Here is my story...hope this will help some of you considering buying latex foam. I have been searching for MONTHS which route to take on purchasing! Due to the chemical increase and health increase issues in this country, I decided to go latex. Finally convinced my hubby too! He suffers from allergies at night. Hoping this will also alleviate that and assuming it was from our previous conventional mattress.

Our Foambymail.com latex arrived in 6 days  after I ordered it online. UPS shipped it and left it at the sidewalk, without protection. It weighed 130 lbs. I believe that is an "oil spot." FBM had the latex so wrapped in plastic that it did not leak through thank goodness! Not sure if that was from UPS or FBM. But, I'm willing to give mercy since it did not affect the mattress at all.

After ripping off the cardboard, here is our very tightly bound latex.  I decided to use our livingroom to open it rather then on the bed so I could get around it all to make adjustments.  ADDED NOTE AFTER THE FACT...UNLESS YOU HAVE 4 PEOPLE, UNFOLD IT ON THE BED!!! IT'S NOT ONLY HEAVY, IT'S AWKWARD TO CARRY!!!

After getting all the saran wrap material off, this is what we have. There was a very slight odor, but could have been from the plastic. I have NOT noticed any sense of smell other then a "new" odor. Nothing chemical smelling, just a fresh natural smell.

As you can see all 3 layers were already in the terry cloth zippered cover. I expected just the 6" core to be.

After initially laying it out, this is what it looked like.

After unzipping the terry cloth case, the latex appears to be clean, but the layers have shifted due to shipping and rolling it up. Naturally going to happen of course. On the other side of this, the layers were hanging off the edge.

We purchased a 6" firm core, 2" medium, 1" soft. Total of 9".

Total of 9". The latex is very clean. No complaints there!

I was told on the phone by their Cust Serv Rep there would be some imperfections. I'm assuming this is what they were referring to.

The top 2 layers appeared to be a little bit wider then the core. Or I could not get the core completly relaxed out since I was by myself doing this. It is VERY heavy! The latex material does give easily just awkward to move.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the "stretchy material case." FBM has an upgrade of terry cloth for $20, definitely worth it. This was a 10" terry cloth cover. Our latex was a total of 9". Although I'd rather have a completely chemical free bed (20% polyester in terry cloth cover), I'll take what I can get. We plan on purchasing the Dormier wool cover as well (thanks to the many recommendations on here.) The stretchy material allows you to tweek! You ladies will understand if you've ever put on pantyhose!

Having it on the floor to tweek was much better then trying to do this on the bed itself, although I know most companies recommend doing the unfolding on the bed because of the weight of it. I was able to walk around the entire mattress this way though.

The terry cloth is very soft too. Everything is an off white color. It's not as yellow looking as my photo shows.

I did lay on it for a few minutes with it on the floor and it was very comfortable. Time will tell sleeping on it a few nights once it's in our room on our foundation. We already expect that for the next few days, our backs will need time adjusting to it though. That will be my next post in a few days.

The total price for 9" QUEEN 100% natural latex (they emailed me the certificate from Europe testing-I know 'who's to say it's for theirs or not,' but I'm willing to trust them on this) was $877.97. (Although I could have gotten it cheaper had I of ordered it a few days earlier...they just had a price increase, which I was not surprised. I did see other companies stating there would be an increase on latex across the country very soon.)

Overall though, based on appearance and value, I'm very pleased thus far for a "DIY sort of company" bed from foambymail.com .

Tracey.

Thanks again for the great post and getting back to me.  Unfortunately, at 61 years and no more working out, I have lost the "buns of steel" I used to have.  Probably some gap at the small of my back, indicating how firm all that is.

I have a 1 inch "soft" 20 ILD from FBM and 2 inch "soft" from FBM like yours.  Because I have had both dunlop and Talalay latex before, I believe you and I have "Dunlop" because of the non uniform appearance. Not a problem to me (sleeps cooler and firmer... less jiggly than Talalay) ... but Dunlop is definitely firmer.  A poster  said add 10 to Dunlop ILD to compare to Talalay ILD.  So my 6 inches of talalaylast night  was like 30 ILD from most of the posters using Talalay International who supplies the big high dollar suppliers.  And my previous experiments with one inch, 2 x one inch, one inch + 2 inch, etc. on a very firm Serta Auburn Firm matttress must be very close to your mattress.

My conclusion is to exhaust possibilities with softening up the 1-2 inches of "comfort layer" in the mattress vernacular.

Because I believe I have "dunlop"... equivalent of 30 ILD.... I believe there are some softer talalay one or two inch toppers to exhaust before pitching my mattress.

As you may have seen here, not everyone is successful right out of the box... some never... with the DIY mattress experiment.

Glad you were.

shovel99

FBM claims they are Talalay...do you think they aren't then? Mine was very jiggly trying to move it and with just 2 of us, we couldn't even go 1 foot without stopping.

I know it makes it very difficult when you can't lay on one before hand to try out!   Hopefully you will find your perfect match soon! Buying a mattress is not an easy thing to do! I do think what's underneath the latex DOES make a difference.

Thanks!

I'm back to give an update on our latex mattress...it's been 1 whole year now and I still have NO complaints. In fact, I haven't had a cold or sinus issues since sleeping on latex! It REALLY has made a difference.

Tracey

Thanks for sharing.

"The total price for 9" QUEEN 100% natural latex (they emailed me the certificate from Europe testing-I know 'who's to say it's for theirs or not,"

I read that European companies are allowed to label something 100% natural latex, even if only 80% is natural, and the remaining 20% is synthetic. I can't find the link now, but I'll keep looking. Does anyone have information on this?

Thanks,

pimy

Very helpful posting.  It caused me to decide against BeautyRest Black line in favor of buying foam from FBM.  I am planning to order the same configuration as you did: 6, 2, 1  Your logic of getting a third layer is good!

I am wondering what the difference between the 29 and 36 ILD is?  Which number did you get?

Thanks

David

And they package it like that, drop on curb with no signature?

Whuh?  We have a foam factory in Fremont, but I wouldn't buy a mattress from them.  That is not their specialty.  It would be special order foam and final sale anyway.

Thanks in advance 

Dee