A Mattress with no memory foam.

Troy writes:

Hi Pete,
I can't tell you how frustrated and angry I am. I've gone through 4 new name brand mattresses in the last 6 years.
Why, in the name of God, has this become such a difficult product to buy?
Prior to these was a mattress we bought when we were first married, twenty years ago. It was still decent 6 years ago, but thought it might be time for a new mattress.
I wish I had that one back.
We aren't heavy people...I'm 6' and 200 lbs and my wife is 5'5" and 150 lbs. (orso she tells me).
We've had 3 pillowtops...1 Sealy Posturepedic, 1 S&F and 1 Simmons Beautyrest. This last one was not a pillowtop...a Serta iSeries.
Every last one of them lost their comfort quickly and within months, totally lost support.
And, those 20 year warranties aren't worth anything, as there has to be a sustained impression of 1.5"
I couldn't figure out why theses mattresses would sink in so badly while we are on them and not show a deep enough impression when the man came to inspect them.
That is, until I found your blog and figured out that it's the memory foam that is to blame.
I need a good night's sleep, which I've had so few of over these past 6 years.
I need you to recommend something for my wife and I that has no memory foam in it.
From what you've written, I'll be expecting to sleep cooler too. These mattresses have been plenty hot to sleep in.
We are in our mid 40s, and in reasonably good health.
Thanks, Troy

Hi Troy,
Your problem is one that I hear on a regular basis. You are, certainly, not alone in this experience.
About 10 years ago...maybe a little longer, the mattress industry turned to "The Dark Side"...so to speak.
Prior to that, each manufacturer strove to make quality mattresses that lasted 10 to 20 years...and, competed with one another to out-do each other in quality.
For decades, since the 1920s...and up to about 10 years ago, you simply couldn't buy a bad mattress. Now, it's hard to find a good one.
All those years, mattresses where two-sided, where you could flip them over and use both sides. About 10 years ago, they changed them to be one-sided.
I remember their ads at the time, announcing a no-flip mattress...no longer needing to flip your mattress. Of course, they left out of the ads that you were now buying half the mattress you used to buy and that they would last half as long. 
Well, 'half as long' turned out to be too long for the now greed consumed mattress industry. Memory foam had come along some years prior and everyone learned from their marketing that you don't have to make a quality product. You can make a cheaper made, short lived, crappy product and sell a lot more mattresses. All it takes is marketing.
In this case, "Marketing" became the socially acceptable euphemism for mass media, brainwashing bull shit...if you'll excuse my French.
They began adding this worthless and dangerous memory foam...more and more as the years went by, until they achieved they're goal of turning you, the consumer, into a frequent mattress buyer. Their marketing included creating the illusion of quality, by lengthening the warranties from the standard 10 years to now 20, 25, and in some cases, lifetime.
As you have discovered, the warranties are all but worthless.

And while there are plenty of older folks, not that 40s is old, but old enough to remember the quality that had been...before too long, this reduction in quality will be the only thing that anyone knows...and so, accepted without complaint. It's just a question of time.
Memory foam was the key for the industry...allowing them to make a mattress that feels great when you buy it, feel lousy enough in a very short time to need replacing, but almost never show a body impression deep enough to have it authorize an exchange. It's positively diabolical.    
And, as if this wasn't enough and to add injury to insult, memory foam off-gasses the toxic chemicals from which it's made.
You probably experienced the acrid smell when the mattresses were new. The most common reaction to that smell is a sinus headache...most, fairly severe. Headache is the most common complaint, although I've heard much worse from people who were already suffering from asthma and other breathing disorders. The worst react that came to me was bleeding sinuses.
So, not only is memory foam a lousy product in terms of performance, it's physically damaging. 
There's plenty of money in selling that junk, which is why it's so heavily pushed at stores. To listen to an average salesman, you'd think it was the best thing since sliced bread. 
In addition to the toxic chemical off gassing, it's sold to people who suffer from back pain, claiming that it will improve their condition. 
Over these 11+ years that I've been blogging about mattresses, thousands of people have written to me, complaining about memory foam...making their back pain worse, and sleeping hot...along with the other negative side effects previously mentioned.
The ironic thing about all this is that the millions of people who have purchased memory foam because of all the claims that are made, could have been buying all-natural latex foam instead...and for about the same price. Latex foam is the antithesis of memory foam...the absolute polar opposite.
Latex does everything that they claim memory foam will do, do it better, last much longer, and with none of the negative side effects suffered with memory foam.

