Tell me about your latex mattress

[kristenk]

DH and I will start mattress shopping this weekend. After bostonsmama's comment about her latex mattress in Corie's mattress thread, I started looking into latex mattresses and I'm intrigued. I love the green qualities of the latex and the lack of chemicals and dust mites. I have no clue how a latex mattress feels, though. (We're hoping to find one this weekend and give it a try.)

How does a latex mattress compare to an inner-spring mattress in terms of comfort/firmness? Does it smell at all (thinking of the ghastly tempurpedic smell; I know latex isn't temp. material, of course!)? How long have you had your mattress and how long is it supposed to last? Does your latex mattress have any body indentations?

Basically, please spam me with whatever you can think of that's related to your latex mattress! :)

[bostonsmama]

I gotta get to bed, but our latex mattress did have a natural smell for about a half day. I was surprised at how quick it was--but it's not something that is toxic--it smells like...really strong nature/tree sap/rubber.

Get the 8-inch...the 6 inch is too firm for our liking, and for a while I thought I couldn't do the firmness w/out an eggcrate foam topper, but eventually, I grew to like it, and now I'd get a horrid night's sleep w/out it.

We initially got interested in latex from a Sealy or Simmons, maybe, version we "test slept" on at a store, but it was $2300 for the queen...on SALE! Then I did some research and found out it was synthetic latex, made from chemicals, and had all the batting, synthetic materials (that make you sweat) and chemicals sprayed on it like a traditional mattress. So, I googled by happenstance "natural" versions and was coming up w/ $4,000 versions, much to my shock, until we found Habitat Furnishings. I liked supporting a US business, and who can argue w/ a 6-month money-back guarantee? It felt a little like a crapshoot...b/c reviews were only on THEIR website (and as a skeptic, you just never know)...but I'm SO glad we took the dive. My ILs have had theirs over a year now and love it, too. FWIW, they returned a mattress they bought at Costco prior to that w/ a return policy of 2-ish months, so the fact that they kept this one means they're pretty picky.

[crl]

Ours is from Ikea. Very, very, very comfortable. Never noticed a smell.

Catherine

[MelissaTC]

We purchased a king latex mattress from the Original Mattress Factory. We have had it for 2 years now. I love sleeping on it. It is heavenly. No smell ever noticed.

[kristenk]

Does latex get body indentations after a while like innerspring mattresses do?

[hobie]

I got DS a latex matress from foambymail.com (by far the best prices I've seen). He has the 6" firm, with the terry cover. There was little to no smell to the matress, and I can't smell anything with the sheets on. I like his a lot (have slept on it a few nights), and want to change out our matress. I've been reading this matress forum (http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/), and most of the posters suggest using several layers of latex (a firm base, with a softer topper). I want a bed like this: http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/my-review-foambymailcom-9-queen-100-latex-mattress-appearancequality-pics/13809-0-1.html

From what I've read, latex is not supposed to get any dents in it like spring matresses do. You also do not ever need to flip it over or rotate.