Hi everyone,

 

I want to put a mattress together, and I'm hoping you guys can give me some advice. I tested a few SavvyRest natural latex mattresses, and my favorite was their medium level of firmness. I want to ultimately buy 3 3" peices of natural latex (firm, medium, and softer). However, I'm going to start with a 3" soft topper and see how I like it. My biggest priority is for the latex toppers I buy to be as "natural" as possible. My next biggest priority is price. From what I've read, I think I would like to go with Talalay, because it is cooler, sturdier, and better quality than Dunlop (correct me if I'm wrong here), but I wouldn't mind doing a Dunlop bottom layer.

1. Most of the toppers I'm seeing only come in medium-soft and medium-firm varities. I've seen a few 2" firm to "very firm" toppers, but they seem to be few and far between, and are also a bit more expensive. For those of you who have DIYed, do you find these medium-firm toppers to be firm enough for your bottom layer?

2. I'm trying to decide between the following three toppers. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or feedback on the companies or the products.

 

mattresses.net topper

 

sleepwarehouse topper

 

absolute comfort on sale topper

My biggest concern is that the latex in the latex topper from mattresses.net is not completely made from natural latex. I haven't been able to find very much information about this "naturalux," by latexco, except for here and here. It certainly says that it is 100% latex in places, but not directly on the mattresses.net webpage. Otherwise, I will probably spend $100 more and go with the ACOS. Thank you in advance. There are a lot of choices in quality, seller, type of latex, thickness, firmness, etc., so any information you can provide will be great.

lmarie1 wrote:

The softess is 14.  100% Natural product has trouble reaching the ends of the ILD range, 14 and 44, which is where blended helps.  So, 16-18 would generally be considered the softess, or very soft.  Also, very soft degrades more quickly, but I would not let that stop me if it was needed, since you would just use it until it wore out.

But it might be too soft.  I have 3x3" LI Talalay blended 28-36-44.  The top is medium and marries well with the support below.  I would put 1-2" of 19-22 on top before I'd swap out the 28 for something softer... although I'd like to try 25.  This all gets very subjective and size dependent.

The 6" 36 Dunlop core is plausible... I would not go less firm.  I would go more firm if 6' and 200lbs.

Folding my layers, I've tried 28-44-44... wonderfully too firm, and 28-36-36... interesting but I like 28-36-44 better.

GK

I recently bought an organic natural latex mattress "extra firm" (ild 34-36) with 6" of dunlop on the bottom and a 2" layer of Talalay over that. I think the Talalay was rated as medium. (or possibly medium firm). I have back problems and need a firm and supportive mattress. The Talalay hurt my back because it was so "springy" or "resilient" (bouncy)  that it actually threw my back out of alignment. The Talalay, fortunately, was a removeable section which I can exchange. I definitely will get the dunlop for a replacement. When I feel the 2" Talalay layer after removing it, I can feel that it is just too springy and gives now support at all. I actually feel more comfortable sleeping on just the 6" of firm Dunlop, although it's not ideal, it better than the floor for now until i get a replacement layer. I'm going to order a replacement and now am just deliberating on whether to get a med or firm dunlop to replace the 2" Talalay.  My research does not show that Talalay is cooler of sturdier or better quality than Duplop. I got mine from plushbeds, but also recently read some helpful info on savyrest.com regarding how to choose the firmness and type of latex. They say dunlop for people with back disc and nerve pain for better support.

I didn't know that the two inch Talalay could be replaced with dunlop through Plushbeds. Actually, I'm concerned at this point because my foundation came from them with damage and so far they have failed to return two calls to customer service I just sent an email and hopefully will hear back quickly. I will let you know if there is a problem with their support, in a new topic so other's can be warned.

mattressnut wrote:

 

This post has nothing to do with memory foam....searching your posts....it seems you are a spammer....

Absolutecomfort and SleepWarehouse products are very similar from info on their websites.  I've ordered some samples from SleepWarehouse and per tracking info should have those in 3 days.  Latexco has a line of 100% natural latex, but the majority of their products sold look to be blended and not 100% latex.  I was able to get a pass to sneak into the ISPA show here in Indy (back in March) and was able to check out their product line, as well as a few others.  I have some samples coming from them as well (their 100% natural product - which I believe is also Dunlop)  It's really interesting to see the same comments over and over regarding Talalay being more durable, last longer and "better" then dunlop products.  I've come to believe this is more based on the number of resellers pushing Talalay, since it is easier for smaller resellers to source due to US distributors like Latexco and Latex International.  Quizzed a bunch of latex sellers at the show and all responses were "opinion" based and nothing from testing(?)I've sent several emails to Latex International asking them for data on tests they have conducted with Talalay and Dunlop and cannot get an answer.  I wasn't able to see the Absolute and SleepWarehouse products at the show FWIW.  I was able to lay on some "soft" (which ILD's ranged a little different for each manufacturer/reseller).  I think the 18 ILD range is going to be my comfort layer up top.  Middle layer in the 26 ILD range and waiting to see what the 38 ILD dunlop feels like for a base...samples coming.

I hope to have my DIY latex mattress put together shortly and will post back up when its done.