.
Since organic Dunlop is very similar to the natural Dunlop in terms of its feel and composition … the organic 9000 with two bottom layers of Dunlop and the 100% natural Talalay in the top 2" would probably be the closest equivalent in terms of how it feels and performs to the BE (if the ILD’s of the latex were the same and depending on the similarity of the covers) so you could ask SleepEz how their special would compare to the 9000 organic and the difference that the cover would make which would give you some meaningful information about how the special would also compare to the BE as well.
Phoenix