Where do you recommend buying a latex mattress? We are looking for natural and organic but looking on a budget as well. We’ve done extensive research and your blog has helped us a great deal. However there are so many options and price variations that we just want to make the best decision for us on a latex mattress without completely going broke. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Lori :S
Hi Lkhall1,
While I do recommend the members here “as a group” because I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency … there are also other sources of good quality/value mattresses as well that aren’t members of this site (at least yet).
I don’t make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial)or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
There is also more about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
If you are looking at local options then if you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.
If you are also considering online options then the mattress shopping tutorial includes this link to a list of the members here that sell mattresses online (in the optional online step) and many of them also sell latex and latex hybrid mattresses that use different types and blends of latex (including natural Dunlop and Talalay and organic Dunlop) that have a wide range of different designs, options, features, return and exchange policies, and prices that would be well worth considering.
Posts #3 and #4 here also includes a list of some of the better latex or latex hybrid options I’m aware of that are in a budget range of $1200 or less (queen size).
Most people that are looking for an “organic” mattress are usually concerned more with “safety” than whether the materials have an actual organic certification. There is more information about the three different levels of organic certifications in post #2 here and some of the benefits of an organic certification in post #3 here and there is more about the different types of organic and safety certifications in post #2 here and more about some of the differences between organic and safety certifications in post #2 here and there are some comments in post #42 here that can help you decide whether an organic certification is important to you for environmental, social, or personal reasons or whether a “safety” certification is enough.
All the latex you are likely to encounter (either Dunlop or Talalay that is made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will have a reliable certification such as Oeko-Tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold, or C2C and based on actual testing I would also consider any type or blend of latex to be a very “safe” material in terms of harmful substances and VOC’s.
The choice between different types and blends of latex is more of a preference and budget choice rather than a “better/worse” choice and any type or blend of latex is a durable material relative to other types of foam materials. There is more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here and more about how Dunlop compares to Talalay in general in post #7 here but the best way to know which type or blend of latex you tend to prefer will be based on your own testing and/or your own personal experience.
Phoenix