Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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I finally got around to taking some photos of my latex. I own a king sized latex bed. Half of it is Latex International [LI] latex and half of it is Foam by Mail [FBM] latex. The LI side consists of: 3" blended talalay 44 ILD 3" blended talalay 36 ILD 2" natural talalay 32 ILD The FBM side consists of: 6" talalay Firm 2" talalay Soft Here are some photos:  FBM on the left and LI on the right. You can see the obvious difference in quality.  FBM core in the cover.  FBM cover cut open.  FBM core brown spots and other inconsistencies.  FBM core random pincore holes, cut side view.  FBM soft topper random hole patterns.  FBM topper short, should be 80" long  FBM core short.  FBM invoice with my personal information covered up.  LI 32 ILD natural talalay topper tag.  LI 36 ILD blended talalay tag.  LI 44 ILD blended talalay tag. In general, my thoughts are: Latex International has very high quality latex. If/when I purchase future latex, I will pony up the extra cash for all LI latex. Unfortunately it was impractical to return my FBM latex. The problems with returning were 1) extremely difficult to package, 2) expensive to ship, 3) after paying return shipping, 25% of the cost is deducted and then the initial FBM shipping cost is deducted, which leaves little value left for the struggle. I don't work for LI, I am a consumer of bedding. I thought sharing my experiences would be helpful to others deciding where to buy their latex. Feel free to ask any questions. |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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Very interesting. I've never seen irregular latex like that. All the latex I have ever seen was very regular in terms of how the holes are placed. I take it you did not know the piece was short until you'd had it awhile. Otherwise, were it me, I'd have considered making them send me one the right size at their expense. I have some concern as to whether or not that FBM piece is truly Talalay because I have never seen Talalay irregular like that. Looks more like "jungle latex" to me. That said, I once laid on some jungle latex and liked the feel of it better than Talalay... (I use the term "jungle latex" as I've read it here in the past, to signify latex that is all natural and usually comes from Malaysia or India (?) or some exotic country.) |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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I just received my FBM foam layers. The foam looked quickly hand-cut. The holes looked uneven like on the core above. Mine did not have brown spots though. I ordered 80" and the 7 pieces (1" thick) I ordered averaged 80.5" Comparing the 20ILD and 32ILD 1" latex toppers I just received from them: - The 20ILD looks homogenous. Not sure why the holes in them aren't perfectly evenly spaced. Functionality isn't affected one bit of course, but it's still weird their molds don't give them evenly spaced holes. -The 32ILD looks like the 20 ILD on top, with a thin and noticeably DENSE layer at the bottom. I guess this is what Dunlop latex looks like? That said, the price was excellent, and I applaud FBM for making a comfortable night's sleep affordable for broke college students like myself. |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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Based on this thread I just took a closer look at the FBM latex topper I purchased a few months ago. IMHO they are selling "factory seconds" with their latex. While I believe the defects won't alter the overall performance of the latex, I believe that FBM is not truthfully disclosing the the nature of their products, which would also explain the lower cost of their latex products. The 3" topper I received looks similar to the pics posted here with the irregular pinhole patterns (but no brown spots), mine was sized properly at least! I believe that they are taking the 6" cores and sloppily cutting these down to make their latex toppers. I did just notice that on one area of the topper edge there is a "patched" section comprising a 6" x 2" section of latex (different color) that was glued into the topper to patch a hole that appears to have been made when someone pulled the latex, ripping the edge. Overall, I'm ok with the topper thanks to the price, but there isn't any way they are selling first quality products.... |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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Well I guess you get what you pay for???? My O-stock.com latex has a major flaw 2'x6" gap hole. It was allegedly supposed to be Dunlop firm, this piece was soft Talalay. I can tell now. So buyer beware.... I must say you can work around the problem areas though...... This message was modified Jun 7, 2009 by Leo3
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Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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I think I just got your extra length. I read this post before ordering from FBM, but decided that for the kids/guest twin bed I was primarily ordering for, being a little short and uneven quality would be fine. So, I ordered a standard twin (75'' long) in medium. When I tried to put it into the Overstock cover today, it was clearly way too long. I got out the measuring tape and is is just short of 82''! Looks like I need to go out and get a cheap electric knife. Any suggestions on what to do with a 7x3x39'' piece of latex? I'm not seeing any brown bits; the latex looks very consistent. However, the holes on one side have wider, uneven openings.  |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
| Please let us know if it feels consistent when you sleep on it. Meaning same relative firmness over all areas of mattress/topper. Maybe you got a good one from them! |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
| I really appreciate this post Jim. I'm thinking of getting a talalay latex topper and was told by a competing salesperson that most of FBM's toppers are really dunlop. Are you convinced yours is talalay? Just wondering... |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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Sabra wrote: I really appreciate this post Jim. I'm thinking of getting a talalay latex topper and was told by a competing salesperson that most of FBM's toppers are really dunlop. Are you convinced yours is talalay? Just wondering... Hey Sabra, I replied to your private message. ;) In my opinion, it seems like the FBM layers I got 2 weeks ago were Talalay and not dunlop but I could be wrong. Jim may have more experience with Dunlop to properly identify it. I think most people have confirmed in earlier posts that it was a synthetic blend of Talalay. |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
| I can't be certain what it is. It is very different than the LI latex in feel. One side of the 6" core is firmer than the other. However it doesn't feel denser than the other side, which I thought it would if it was dunlop process latex. |
Re: Foam by Mail latex & Latex International latex comparison
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MequonJim wrote: I can't be certain what it is. It is very different than the LI latex in feel. One side of the 6" core is firmer than the other. However it doesn't feel denser than the other side, which I thought it would if it was dunlop process latex. Jim your description of your 6 inch core definitely sounds like Dunlop to me. One of the characteristics of Dunlop is that one side will feel different than the other, as opposed to Talalay. Both sides of Talalay will feel basically the same. Now I'm talking about 100% botanically grown Talalay process latex. I have never seen, felt, or smelled blended Talalay. One side should not feel denser than the other side I wouldn't think. But one side is a bit stiffer than the other side I have been told. It is also, supposedly, one of the advantages of Dunlop in that you can turn it over and have a different feel. |