Hey Everyone,
Just wondering if there’s a showroom near Santa Barbara that I can actually go into and test a Latex Mattress.
Thanks,
Brian
Hi lightfuzz,
There are two local manufacturers in the Santa Barbara/Ventura area but one of them doesn’t fit the profile of a typical local manufacturer. They are …
Churchill & Smith Dealer List | Churchill & Smith Ventura, CA. Makes a range of high quality latex and latex/innerspring hybrids that use good quality materials and are well worth considering. You can see some of my comments about them and my conversation with Spencer who is the owner in post # here. They would be well worth including in your research.
http://www.orthomattress.com/ Santa Barbara, Ventura, and other CA locations. They make their own mattresses but they also carry some major brands which are not particularly good value and which they promote which is somewhat of a warning sign to me that their own mattresses may also be overpriced. They have not been the most forthcoming or knowledgeable about what is in their mattresses or the other brands that they sell and there is no meaningful information on their website about their mattresses. I’m including them for reference only not because I believe they would make a particularly good choice.
I also spent the day looking at local retailers because I hadn’t done any research in the Santa Barbara area and I was quite surprised that there are as many retailers as there are there. Many of them carry latex or latex hybrids from various manufacturers and some of them appear to have good value. When you are looking at local retail outlets it’s always best to talk with them on the phone first along the lines of this article both to find out what types of mattresses they carry on their floor (websites are often out of date) and to find out how knowledgeable they are and how much they are able and willing to provide meaningful information about what is in their mattresses. Without knowing this before you spend time there … you can waste a lot of time visiting retailers that have little knowledge about their mattresses or ability to help you know which of them really have better quality/value.
Some of the better options in the area (and the brands they carry that may be worth including in your research depending on which models they carry) include …
http://santabarbaramattress.net/
http://www.venturamattresscenter.com/ Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Ventura, CA. Owned by the same family as Churchill and Smith Carries their own Churchill & Smith line, Diamond, Spinal Care, Stress-O-Pedic, some Pure Latex Bliss, and a few others (outside of the major brands they carry which I would avoid) on the floor. Good people and trying to do things right. Also carries Aireloom, Hastens, and Carpe Diem (which are ultra premium brands). They don’t know a lot about foam specs in their stores (other than latex) but they are very focused on healthy mattresses and they carry quite a few good quality latex options.
http://www.camarillomattress.com/ Camarillo, CA. Part of the same Curchill and Smith family. They also carry some of the Churchill & Smith line as well as Diamond and Stress-O-Pedic.
http://www.shopthesleepshoppe.com/locations.php Oxnard, Agoura Hills, Newbury Park, Simi Valley, CA. Berkeley Ergonomics, Pure Latex Bliss, and some other major brands (which I would be very cautious about).
http://www.mattressmikesb.com/ Goleta, CA. Diamond, Coaster, Springfield. I talked with the owner here and was impressed with his knowledge and transparency and approach to selling mattresses. He knows his stuff and hand selects the mattresses he carries for quality and value and will find out any information that a customer wants. Carries a complete range of mattresses from promotional to all latex.
16888精品货源入口/免费完整版片-最新观看 Goleta, Oxnard, CA. Spinal Care, Restonic. I talked with Oscar here and he is good people and committed to helping educate his customers and help them make the best possible quality/value decisions. He is knowledgeable and will find the answers to any questions he doesn’t know including foam densities. His Spinal Care mattresses are his entry line and then he carries Restonic hybrids which include latex and memory foam.
http://myamericanmattress.com/brands/
http://www.organicrootsmattress.com/ Ventura, CA. Organic Roots, Sleep Air. Carry some latex hybrids but I would be a little cautious here and make sure you know the specifics of every layer in the mattress (see post #6 here)
Mattress Oxnard, Mattress Ventura, Furniture, Camarillo Mattress Oxnard, CA. Diamond, Englander, Spring Air.
http://www.shopthesleepshoppe.com/ Oxnard, CA Englander, Pure Latex Bliss, Natura
http://www.kcfurniture.biz/ Oxnard, CA. Diamond, Stress-O-Pedic
http://www.haciendafurniture.net/ Oxnard, CA Lady Americana, Diamond
http://www.reedsfurnitureoxnard.com/ Oxnard, CA. Diamond, Stress-O-Pedic
Out of these … Churchill & Smith, Pure Latex bliss, Berkeley Ergonomics, Diamond, Spinal Care, Natura, Sleep Air, Restonic, Organic Roots, all make latex or latex hybrid mattresses (but check each retailer to see if they carry their latex models) and some of these may have good value as well.
