Mattresses are such a matter of personal taste. It's also a really sleazy industry, so be careful.

I have friends who are in their '60s who got a latex mattress a few years ago and absolutely love it. If I had the money and had to get a new mattress, I'd go with latex (I have Natura natural latex pillows, and LOVE them).

If you like what you have, though, why change it?

As for flipping mattresses, most now are not two-sided (another area where the mattress industry has gone down hill). Not sure about latex mattresses, though.

I completely understand what you are saying about the sleazy mattress industry. We did find a good quality latex mattress from the Original Mattress Factory that is two sided and can be flipped.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm curious to hear if other have faced this dilemma and what they've done.

Are they still making waterbeds the same as the ones you've liked in the past? If so - why mess with success.

I did a ton of research before getting my latex bed and it did take some experimentation tweaking to get it right (ie I needed to add a wool pad and now its the most comfy thing in the world). Long story short - go with local manufacturers who build the mattress locally so you get a much better quality at lower cost and the option to customize it - rather than nationally distributed brand names (ie youre paying for shipping and advertising and don't have an option to customize or adjust it after purchase.)

Years ago we had a waterbed. It was comfortable, but I liked to move the furniture around in the bedroom, and couldn't. DH got tired of the waterbed, so we bought a latex mattress. It was comfortable, but I got too hot. I tried a cotton mattress pad, wool topper, etc. but nothing helped. We now have an air mattress.

I'd keep the waterbed as long as you are happy with it.

I went from a no-baffle waterbed (loved it) to baffles (missed the movement) to a soft-sided which for the life of me I cannot remember why I didn't bring with me when I moved esp as it was expensive and wasn't old. ? I ended up with a pillow-top from a local manufacturer with a separate layer of coils in the top. Its about 10 years old now and will need replacing in the next year or so I think. My orig waterbeds lasted longer. I wanted latex when I bought this one, but had bought a latex pillow first, and found I couldn't tolerate the smell of the latex. Ruled out tempurpedic the same way; I woke up with a stuffed nose and headache with the pillow...I'll probably get the same mattress again.

Love out Tempurpedic! Will never again have anything else.

I'm with Sis2two: I've slept on reg waterbeds, soft sided waterbeds, latex foam & spring coil mattresses, our Tempurpedic is the best sleep I've ever had. Recently, though, we got a new inexpensive latex foam mattress for theguest room and it's pretty good!

We got our Tempurpedic after sleeping on one at a hotel--I don't think I would've had the guts to spend so much money on a mattress otherwise! Do you know anyone with a latex mattress who'll let you try theirs out for a night?

Baroo2u--

That is exactly the problem with buying a mattress--you have to buy it first in order to be able to actually sleep on if for a night. And, once you've purchased, it's your for life probably; from what I've been reading, exchanges and/or returns aren't a simple as they are made out to be by the salespeople. I wish I did know someone with a latex mattress so I could try it out.

I know several of you are endorsing tempurpedic, but I've been reading that the problem with many o0f them is that they sleep hot. True?

Anyone else out there with softside waterbed experience? Thanks much.

needinfo1-we also are in the market for a new mattress and leaning toward latex. I bought a thick memory foam topper from overstock last year (it wasn't cheap by any means but cheaper than a new mattress) to give it a try and we ended up hating it. Way way too hot for me. I am a mover and I felt 'trapped' in this mattress, like sleeping in sand. I would still move but it was work to do so. Not great sleep.

That said my parents swear by their Tempurpedic and again it's a full mattress not just a topper.

They are so expensive it's a tough tough call to know what you will end up comfortable in. I am hoping to go latex but we are waiting for our build to finish to buy one. Yikes - all new appliances needed and a new mattress all at once. Ouch.

One of my sons has princess and the pea syndrome -- know what I mean? We went through a lot to get his current mattress and it is a latex one. He loves it and it seems very comfortable to me. My brother and SIL have slept on it and said they'd take it home with them if it was a king rather than a queen. I would have liked a latex for us but DH wasn't as sold. When we replace this mattress, I will look at latex again.

What we wound up with for ourselves was a hybrid -- an innerspring with layers of latez and memory foam on top. DH wanted the innerspring and this was the one we could agree on. We tried the memory foam, including tempurpedic. We had heard they slept hot but have also been told that was an earlier problem and they have improved. Certain styled may have more of those features, so ask about them. For us the Tempurpedic issue was the movement. I wondered what it would be like to roll over while asleep and I'm pretty sure DH would wake and not sleep well.

