Hello,
Trying to decide the layers in Sleep EZ 13000 latex… Thinking of going with 100% natural Talalay for all 4 layers and wondering how much durability I will sacrifice. I’ve read on this site as well as others that Dunlop base layers are preferred for firmness and longevity. Are we talking a few years or several?
Thank you,
Chip
Hi chip04,
I changed “loose” to “lose” in your topic title (loose is the opposite of tight).
I would keep in mind that any type or blend of latex in general is a very durable material compared to other types of foam materials. There is more about the differences between 100% natural Talalay and blended Talalay in post #2 here and it would probably be fair to say that you would lose “some” durability with 100% natural Talalay in the softer ILD’s.
While there is no way to quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when you will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for you (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines here then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years. With higher quality and more durable materials like latex (including 100% natural Talalay) or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.
The upper layers of any mattress (including latex) will compress more than the deeper layers so they are more subject to the gradual softening and breakdown that will happen with any material but one of the advantages of a component latex mattress is that if the top layer softens or breaks down before the others after an extended period of time or if your needs or preferences change over time then you can just replace a single layer without needing to replace the entire mattress.
The choice between Talalay and Dunlop in any of the layers in a mattress is strictly a preference and budget choice rather than a “better/worse” choice and in general I would treat Dunlop and Talalay as being close equivalents in terms of durability. I would disagree with what you’ve read on other sites (and it’s certainly not something that I would have written) that say that Dunlop is more durable than Talalay (or vice versa). There is more about the pros and cons of Talalay vs Dunlop 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 or personal experience.
Phoenix