Since the 1920s, latex has been, to this day, the most comfortable and most resilient upholstery material on the face of the Earth.
The process of turning the sap from the rubber tree into foam rubber, was discovered in the 1880 and found a home in the mattress industry by the 1920s.
At about that same time, the modern mattress era was born...with the first innerspring mattresses also making their debut. Both, the interlocked Bonnell coil and Simmons' individually pocketed coil units were introduced. The innerspring mattresses were well made, covered in horse hair and cotton and sitting on an open coil boxspring. You may remember those large round coils....which gave easily and provided give to the mattress. These mattresses were inexpensive to make and lasted a good 20 years. Latex, being much more expensive, never made the splash it deserved due the price difference. When I started in the mattress business, 30 some years ago, a top of the line Sealy Posturepedic sold for $499 in queen. A 6" thick latex mattress sold for $799 in queen. That was a huge jump for what appeared to be less mattress.
The funny thing about that is that every once in a while, a customer would come into the store looking for a latex mattress...regardless of price. It was one of those products that once you've slept on it, nothing else came close. Nothing else would do. In my very early years when I was a warehouse/delivery guy, removing old mattress that were being replaced, we would occasionally encounter an old latex mattress. Most of those were a good 40 years old.
Latex is a natural product and no chemicals are used in the process of making it. They also go through a 5 stage washing, which removes almost all of the protein, (the allergen that is naturally present in the sap), rendering it hypo-allergenic.
The feel of latex is unique, which is why it garners such fierce loyalty from its users. The best way to describe it is 'zero gravity'. It gives with you, but holds you up....providing excellent support and comfort...and, longevity. 

When shopping for a latex mattress, be very careful. There are way too many salespeople who misrepresent their products...either purposefully or from not knowing their 'shtuff'.
At the head of every mattress is a white colored "law" label... "Do not remove under penalty of law". This label has a lot of other information, including a list by percentage of the upholstery materials inside the mattress. Reading this label will tell you if the mattress you are looking at is all latex or not. Most aren't. 
A latex hybrid consists of a block of poly foam with a layer of latex on top. These are often sold as "all latex".
Also, you'll want to avoid latex that comes from China. They are known to add clay as a filler...which can still be touted as all natural. Fillers will reduce the longevity.
Dunlop latex, made in Sri-Lanka is good stuff...the original latex mentioned earlier. About 60 years ago, Talalay latex was introduced, which added a freezing step to the Dunlop process.
This freezing step suspends the particle, resulting in a softer, more supple feel.
The premier manufacturer of Talalay Latex has been Pure LatexBLISS...the brand name used by Latex International of Connecticut.
Here is a link to the Talalay Latex mattresses they offer.


These mattresses get softer as you go up the line from the 'Pamper' model, which is quite firm, but not hard.
Without knowing which to choose, we often recommend the 'Nature' model for having a nice in-between feel....with the option of adding a soft latex mattress pillow topper if you find it too firm.
I've tried them all and find the 'Beautiful' model to be extremely luxurious...without being too soft.
You'll notice that there is a "Natural" and "All-Natural: segment to their line. The all natural is just that...100% natural all Talalay latex and completely made of 100% organic materials. A layer of wool is used as a natural flame retardant, just behind the organic cotton cover.
The latex in the natural part of the line is made of 70% natural and 30% synthetic latex. The synthetic latex is a molecular clone of the natural. Zero toxic chemicals are used to make it.
These models have the standard, chemical free flame retardant backing to the cotton cover....and are a bit less expensive.

There's no question that these beds are expensive. But consider what you've spent on the crappy beds you've already purchased. There is absolutely no question about it. Even at these prices, latex is much less expensive to use than anything else you can buy.
But still, not everyone is in a position to come up with that amount of money.
We also offer a line of latex mattress from Ever-Eden. Unlike the PureBLISS models, which come with 'White Glove" delivery, the Ever-Eden model arrive UPS.
There are 3 Ever-Eden models. The 6" is all Dunlop latex. The 8" and 9" models have the 6" Dunlop core and are topped with 2" and 3" of Talalay latex, respectively.
You'll notice, too, that they are considerably less expensive. All 3 are 100% 'All-Natural'.
Here is the link to the Ever-Eden latex mattresses.

And, if you are on a tighter budget, we offer innerspring models with 'no memory foam'. The foams used are high density polyurethane foams. Poly foam was developed in the late 1960s and began being used widely in mattresses, (instead of cotton), by the early 1970s.
But, even on a budget, you can enjoy the feel of latex by adding a latex topper to any of them.
Besides adding comfort, a latex topper, because of its extraordinary resiliency, will absorb much of your body weight and double the life of the mattress you use with it.
These innerspring models are made by Therapedic. The two-sided models were made especially made for The Mattress Expert...and engineered by me personally. They've been on the market for 5 years and have been extremely successful...enjoying a 99% satisfaction rate. Among them, are the Medi-Coil models, which were made for people who carry extraordinary body weight. My customers with these mattresses have been ranging in weight between 350 and 500 pounds. No other mattress made will hold up, long term, under that same pressure.
Here are the link to the Therapedic mattresses...one-sided and two-sided...and to the latex toppers to go with them.


We have worked diligently to be able you offer you a wide variety of healthy, high quality, alternative products to that which the industry is pushing.
You simply can't go wrong with any of them. Delivery is free and there's no sales tax.

 

Thanks, Pete
Phone: 1-856-874-6894
Email: themattressexpert@live.com

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