Mattress shopping is hard and returns are not as easy as they make them seem (had that issue with my son). Read the fine print before you buy and take your time. Lay on a mattress and stay in the positions you know you sleep most in for several minutes -- until you can feel your body settle into the mattress, Notice whether you are feeling pressure points, whether your hips are elevated or sinking, whether your spine is straight or dipping. I think most people are too embarrassed to lay on a mattress and try to use their hands or a quick stretch out to test the mattress. You need the whole body test, a pillow similar to the type you use and several minute or more on each mattress to know how it will feel. If you do that, your chances of wanting to return a mattress will be greatly reduced -- hopefully limited to getting that occasional lemon.

Temperpedic lover here, we have them in our guest rooms and everyone who stays over wants to buy one. Go try one out and see what you think. I deal with constant pain and this mattress handles it the best. You don't have any sensation of leaning and feeling pressure, it's like floating.

Latex is sometimes considered a safer/greener mattress choice to avoid certain chemicals and off-gassing concerns. If that's the reason for considering latex, I wouldn't consider temperpedic an alternative. I understand that many people are not concerned about those issues or think they are bunk and I don't want to start a debate on the issue at all. I just wanted to mention that for some purposes some people might consider latex but not temperpedic. I include a link simply to illustrate the concern, not trying to convince anyone or say that you should trust this source or anything.

We have a latex mattress from IKEA and love it. It is about five years old now and still very comfortable for us. We liked it so much we bought another for our guest bed in a previous home and my parents said it was extremely comfortable for them too. Even better it was cheap! We are planning to replace ds' bunk beds with a double in the next few months at his request and we will definitely be buying another IKEA latex mattress.

That said, I probably wouldn't mess with success and would simply try to buy another of the waterbed mattresses you are already happy with

Here is a link that might be useful: Mother Jones article on mattress off-gassing

I know that no matter how silly I'll feel once we narrow down our choices I will need to spend a good half hour in the store trying the thing out. I just wish I could find a store with both a soft sided waterbed and a latex mattress on display. But, it is not going to happen since they are both fairly unique, rather than mainstream, products.

crl--

Yes, I am aware of the off-gassing issue; it is not a major issue for me but a bit of a concern.

We have actually been to Ikea and looked at their latex mattresses. Do you have the Sultan Edsele, their top-of-the-line that is 85% natural latex and 15% synthetic? They also have another one that is about half the price because it is all synthetic.

Thanks for all the thoughts.

Our purchase ended up being delayed, and now is the time to push the "buy" button. Any further thoughts from anyone since this was posted nearly a year ago.

I have no experience with a waterbed, but love our all latex mattress. You mentioned concern about it being heavy and difficult to flip. You don't flip a latex mattress. They are constructed with multiple layers of latex (usually 2 or 3), and usually, each layer will generally have a different firmness. For example, our 3-layer mattress has a bottom firm layer, then a soft layer and is topped by a medium-firm layer. If we were to flip the mattress, that would put the firm layer on top and make the bed firm as a rock.

My advice if you go the latex route is to seek out local manufacturers and other outlets that sell them-- this will usually not be a major chain-- and try them out first. There are a couple of types of latex-- Dunlop and Talalay, and then there's natural, synthetic and blended-- and each has a different feel. Plus there are infinite firmness combinations that can be had with the layering options. So yeah, it sounds confusing, but because all latex is not really a mainstream product, it's kind of a necessary step. We ended up having to go to 3 or 4 places to test a wide enough variety.

As for latex vs. memory foam like Tempurpedic, the chemical composition of memory foam/off gassing was an issue for us, but I do understand it is not an issue for everyone. But the feel of latex is very different than memory foam. You kind of sink in to memory foam, while latex has more of a resilience and bounce. A mattress preference is such an individual thing, and one subject about which what other people tell you about their likes/dislikes has little relevance.

This post was edited by sas95 on Fri, Nov 7, 14 at 6:55

sas95--

Where did you finally end up buying your latex mattress? Online or bricks and mortar store? So many people seem to buy latex online because there are so few stores that sell them.

We got it at a bricks and mortar store. I would never buy a mattress without trying it. I did call one online place. The guy there asked about my/my husband's weight and whether we were front, back, side sleepers and made some recommendations for layering that ended up being not dissimilar from what we ended up buying at the store. But I had no interest in building my own mattress, or potentially repacking and shipping latex layers if things didn't work out.

We are lucky to have one good store in our area that sells nothing but latex, but we did travel a bit to other stores to compare and contrast before buying.

Thanks much.

I can RELATE...I had been sleeping on a waterbed-double bladder soft side, then replaced the bladders with tubes, which kept springing a leak. I loved the feel of floatation sleep. I loved the warm in winter, cool in summer feel. Just got tired of having leaks. My original w/b mattress lasted YRS, but the replacements were a headache so gave up. Tried memory foam-TOO Hot and didn't like being confined in the space feel. Tried foam, better but didn't last, mind you I didn't pay lots for the mattress but they seem to lose firmness/comfort in a yr. I just wish finding a good sleep experience wasn't hard, and so costly. I just ordered a foam mattress through overstock...DO NOT DO IT...it came, was sold as cal king 6 inch. Comes compressed, took it out of the box, it was a reg King/4 inch...LIARS, now that it is opened I am having issues getting my $ refunded. If it was WHAT it said I wouldn't have to return it or demand a refund. My advice is NEVER, EVER buy online, because once you accept delivery, you are stuck and outta luck. Buy local, then you have recourse.

