Hi, I'm close to making a decision on buying a latex mattress, probably from Flobeds or Sleepez. Hardly anyone reviews their mattress a year later or 2-3 years later. If you have owned your flobed/sleepez mattress for at least a few months, I was hoping you could comment on a couple of  things.

- Could you tell me when you got your latex mattress?

- Could you comment on how well your zippered mattress cover (not the mattress protector) made by Flobeds fits around the latex. Is is fairly tight and has it stayed that way? One thing I don't want to have is a  wrinkled mattress cover under the sheets. That's one thing I like about the traditional mattresses--the top is smooth and taut.

- If you have a bed split down the middle can you feel the split or do you have a top layer that goes all the way across?

- any other supplier with prices/customer service similar or better than Sleepez/flobeds?

I'm pretty sure I'm going for talalay, blended or natural. I like the idea of knowing exactly what's inside so I'd rather go for a sleepez or flobeds mattress vs some serta "latex" mattress with lots of stuff on top of the latex.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I got my latex mattress in October 2009

The zippered mattress cover fits snugly around the latex.  You may be imagining that the cover is a thin piece of material.  It is not.  It is a cotton knit with wook batting and is substantial. The cover fits snugly around the layers and to a casual observer who didn't know any differently, you would not know that it's a zippered cover.  It looks just like a regular mattress and has the same substance as a the outer covering of a regular mattress.  The mattress cover has not "wrinkled" or "shifted."  This is very unlikely to happen because 1) the mattress cover fits the latex snugly and 2) due to the nature of latex, it is not going to shift around inside the cover.

I cannot feel the split.  I can fell a difference in the firmness between the two sides of the bed, because there is a slight difference in the firmness of one of the layers on each side of the bed.  There is a top layer (not split) that covers the entire mattress, and of course, the mattress cover itself over that.  So there are really two layers covering the whole bed on top of the split layers.

The other supplier question I cannot answer.  I know that others have better prices, but no one has a better return/exchange policy than Flobeds.

Yes, with a Flobeds or Sleepez,, you know you will be getting 100% latex, your choice of all natural or blended.  I would not buy an S brand "latex" mattress that has just a layer of latex on top of PU foam.

I've been really happy with my latex mattress, and my husband, who objected to paying more than $800 for a new mattress and who rolled his eyes at all my research, and basically objected every step of the way, loves the mattress.

I don't have one but I bought from Flobeds once.
I don't think there is anyone out there who can compete with Flobeds and SleepEZ for quality and customer service, with Flobeds edging out SleepEZ due to their more liberal exchange of components policy.

I use latex layers in my DIY mattress and no, you don't feel the seams ... I have used zoned pieces and same-ILD pieces cut into thirds and I don't feel the seams at all. Also when we had the Flobeds we did not feel the seam in the middle.

I know your next question is "Why did I not keep the flobeds?"
Answer: All-foam is not for us. We like springs under our latex.

I have a new Sleepez king mattress and love it, but I can't give you a long term answer as we've only had it less than 2 weeks.  I would suggest you call FloBeds and Sleepez and talk with them.  We called them both and they were great to talk to with so much information and answers to questions from types, configurations, exchange, refund, etc.   My cotton/wool mattress cover fits snugly and looks like a regular mattress.