The next closest factory direct manufacturers are in the Los Angeles list in post #2 here.
Phoenix
Wow! Thanks for the extended list. It will take me a while to digest so much info!
Hi lightfuzz,
As I’ve had the chance to talk with some of them I’ve been adding some notes to the list (and eliminating some of the initial options I listed as well).
Some of the choices are certainly more knowledgeable and helpful than others and time permitting I’ll add a few more notes to some of the ones that I haven’t had the chance to talk with.
Choosing a better retailer that understands the importance of giving you all the necessary information about what is in their mattresses can be one of the most important parts of choosing the best quality/value mattress. The ones I eliminated were the ones that didn’t understand the importance of this or weren’t able to provide the quality specs of the layers in their mattresses.
Phoenix
Hey Phoenix,
My wife went to American Mattress in Ventura, CA today and sampled some latex beds there. They carried several of the Organic Roots brand and one Diamond Ethos mattress. The Organic Roots model were: The Ojai Valley, Montecito, and Santa Fe Plush. here; http://www.organicrootsmattress.com/mattresses.php
The Diamond was a Ethos Luxury Plush for $1100.
My wife is 115lbs, I’m 170. We like medium firmness, erroring on the side of firm.
Just wondering what your thoughts would be about selection and value. thanks.
Hi lightfuzz,
I haven’t had a chance to talk with Organicroots recently but when I talked with them almost a year ago and asked them why they were calling their polyfoam “organic foam” when it wasn’t … they told me they didn’t know and that’s what the manufacturer called it. I guess they haven’t investigated the details of their mattresses or the materials since that time.
There is no such thing as either “green”, natural, or organic polyfoam (or memory foam) although some polyfoam and memory foam manufacturers do replace some of the polyols used to manufacture polyurethane foams with plant oil based polyols (usually about 20% or less of the petrochemical polyols are replaced). Since polyols are only one of two main chemicals used to manufacture polyfoam … this means that about half of the “soy replacment” percentage would be the plant oil based content of the foam.
In addition to this … in most cases the plant based polyol replacement is made from soy and the soy oil has to be chemically altered to be suitable for use (one of the few plant oils that don’t have to be altered is castor oil but this has it’s own issues and is more expensive). In other words they are no more “natural” than petroleum (although plant oils are more renewable) which is also a natural substance and is used as the source for the chemicals used to make polyfoam and plastics (and many other chemicals). Soy is also one of the worlds largest GMO crops and is one of the main crops that are responsible for the destruction of the Brazilian rain forest so to call “biofoam” made from soy either “green”, ecofriendly (it doesn’t break down or biodegrade), or even natural … much less organic … is greenwashing at its finest. It’s just another version of polyfoam and like all polyfoam … the density information is the most important part of its quality and durability.
I would want to make sure that there was no more than about an inch of lower density polyfoam in the comfort layers which could otherwise be the weak link of these mattresses and I would want to know the density of any polyfoam used in the support layers as well. I would also want to know the type of latex they were using because if they can mis-list one ingredient them could do the same with others.
There are lots of unanswered questions here.
The Ojai Valley is just a low coil count innerspring (type unknown) mattress that uses polyfoam for the comfort layers and at least one of those layers is 1.5 lb (low/mid quality).
The Montecito is a pocket coil (coil count unknown) with what looks like 1" of polyfoam in the quilting … 2" of some kind of latex (not specified) as a comfort layer … and then another inch of polyfoam (1.5 lbs) underneath this on top of the springs. Not bad but not great in terms of lower density polyfoam content.