I'm the OP.

We just had our floors sanded so it was time to make a final decision. Rather than upgrading to a new waterbed and once more contending with the hassles of filling it and the moving difficulties, we replaced it with a latex mattress. We bought Ikea's Morgongava top-of-the-line latex mattress. This is called all natural even though it is only about 80% or 85% true natural latex. We placed it on slats rather than using a box spring. It's only been a few weeks, but so far we have been happy with the decision. Since it is winter, I thought I'd miss the heated waterbed, but that hasn't been an issue either.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm going to try the IKEA!

I thought my husband and I were the last people on earth who loved our waterbed. Ours sprung a leak a few months ago, and although it was relatively easy to patch, I've convinced him it's no longer worth messing with. And after fighting me on it, he finally understands that it's a lot easier to deal with a conventional mattress. Don't get me wrong, I love the comfort of our waterbed but I think if we shop around, we can find something that's easier to move, deal with that we will like just as well. I'll be following this thread!

I have slept on water since 1977 going with the
upgrades as they came along. My husband has been selling mattresses since 1976,
and we both are qualified sleep specialty advisors. Water may not be for
everyone, however I would say that around, 80% of our customers that switched,
switched
back within a year or so. The fact is, we sell all specialty sleep mattresses
and our #1 seller by far is a midfill
softside fluid suspension mattress. I laugh at the amount of customers who say "I
will never sleep on a waterbed" They are my easiest sell, as this mattress
sells itself. If I had to leave my softside I think I would move to a cool gel
memory foam, as it is the closest mattress I have found, I can't think of any
reason to change though, so I am sticking with what works! . I hope this helps :)

Debrak, I wouldn't rule out latex 100%. We have a telalay latex bed and love it, but it's wrapped in a wool and cotton cover that keeps it from running warm and makes it look like a regular mattress. I wanted a sleep number bed originally but when I went to see them and did the research I found there are quite a number of problems with them. I don't want to talk you out of it, just trying to forewarn so that you too do your homework. The consensus of the feedback I found was that they are really just expensive air mattresses (that leak).

We have a Dunlop latex mattress which is MUCH firmer than Talalay. We now wish we had gotten the Talalay. We got Talalay mattresses for both our daughter and son. SO comfortable.

I'm at an age where sleeping cool is important. I don't find that latex mattresses contribute to sleeping uncomfortably.

Find a store that sells 100% latex mattresses and give them a test run. My bed consists of 3 thick layers inside a thick zipper cover. We could choose from soft, medium or hard for each layer to get the desired firmness we wanted . The store had displays set up with different combinations to try. A year after we bought it, we ordered another soft Dunlop layer to replace a hard layer in the bed to make it a bit softer. It has helped, but I still like the Talalay better.

Take your pillow to the store and get comfy. :-).

It's a big commitment and a lot of money .

I read somewhere that when you lie on your back on a mattress, there should not be a gap between the arch of your back and the bed. Otherwise it's too firm. Wish I had read that prior to purchasing .

Back in the 80's, we had a waterbed with baffles in it, so it wasn't free flowing...a little firmer for a water bed . Hard to get out of it . Ours ended up getting a pin hole and the leak was so little that dh didn't notice it for quite some time. He got a bad rash from the chemicals in it .

Yup, that's what we have too, only we couldn't find a local store and had to purchase it online, sight unseen. Designsaavy, you may want to consider replacing one of the layers with a soft Talalay, it may help to soften it a bit.

I've never had a mattress that is so consistently comfortable. I'm saying this after owning it for almost 4 years, if it were a conventional mattress, I'd be complaining after the first year. A topper is really no indication of how a mattress will work out.

At the time, we had one local mom and pop store that had them. It was more expensive to go thru them, but wanted to buy local since we were able to do so. We asked the store where we bought the mattress, and for some reason we couldn't put the Talalay with our set. I don't remember why. Our layers are not divided side to side. Perhaps the thickness would be different with what they had to fit in the zippered cover? Don't remember. But, we did add a Dunlop soft layer, so it does help.

But, you can be sure next time (in forever from now!) It will be a Talalay.....or something better that has been invented. ;-)

In case anyone is interested in Latex, the layers are extremely heavy and awkward. Takes two people to move each layer. If they had layers for each side of the bed when I purchased, I would have done them. Not only for ease of moving them, but you can personalize the firmness for each person.

