Will latex ever feel like memory foam?

My wife is 5’7" 120 and I’m 5’9" 155. I’m a primary back sleeper, and my wife is a side/stomach sleeper. Although right now we are tossing and turning a lot. We have a 13 year old, higher end, pillow top mattress, and it’s time for it to be retired for the typical reasons. We saw the Casper and thought wow, that sounds like a great option. After sleeping on it a month, Casper arranged for it to go to the Salvation Army and we got our money back. We like the company and that we were able to help a charity with a very nice mattress, but now after reading your site, it is clear that one size will only work for a subset of people.

Now for the question. We like a very soft bed, but we aren’t sure we like the slow response and quick sand feeling of soft gel memory foam like the Cloud Luxe. I was thinking of going with the Dreamfoam 13" Gel Memory foam bed, but my wife and I both agree we would love to get the soft hugging sensation, but have a little more bounce. We are now considering the Dreamfoam UD Eurotop at a comfort level of 9 or 10 so we get that very plush pillow top feel we like. I’ve read many of your tips on the site and several of your mattress forum topics. I read about the guy that got the 7 and found it to hard, but you recommended against the 9 or 10. He was heavier than we are. Do you think we could get what we want out of this bed at a 9 or a 10? What would be the cons of having something so soft? Thanks in Advance for any advice.

Hi Doran,

The short answer is no … they are completely different materials that have very different properties.

There is more about how latex and memory foam compare and the pros and cons of each of them in post #2 here.

Unfortunately there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to predict which mattress will be the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or "theory at a distance (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

The risk of comfort layers that are too thick/soft for a particular person are that you may end up sleeping out of alignment. There is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel” and why some mattresses are suitable for some people but not for others that have a different body type, sleeping position, or preferences or sensitivities.

There is more about the different ways to choose a mattress (locally or online) that can help you assess and minimize the risks involved with each of them in post #2 here but when you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer who can help “talk you through” the options they have available based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. They will know more about “matching” their specific mattress designs to different body types, sleeping positions, and preferences and which of the firmness and layering options they have available will have the best chance of success than anyone else.

As you know the Eurotop also has the advantage of being able to exchange the firmness of the latex comfort layer so if you choose a firmness that isn’t as suitable as you hoped for then you have the option of exchanging it for a different firmness level without having to exchange or replace the entire mattress.

Phoenix

I have been talking to Dreamfoam and read some of the articles on your site, including some of the ones you pointed out. We are trying to decide if we would be happy on latex or memory foam. Since we can’t really test a latex in person, we were only able to test the Cloud Luxe, which is what Dreamfoam claims their 13" gel memory foam mattress feels like, we are unsure. Do you know a company here in Houston we could test a Latex one at? We basically feel we want to softness of that mattress, but a more springer feel, so we don’t feel trapped by the bed. From a practical standpoint, will the talalay foam in a 9 or 10 give us at our weight, the softness we want to feel. We want to sink into the mattress some, but want to be able to move still. Dream foam seemed hesitant when offering the softness level of a 9 or 10 with the Eurotop, but that is what they think we would like at this point.

Hi Doran,

The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the Houston area (subject to the guidelines here) are listed in post #2 here and there are certainly some latex options available that you could test in the area.

Phoenix