Newbie Questions About Buying Natural Latex Mattress
Sep 30, 2011 10:05 AM
Joined: Sep 30, 2011
Points: 11
Hello gals and guys,

I'm shopping for a new mattress and even though I think I read a ton, I decided to consult with the community before making final decision. I always trust actual folks lot more than I trust companies pushing their product.

We currently have spring mattress that was pretty expensive at the time we bought it (it was about 12 years ago I believe and we paid around $800 for it). It was good I suppose and it could still go for a while but I think it's time to make a change. It's become very heavy from all the dust accumlated in it (and who knows what else). I also have an upper back problem and I don't feel it's helping. I don't sleep well at all. I'm not sure if I should ttribute this to the mattress or it's just me getting older or it's something else. 

After doing some research, I decided to go with memory foam mattress. I first looked at TempurPedic of course but then I read reviews about how many chemicals they use and how bad it smells and how it's not really all that comfortable and I sumbled upon latex mattresses, which I didn't know existed before (yeah, I kind of live in a cave I guess). First thing I came across was Essentia. The web site is awesome and they have tons of material to read. They even have a store in NYC where I can visit (I plan to in about a week). But what alarms me a bit is their lack of accreditation and recognition. I also read they make some false claims about quality of their latex. Not sure if it's true or false or can at all be proven, but some of the things I read about them (couldn't find too much info which is also a  bit alarming) has my red flags go up. But I will give them a fair shot nevertheless.

I'm now looking at Zleep-EZ, Flobeds, SavvyRest, Natura in addition to Essentia. I think these are the major manufacturors? I want to be an equal opportunity shopper, so I hope I'm not missing anyone else.

I like rather firmer mattress, but I don't want to sleep on a rock either. My wife prefers a softer one but she doesn't want to sleep in a puddle either. I'm looking at the budget of around $3,000 (give or take couple of hundreds). I think I'm looking for at least 10" thickness which would probably make for 4 layers of latex? I see that most of the companies have 90 days layer replacement policies, but I would like to avoid making a mistake and then having 1 shot to correct it. I sleep mostly on my stomach and my wife sleeps mostly on her side. I'm not sure what layers (as far as firmness is concerned) should be in what order though. I'm also not positive I understand if I need a pillow top. I understand it takes at least couple of weeks to get used to latex especially that we slept on spings all of our lives, but I would really hate to come away being dissapointed with the matterss after shelling out 3 grands. 

Any advice/help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated.

 

Regards,

-Tony.

Re: Newbie Questions About Buying Natural Latex Mattress
Reply #33 Oct 14, 2011 1:48 AM
Joined: Dec 17, 2009
Points: 850
A couple nit picks, although this is good discussion.  

 

Your synthetic blend latex didn't offgas that you know of.  Most of the chemicals in synthetic materials used in mattresses are completely odourless.  

Not all latex is even grown organically.  The hevea milk itself would be organic if the land hasnt been treated with any agro chemicals of any kind.  The finished product itself has no 3rd party certification, so the organizations that certify product organically would have to disagree with your opinion.  Sulfur is natural but it is not biological, so no, latex foam even of 100% natural variety still shouldn't be called organic.  Much for the same reason we would not label steel springs as organic.  I am not saying natural rubber is bad, just trying to clarify what the industry labels as organic is actually the hevea milk, not the finished product. 

I hope I don't come off as abrupt, just that if you consider something that is 95% organic to be organic than it really is missing the whole point of what the definition is.  Its like saying we have 100% cotton fabric that is 95% organically grown cotton, the rest of the cotton used is just normal 'natural' cotton.  This is not an organic product.  If that kind of product doesn't get certification than neither should latex foam.  You can label it organically grown and 100% natural but you should not label it  'Organic'.  

This message was modified Oct 14, 2011 by budgy

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