anyone else have a latex mattress?

[desertpenguin]

about 2 yr ago i was able to talk dh into dropping the extra $$ for an all natural latex mattress so we wouldn't be inhaling toxic fumes all night long. we were actually able to find a small local company that makes them here in OKC. i was quite excited about this, but my bubble has burst! the woman told us, and what i had read elsewhere, was that you did not need to flip the mattress and that they could last 10 years or so. to me this sounded like a great investment. but now our mattress has two furrows in it and a hump in the middle. has this happened to anyone else? have we been duped? do i need to just flip the mattress? i'm concerned!

[Cheshire]

We have one. We flip it all the time and it doesn't matter - we have lumps and humps. It is really frustrating. It was great at first but it has not worn well. We've had it about two years. We had the company come and take a look. They put another piece of latex foam in the middle for extra support and it has done nothing to help.

We are at a loss. I love the way it felt when it was new. I hate innerspring mattresses and I do not want a "NASA foam" mattress.

We've tried a number of different "natural" mattresses over the years and I haven't found one that would last past a couple of years.

[tinuviel_k]

How odd! I've had mine for many years now. We never flip it, and it has never had and lumps, bumps, or depressions ever. It looks and feels brand new and is still ultra comfy.It is just a simple 6 inch thick talalay process latex mattress: no extra padding or anything.

What kind of latex is yours made out of? I've had the best results with our talalay latex mattress. Dunlop process latex can be more uneven.

[desertpenguin]

tinuviel- she said it was talalay. but now i wonder! did you purchase yours online or locally? i don't think i will be going back to them for anymore mattresses. there is another local company that i looked into briefly that makes their own mattresses, i wonder if it is possible to get one from them that doesn't have flame retardant on it.

[desertpenguin]

Originally Posted by Cheshire

We've tried a number of different "natural" mattresses over the years and I haven't found one that would last past a couple of years.

that must be so frustrating!!!!

[Chinese Pistache]

We've had ours for 3.5 years, no lumps, and we never flip it.

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by desertpenguin

tinuviel- she said it was talalay. but now i wonder! did you purchase yours online or locally? i don't think i will be going back to them for anymore mattresses. there is another local company that i looked into briefly that makes their own mattresses, i wonder if it is possible to get one from them that doesn't have flame retardant on it.

I don't know about in Oklahoma, but in California you can get one without flame retardant if you can get a prescription from a doctor for it.

About your mattress: is it just latex or does it have some other padding on top of the latex too? Ours has a layer of wool batting, and that has gotten compressed and has left us with two fairly small dents, but the latex underneath isn't dented in. If it's just the padding on top of the latex, it might be possible, depending on how your mattress is constructed, to just replace the padding layer or even just remove it.

[tinuviel_k]

Originally Posted by desertpenguin

tinuviel- she said it was talalay. but now i wonder! did you purchase yours online or locally? i don't think i will be going back to them for anymore mattresses. there is another local company that i looked into briefly that makes their own mattresses, i wonder if it is possible to get one from them that doesn't have flame retardant on it.

I bought mine online, here: http://www.foamsource.com/shop/family/latex_mattress
I did shop around in my area, but the company that sold latex mattresses had a really heavy canvas cover that I found uncomfortable and ungiving, so I decided to try my luck online.

[desertpenguin]

rainy- just latex, no topper. i wish it was just a lumpy topper! haha

tinuviel- thanks for the link. hopefully when we go to purchase a new mattress i can still convince dh to buy something natural. i fear he will be rather skeptical of latex mattresses now and he is a real penny pincher when it comes to large purchases.

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by desertpenguin

[B]
tinuviel- thanks for the link. hopefully when we go to purchase a new mattress i can still convince dh to buy something natural. i fear he will be rather skeptical of latex mattresses now and he is a real penny pincher when it comes to large purchases.

Well, just point out to him that those non-natural, regular mattresses also get hollows in them, especially the more comfy pillow top ones. Just google Sealy or any other brand and look at the reviews, and he'll see that it's a widespread problem.

[desertpenguin]

good point rainy! dh is slowly turning into a "health nut" like me. he actually told me this morning that he was drinking iced tea so he could stop drinking soda at work. : yay for small victories. hehe.

[kkfum]

what type of frame is it on? they are ideally supposed to be on slatted frames. however, most slatted frames have slats that are too far apart. for latex, they're supposed to be very close together, for best support and minimal bunching. however, they also need to breathe, so they shouldn't be on a totally solid surface platform, or the floor.

[bigteamug]

i was also wondering if it had enough support. also, most places recommend that queen size and up have a bar/slat perpendicular to the slats running down the middle under the slats to help give more support.

[desertpenguin]

the mattress came with box springs...is that bad? hadn't thought of that before. we don't have a mattress frame.