The Santa Fe lists the same layering as the Ojai but the foams are probably softer (and there is no latex in this one either)
I’m guessing that the Diamond you are looking at is the Peace luxury plush (it’s the only one listed that has a luxury plush version). If this is the case … then it uses 2" of Talalay latex in the comfort layers but it doesn’t say anything about the other layers in the mattress so I would want the retailer to find out the specific layering and the density of any polyfoam in the mattress. Diamond also uses “plant based foam” but they don’t claim it’s organic or even natural.
So if I was considering these mattresses … I would want to know the type of latex being used (which is known in the Diamond) and the density of the polyfoam that they were using as well. A better retailer will understand the importance of these questions and will find out the answers for you from their manufacturer so that you can assess the quality and value of their mattresses.
Phoenix
Hello–
I wish I had known about your site sooner. I could have save myself some back and financial pain!
There are two “factory direct” manufacturers in Ventura California about 70 miles from LA.
In an effort to shop local, I purchased a mattress from local company Organic Roots Mattress. This company had glowing reviews on Yelp and other local review sites.
www.organicrootsmattress.com/
The model I purchased is the Santa Fe, which the website states is Organic Latex Foam.
Santa Fe - Organic Green
Unit 338 Foam Encased .75 Oz Pad, 2" Organic Foam
Non/Flip .75 Oz Organic Pad - .5" Organic Foam (1.5 Density)
Cover - Organic Green 2oz Org Cotton/1oz Org Wool
Fabric Content - 100% Untreated Organic Fabric
I am not happy with the product. It started to sag after only 7 months of wear, but not enough to invoke warranty. I believe is the cause of major shoulder and neck problems. After much discussion with the owner, I discovered that this mattress contains innersprings as well as soy-based foam. Neither of these were mentioned during the sale or on the website. I was so disgusted with the entire process that I just donated the mattress to charity.
How can Organic Roots get away with his deceptive and misleading advertising practices? When I suggested that his latex or soy-based foam could not be considered organic. He kept repeating “where are you getting this information”. He seemed most concerned about a negative review I posted on yelp.
The other local factory is Spencer’s www.venturamattress.com/
I did buy a 100% natural latex topper from this place in an effort to “save” my organic mattress. So far I have been pleased with this item. But am very cautious about purchasing another mattress from a local company for fear of being lied to or ripped off again.
This company has almost no warranty on mattresses or return policy.
Has anyone else dealt with either of these companies?
Thank You
Hi Jeannart,
You can see my thoughts about the organicroots descriptions in post #6 here.
In all fairness they do show that their mattresses have innersprings in the descriptions (including the description you posted) but I agree that there is no legitimate way to call polyfoam (soy based or otherwise) “organic” (see post #2 here). There is organic Dunlop latex available (see post #6 here) but given the other errors or misinformation in their listing it would be legitimate to question whether the latex they were using was organic and I would want to see some validation for this (Such as the organic certification for the materials they use).
You can see my thoughts about them (along with SantaBarbara Mattress and Spencer and Smith which is the name of the mattress they manufacture) in post #6 here.
I would be very cautious with the first and think much more highly of the second.
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix…
Thank you for your reply. I can only hope that my experience serves as a warning to others.
I may not be looking at the information correctly, but can you tell me where in the description of the Santa Feel model it states that it has inner springs? Is Unit 338?
At the time I was so uninformed, I thought I was purchasing an “organic latex foam” mattress that was similar to memory foam but without the off-gassing issues.
I remember discussing this with the sales person and he said nothing to dispell my ignorance.
Just angry with myself I learned a rather expensive lesson…
Thanks again,
Jeanneart
Hi Jeanneart,
Yes … this means a 338 coil innerspring (usually but not always quoted as the number of springs in a full size) and is probably a basic Bonnell unit.
It’s unfortunate when salespeople are more interested in making a sale than they are in educating their customers or correcting a clear misunderstanding of the construction of a mattress and it’s sad that this is so common in the industry.
Phoenix