All, after a LONG  and exhaustive review of all the mattress options, I finally ordered a latex mattress from Sleepez  two days ago. I ordered one of their 'Specials' which includes the same cores as the other mattresses, except that it comes with a terry cloth cover instead of the cotton/wool cover. Configuration: Firm/medium/soft talalay 2".

Should arrive by middle of next week. Will give next update after it arrives.

Eagle2 and Kimberley,

thanks to both of you for your advise. I have already returned my mattress to sleepez. Given my personal experience with the firm/med/soft configuration, I am now inclined towards getting the dunlop  'extra firm / extra firm / med" (9" thick) or simply an 'extra firm / extra firm" (6" thick) from sleepez.

BTW, it will be great if you can think of any non-latex options - I am just not quite a fan of the 'bouncy' feeling of latex (even though my 5yr old son LOVES to jump on it !)

thanks!

one more thing that I for got add in my earlier note: I am 5'10" tall male and weigh 140lbs; so I was thinking that two layers of extra firm may be enough as I am on the lighter side

Again, will appreciate your thoughts.  thanks

shakman wrote:
Give your size shackman, the two layers might work. But I would think with this configuration, it would be even more important what kind of foundation you are putting these two layers on. I'm a big believer, when buying a latex bed, to have a very firm and solid foundation, otherwise how do you know where the give is, and how much give are you actually getting out of your foundation?

At your weight of 140 pounds you might even get by with a bottom layer of extra firm with a top layer of firm. There are a lot more variables to consider than one would think there is in choosing the proper firmness with a latex mattress.

You can always add a 2 inch convoluted layer of soft Talalay latex, if the bed is not soft enough.

If you're not a fan of latex, why not try a waterbed.  I hear they're pretty comfortable.  I would have considered a waterbed myself if I lived in a single story home . . .

I agree with Kimberly. I do not believe there is a less expensive mattress on the market today that can provide more comfort for the money than a waterbed. I slept on two different beds for over 20 years. Since my last bed had broken down, the only reason I changed was that at my age, and stage of life, I wanted to try something different.

You can probably buy a soft sided waterbed for under $1000. As Kimberly indicated the big problem is.... do you have a solid foundation to put it on, and that includes a solid floor. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon. My California King, with me in it, weighed well over 1000 pounds, that's a lot of weight! Then there is the possibility for leaks. And if you do want to change it, or move it, you better own a water pump or be able to rent one. While my waterbeds never leaked on me, the flotation material did break loose inside the bladder and wanted to bunch up on one side. When I finally took it apart I found that the inner liner had ripped out in the corner. Had the bladder ever leaked I would have had a room full of water several inches deep.

If you do go with a waterbed I would highly recommend 80 to 90% waveless waterbeds. They have the potential for sleeping very, very, well.

Okay..since I sleep on a hardside waterbed I'll give you my 2 cents.  The wife and I sleep on a 100% waveless waterbed with added lumbar support, this is after 3 years of sleeping on a innerspring that I did mattress surgery on.     The mattress cost around $400.00 and we love it.  People seem to be scared of waterbeds but once it is set up all I have to do is put in conditioner  once or twice a year and clean the vinyl( no chance of dust mites).  Since I don't have any cats I can't imagine a leak occurring but if one did occur there is a liner that would catch the water.

When people are considering an alternative sleep system, I think waterbeds should be in the mix.

                      

Shakman,

From my experience, dunlop, being much denser than talalay, feels much firmer even in the same ILD. It also may feel more supportive to some people due to it's higher density (I've slept on both).  The other thing is, I did not find that it feels at all bouncy in the same way that talalay does (which I find quite bouncy esp if bed is too soft). I think x-firm dunlop would feel extremely hard myself! I think Catlover posted some time ago that the folks at Savvy don't even recommend going with too much X-firm. You might want to search for her posts and/or call Savvyrest yourself. That said, we're all so different it's hard to say....

As to your weight and the number of layers or inches of latex, I think the firmer you go, the less of a difference it's going to make between 2 and 3 layers, if any at all. I was told by most latex bed places I called that if you're under 150 lbs, 2 layers is fine. And especially if you like a firmer bed.  Having said that I weigh 130 (5'6") and I tried taking out one layer of my bed (I have 3 3" layers and a thin convoluted topper from Flobeds) to make it less bouncy, and found I prefer the three layers for comfort even though there's no way I actually directly feel the bottom layer (only someone much heavier would sink in enough that that might be a possibility, or if 2 heavier people were in the bed),  However I have a softer bed-one side iis 2 layers of firm and one layer of soft on top, the other side is one layer of X-firm and then 2 layers of medium, then the convoluted piece on top of both sides.

Dear Linda, Eagle2, floats, KimberlyH

i want to thank all of you for taking the time to respond and give your suggestions. A waterbed is not possible as I live in a rental property that does not allow waterbeds. I will likely try a firmer version of the latex and see how that works out for me.

hopefully, my quest for finding the 'perfect' mattress soon comes to an end !

Quick update on my experience in getting a credit for the returned mattress. SUMMARY: a very smooth and hassle-free refund! After returning the mattress, there were absolutely no questions asked about the reason for the return. Once the mattress was delivered at their facility, I followed up with a couple of emails, and then a phone call. They returned my phone call the same day, and the lady on the phone spoke very politely. Wished me a Happy New Year (!), and stated that the credit memo has been issued. Next day, I checked my credit card balance and it reflected the refund for the exact amount I originally paid for the mattress.

Thank you shakman for your information. Hopefully JimSoCal will see this as he is having questions about the reliability of SleepEZ.