Wading Through The Mattress World

It’s difficult to wade through all of the misinformation that is inherent in the world of mattresses. Not only are there an awfully lot of different mattress types, but there are also lots of variances from one mattress to the next. For example, with the popular latex mattress, you have the synthetic variety, the blended variety, and then the natural and organic latex mattresses. It can be difficult to know which is which. What is the best latex mattress? The devil is in the details.

What is a 100% Latex Mattress, Anyway?

With latex foam mattresses the advertising might proclaim a 100% latex mattress, which only means that it is a mattress made from latex. But that does not tell you whether it is made from synthetic latex (the most likely scenario), a blend of synthetic and natural latex, or completely natural latex. It’s really most times just an advertising gimmick meant to draw attention away from the material quality the mattress is comprised of.

Comparing Latex Mattress Brands

It can be a challenge too to compare the latex mattress brands. Each brand of course puts themselves out there as being the best, but the comparison points are not always like vs. like. For example, you may have one latex mattress brand touting itself as being superior than all the others, and it may be “natural”, but it could have fillers, additives, and glues that actually take away from the “green” qualities it started with. The other competing brands may indeed be natural without those “extras”, and indeed be hypoallergenic and not have off gassing.

Organic Latex

Organic latex mattresses have to be certified. There cannot be any sprayed herbicides, pesticides, insecticides anywhere in the vicinity for a certain period of time to qualify. For the price, an all natural latex mattress might be just as good because of the restraints and costs associated with being certified organic.

Synthetic Latex

Synthetic latex mattresses can legally be represented as 100% latex mattresses because that is in fact what they are, but it says nothing of the quality. Synthetic latex is laden with petrochemicals, and may cause allergies. Beside the fact that synthetic latex mattresses don’t have the elastic properties that natural latex rubber does. Thus, the synthetic does not seem to be as resilient and hold up as long as its natural counterpart.

Blended Latex

Blended latex is a mixture of natural latex and synthetic latex. Most times the ratio is more heavily weighted towards the synthetic, and the natural latex is more of an afterthought, or in other words, just added on the top to give somewhat of an experience with natural latex.

Being Certain of the Quality of Latex for Your Mattress

If you are certain of the latex mattress quality that you want (and you should be before you set out shopping for one), it can be a lot easier to know the questions to ask to determine that you are getting what you need are aren’t being sold a bill of goods. Doing your due diligence in the mattress world (especially with latex) will pay off big dividends in the quality of your sleep.