Best Latex Mattress

Have you been looking for a review or understanding of what makes the best latex mattress?  Hopefully this article will help you decide what to look for when considering buying a latex mattress.

Just a note before we discuss this, I personally own a talalay latex mattress myself and have so for 2 years.  It has been a literal life saver for me since I was not sleeping at all on my old traditional mattress.   I was often tired and would fall alseep (or near so) while driving.  A very dangerous situation to say the least.  Now that I have the talalay latex mattress, it has allowed me to relax and get a full solid nights rest.  I wake up feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on the new day.

First of all, latex was originally made by taking sap from rubber trees and mixing it with air.  Today, natural latex mattress factories essentially do the same procedure which is to pour the liquid latex into molds.  The molds have fingers that protrude from them that the latex molds around.  These fingers leave holes in the latex mattress foam and causes the latex to be a little “softer” than a solid piece of rubber. ( Think of a honeycomb pattern, only you would be laying on the edge of the latex mattress  honey comb pattern instead of the top).

Because the natural talalay latex is rubber, it will literally last for dozens and dozens of years with very little degradation in firmness.   Normal spring or spring air mattresses don’t compare to a latex mattress because as they get used more and more, the springs weaken and the mattress ends up sagging. Also, many times visco elastic foam mattresses also seem to lose firmness with time.  I don’t think they are supposed to, but it seems to me that in my experience, this happens.  Perhaps I didn’t buy a thick enough foam mattress topper before?

Besides natural latex, some latex mattresses can be made from synthetic latex or a combination of the two materials.  The down side to synthetic latex (in my opinion) is that it is made from petro chemicals.  This means that if you have any type of skin sensitivities, you’ll most definitely not fit well with them.  The man made latex mattresses are a little cheaper than the natural talalay latex mattresses although I’m not sure really why?  Perhaps it is just a marketing effort to promote green, eco-friendly products and the manufacturers know that people will pay more for a natural product?

There are 2 ways to manufacturer latex mattresses.  First the original way which is known as the Dunlop method.  This involves whipping the latex liquid into a foam and then pouring it into a mold as we mentioned earlier.  Then heat is applied to the mold and the rubber is vulcanized.   The second method is the Talalay method of manufacturing which is what we’ve been discussed here.

The talalay latex mattress process is more involved in that the liquid latex is poured into a mold and a vacuum is placed on the mold to suction out air bubbles and “smooth” out the texture.  Then the latex is chilled to -20 degrees fahrenheit. This supposedly ensures a consistent cell structure throughout the mold.  Next CO2 is introduced into the mold to gel the structure, and then finally the mattress is heated to 220 degrees fahrenheit to cure the mattress into its final state.    Then lastly, some manufacturers wash the latex mattress with a special cycle of spraying water and compression.  The idea is to remove and soaps, agents, or other proteins that could cause  premature softening of the bed.

So at this point you’ve learned that there are two types of latex, natural and synthetic and also that there are two different manufacturing methods.  Dunlop vs. Talalay.  What do I prefer?  As mentioned earlier, I went with the all natural talalay latex mattress myself.  I’m positive a natural Dunlop natural latex mattress would also be a good choice.

Where do you buy these types of mattresses?   I bought my latex mattress online from a retailer in California.  I liked their service and phone support even though their prices were a little bit more expensive.  Depending on what part of the country you live in, you may be able to find these mattress sets in a local retailer or a specialty store near you.