Oh geeze, I bet they are heavy!

Our layers are as you say, cut side to side as well and we did get each side customized to our individual preferences which is ideal however, even so I think there are pros and cons to either. A con to our style is that the sides do have a tendency to separate sometimes. For some that could be an issue but for us it hasn't been. We don't ever feel it when we sleep and it's an easy fix when we strip the bed.

I'm just surprised that the latex bed isn't more popular than it is.

lukkiirish,

Would you share where you got your bed? (Another one in the 'it's time to say goodbye to a waterbed - and finding a suitable replacement is hard.)

Sure, we got ours at Sleepez.com, linked below to the page of the closest match to ours, 100% Natural Talaylay queen, split w/3 layers. They ship from Arizona and it was delivered in 2 boxes. We chose to swap out one of the layers to make my husbands side a bit more firm and they did everything they promised they would and were extremely nice about it. The owner returned calls promptly and over all, we had a really good experience with the company.

Pros: It's organic and environmentally friendly, the latex is imported but moulded in the US. Customizable to meet each persons firmness needs. Long life span. Resistent to dust mites.

Cons: Depending on someones sleep pattern the layers can shift a little and may occassionally need to be realigned.

Note: The return policy has changed some since we bought ours, be sure you read it as it may be something to consider.

After years of buying one pillow top mattress after another with the same terrible results, we were desparate to find something that would accomodate both of us (we have very different sleeping needs) and this has been the perfect option. I doubt with the life span of these we will ever need to buy a whole new mattress again. Granted, it's not for everyone but...

SleepEz

*Edited to read 100% natural Talaylay, not organic.

I remember that company when we were going to buy. If we hadn't gone local, we were going to buy from them.

I still recommend you test them in a local store if you're able to. That way you know what combination of layers to get for each side for your personal comfort:

for example:

hard/medium/soft

medium/medium/soft

ETC.

Talalay layers are going to be softer than Dunlop layers.

Look for 100% organic latex

I do not believe there is such a thing as organic Talalay, only Dunlop can be organic. I think it has something to do with the Talalay process. Talalay mattresses are usually sold as "natural," and when the word "organic" is used, it generally refers to the mattress cover. If you look at the fine print at Sleepez, this is the case with their "organic" mattresses as well.

We have a natural Talalay mattress and love it. We bought from a local place. Sleepez and such looked appealing (and much cheaper), but I had no appetite for unpacking, assembling and potentially repacking and returning mattress layers. I wanted to try the actual firmness levels beforehand. Plus, I didn't want the layer shifting issue.

It's been so long since we bought ours. Now that you mention that about Talalay, I do remember that.

I still would prefer it to the Dunlop.

I posted incorrectly, it should read 100% Natural Talaylay Latex, the fabrics for the cover are organic. I did a ton of research about Latex back when we bought, but have forgotten quite a bit, but just the Sleepez site alone has a lot of information available though

Thank you all for sharing. Love the waterbed (been on one for 40 years) but now that we are 60+ are finding the occasional maintenance a huge bother and with so few being sold here in eastern Massachusetts I haven't seen anyone available to hire for it. It's been great for my fibromyalgia and from what I've tried in stores it seems latex is what I should explore.

If you have a lot of joint pain from the fibromyalsia, I would have to agree, the natural Talaylay is soft to lay on but very resiliant.

debrak, I suspect your mattress is synthetic latex and not the real deal. If you read the article on Sleepez.com about the different types of latex available, it seems to point in that direction.

I also have been sleeping on a waterbed for the past 30 years. I have been thinking that I might not be getting the support I need and should try something else. I toss and turn all night and can not get comfortable. Not sure if it is the bed or me. I am 60 and need my sleep My friend is offering me her CA King Latex because she is moving. It is about 7 years old. I hear they can hold up longer then conventional mattresses. I am conflicted because I don't want to have regrets about getting rid of my waterbed. Sounds silly I know.

Been sleeping on a waterbed since 1974. Started in college. We'll be retiring it mostly because of the difficulty of maintaining and moving. For some house improvement work later this summer we need to move our bedroom.

AND, because that bedroom move could be temporary, and our age, I'm seriously thinking it will be an innerspring - with no or little foam. I'd love to try latex - but that stuff is so heavy. That is my single concern about it. We do king size beds. Macy's is having a summer mattress sale --- but then again I've looked enough to see that sales seem to be unending. But, maybe with this one I can be satisfied to not go shop hopping. We started this process about a year ago ---- and after visiting several stores really didn't know what we liked. I think because 100% innerspring are generally lower cost, we were continually steered to some with various kinds of foam.

It may because we're doing some big things on the house that I want to do it real easy. And, after having spent so little on mattresses (waterbeds were very cheap when we got ours --- have had just two), if I decide the innerspring isn't the best , oh well.