Advice for an innerspring with latex comfort layer mattress (Online Purchase)

[hopeeverlasting]

Thanks to all who post here- looking for additional advice re: a spring mattress with latex comfort layers and online vendors.

After two memory foam mattress fails (king), looking for an innerspring with latex comfort layer(s). Have listed some of the mattreses that we are considering below. Comments and/or other suggestions would be appreciated. The challenge is that we will probably be doing an online purchase. It is difficult to find mattresses other than those by the big name companies in our city in Montana.

Regarding our sleeping needs- one sleeper is plus-sized (220 lbs) and needs support for back. The other can sleep on almost anything- including the floor- and never has any problems at all with any mattress. One is a side-sleeper, while the plus-sized sleeper is a side and/or back sleeper. We have not found memory foam to work for us. Initially, the foam conforms to the back and feels great, but a few hours into the night, support is not adequate and intense back pain is the result. Pain is not felt on other mattresses- even on old, should be discarded mattresses. “Firm” and “Medium-Firm” memory foam was tried.

Possible mattresses:

1. The Ultimate Life 1 mattress by Northwest Bedding out of Spokane, Washington. (We can purchase this mattress locally.) I queried the company for actual specs of the mattress; but, no response yet. From their web site: the mattress features a support core with a heavy gauge double-offset coil unit with a foam encasement consisting of a layer of high density 55 ILD StableBase ™ BioFlex ™ foam on the bottom of the encasement & around the perimeter of the unit.

2. Englander mattress in the company’s “Posture Support” line which includes: dual coil unit, fabric encased top coil unit with posturized center, heavy gauge bottom coil unit, steel edge support system, natural latex, and a soy-based visco memory foam. We will be researching the actual specs for this mattress. (This mattress can be purchased locally.)

3. Dreamform spring and latex combo mattress via Amazon. Not sure of the specs and not sure if the mattress would work for a plus-sized sleeper. Info at https://www.amazon.com/DreamFoam-Bedding-Ultimate-Pocketed-Mattress/dp/B00F2OSL6E/ref=sr_1_20?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1383402871&sr=1-20

Would love feedback from anyone who has tried this mattress. Can’t find reviews/specs online.

4. Jamestown bed- the Majestic Dream (http://www.jamestownmattress.com/majestic-dream/ ) ; but, I am not sure about shipment to MT.
   Specs: 2" Polyurethane Foam , stretch circular knit fabric ,comfort - padding layer, thick polyester pad, 1" polyurethane foam,
   2" 100% Natural (ILD 24-26) latex, coil unit: BodyPrint® Support System , coil gauge 15 & 15 ½ , high density polyurethane foam encasement , Foam encasement coil count (King): 1056.

5. Lavendar Latex Hybrid bed at http://abedderbuy.com/2013/lavender-latex-hybrid-mattress/ . Not finding a lot of info about the mattress. Lavender Latex Hybrid by Spinal Care Bedding: Cotton Stretch Knit Cover, pillowtop: latex & HR 1.8 lb density foam, 2″ of 1.5 Foam Bottom, 2″ of 1.8 Foam Top, and 744 marshall pocketed coils.

6. Mattress by Earthsake. Details at http://www.earthsake.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/CloudDeluxeInnerspringLatexMattress.html. Again, not sure about this mattress for a plus-sized sleeper. Web site states that the mattress has:; 100% natural latex layers with no synthetics, wool fleece layers, 100% organic cotton layers; 11" mattress height , 6" innerspring unit for support and two 2" layers of latex, 1" of PureGrow wool and organic cotton, innertufted to an outer organic cotton cover, two-sided mattress.

We would consider an all-latex bed like Flobeds, SleepEZ, or Cozy Pure; but, after the experience with memory foam, we are a bit nervous about a mattress without springs. After reading the posts online, we do realize that memory foam and latex are completely different materials wtth different properties; but, we are being cautious at this point re: a mattress without springs.(May just be our preference.)

Thanks for your thoughts/comments/suggestions. Note that we will be putting the mattress on a solid platform bed (no slats).

[phoenix]

Hi hopeeverlasting,

When you are assessing a mattress to look for any weak links or compare its relative quality and durability it’s important to know the thickness and quality of all the layers. This means you would need to know the foam density of any polyfoam or memory foam layers and the type and blend of any latex layers. The only exception I would make for this is polyfoam or memory foam layers in the range of an inch or so or less (in total not each layer and usually in the quilting layers) which won’t have a significant effect on the durability of the mattress.

The only ones in your list where the information you would need is included the Spinal Care mattress and the Earthsake.

The Spinal Care Lavender uses mostly good quality materials (1.8 lb polyfoam and latex) in the comfort layers but there is also 2" of 1.5 lb polyfoam which is more in a medium quality/density range and could end up becoming a weak link in the mattress. I would want to find out exactly where the 1.5 lb layer was located in the mattress and whether it’s on the bottom of the comfort layers or on the bottom of the mattress. Either way it’s deeper in the mattress and under other materials so it would have less effect on durability than it would if the foam was in the top layer but it’s still in the lower end of the polyfoam quality range. I would also want to know the thickness of the layers (the latex and 1.8 lb polyfoam) in the pillowtop.

The Earthsake uses all very high quality materials (innerspring, latex, wool) and there are no potential weak links or lower quality materials in the mattress.

The others are missing information about the foam layers that you would need to make a meaningful assessmen and comparison.

We would consider an all latex bed like Flobeds SleepEZ, or Cozy Pure; but, the experience with memory foam and two failed tries (far too mushy; couldn’t make it through the night without back spasms and lots of upper body pain), we are a bit nervous about a mattress without springs.

Latex is very different from memory foam or polyfoam and it would be well worth trying some all latex mattresses (preferably both Dunlop and Talalay) to see how you like them. Springs are not “better or worse” for back pain or any other type of condition than any other material. How well your back pain does with a mattress will depend more on the specific design of a mattress and how it is designed and layered than it will on the specific materials or components that it uses.

Any ideas? (Emailed Baybeds, by the way. Have not heard back yet. Realize that they might have such a mattress. Looking for other sellers, too.) Also, we will be putting our mattress on a platform with a solid surface, not slats.

I would talk to Baybeds on the phone. I personally would never use email when you are asking about a mattress unless the answer you are looking for is very simple and “black and white” and only requires a single sentence or so with no “it depends” in the answer. They do specialize in pocket coil latex hybrids though that use components and layers that can be customized and exchanged. They are great to talk to.

In particular, looking for advice for online mattress manufacturers/retailers who offer this type of mattress. We live in Montana and have not found many options other than the big name mattress manufacturers/retailers in this area (Denver Mattress, Serta, Sealey, some Englander, Simmons, etc.) At this point, we are not considering mattresses by those manufacturers unless we discover that we we missed a qualilty bed in their lineups.

While I would exclude the major brands you mentioned … I would include Denver Mattress as one of your options (the mattresses they manufacture only). They manufacture some high quality mattresses and are completely transparent about the materials they use. Their Telluride is somewhat similar to the Spinal care and uses a combination of 1.8 lb polyfoam and latex over a pocket coil.

If you let me know your city or zip in Montana there may be a forum list of some of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of that are near you.

Phoenix