Your bed is a refuge and a place where your body can rejuvenate. If you aren’t getting the proper sleep, it could be due to the type of bed you’re sleeping in. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to sleep on latex, we have given you a comprehensive guide below.
Sleep on Latex Reviews
There has been an influx of new mattress materials introduced in the last decade. There was a time when there was one type of bed you could sleep on, and it usually involved metal coils that would eventually start poking you as you slept. Now it seems there are mattress commercials on the air regularly, each one purporting to know the secret to help you get the best sleep.
One of these trends is latex beds. If you are thinking of rubber gloves, you aren’t entirely far off. It’s true you won’t be sleeping on a rubber bed exactly, but latex beds are starting to take off in popularity. If you are thinking about trying to sleep on latex, reviews, facts and figures like those we present here are worth a read. We hope that they will help you make a more informed decision about the product.
How Does a Latex Mattress Work?
A latex bed is not a literal rubber bed. You won’t stick to it, and it won’t bounce you around the room. Believe it or not, it’s one of the most luxurious materials you can have in bedding. Latex is not cheap to make or incorporate into a mattress; therefore, it is also one of the most expensive materials to make a bed out of. There are several things a latex bed does that traditional coil beds don’t.
1. Latex Is Pressure Positive
When your body comes into contact with anything, physics says we exert pressure upon it. Sitting on a couch, riding in a car, running down a street, all of these are activities that cause us to apply pressure to a surface. Picture someone sitting on the edge of a traditional coil bed while you look through a transparent window on the side. There, you can see all the inner workings of the bed. As someone sits on the bed, the coils respond to the pressure and become compressed. This happens everywhere you’re touching; however, the coils become even further engaged in the areas you exert the most pressure. For example, your hips will cause more exertion than your feet. This is what’s known as pressure negative.
Latex is pressure positive. This means it doesn’t yield or engage when you sit or lay on it. You don’t sink into it. Instead, it almost seems to push you up, like a buoy. Latex transfers pressure back onto the body. You may not have a conscious knowledge that this is what’s happening, but you will feel like something is different. Pressure positive is an improvement over pressure negative results.
2. There Are Two types of latex in bedding
There are two types of latex in bedding manufacturing.Dunlop is pure latex rubber and is the most expensive type of latex. Talalay latex is a latex blend. It is just as effective as the Dunlop, but it is less costly.Manufacturers incorporate latex into a bed in one of two ways. Some mattresses are all latex, while other have several latex layers interspersed with memory foam. The all-latex bed is the most expensive, averaging about $3,000 for a queen. It is also the least comfortable bed. This is because it gives wherever your weight is the greatest. It is much like a waterbed in this way. If you ever slept in one of those, you know what we’re talking about. Your rear might be on the box of the bed underneath you, while your feet and arms are floating way above you. Since people tend to be heaviest in the hips and midsection, you will sink the furthest in those areas in an all-latex bed. The average return rate for an all-latex mattress is four out of every ten.
Latex layers incorporated with either memory foam or coils give you some of the pressure positive feel but in a much more even and comfortable way. In stark contrast to the all-latex bed, the layered latex mattress is fantastic. It is more durable and lasts longer than memory foam alone. Latex is more supportive when combined with foam layers. This is because the foam is comprehensively pressure-relieving, whereas latex is not. It may cost more than an all-foam mattress; however, it can be worth the extra money if the latex is perfectly balanced with foam layers in the right combination. It will help prolong the comfort of your mattress.
3. Latex is cooler than foam
Latex, when used in layers, is cooler than memory foam. Even though latex is rubberized, the manufacturer drills tiny holes throughout. The holes are drilled both vertically and horizontally to keep the product fully ventilated. No one wants to wake up in a puddle of sweat because their bed retained massive amounts of heat during the night. Having the latex layers will help keep you sleeping cool.
4. latex is a bouncier material
All-latex beds are incredibly bouncy. This means if someone is in bed with you and moves, you should probably be holding on to something. The motion transfer is severe. A latex-layered bed also moves quite a bit, albeit not necessarily as much as the full latex.Memory foam can take a very long time to spring back up after you roll away. If you’re moving from one side to another and you have latex in there, you don’t have to wait for the bed to re-conform to you. It is an immediate reaction to your body’s movement.One thing also to note about latex is if you’re paying for a latex bed, you need to ask where in the bed the latex material is. Since it is the comfort material in the bed, you won’t necessarily feel it if it’s four layers down. If you can’t feel it and if it isn’t doing anything to help the comfort or shape of the bed, then you probably shouldn’t be paying for it. You want to be sure the latex layer is towards the top; otherwise, you’re wasting money.
Public Perception of Latex Mattresses
When people hear the word latex, they immediately think of rubber gloves. They may even believe that the top layer of an all-latex bed is going to feel rubbery. This is not the case. There are several misleading beliefs about latex mattresses. We touch on a few below.
“But I’m Allergic to Latex”
Latex allergies are no laughing matter. Contact with latex can prompt a severe allergic reaction resulting in a person being unable to breathe and breaking out in horrible hives. These people don’t want to even look at a latex bed of any kind because of the fear that they will have an awful reaction. The fact is, an allergy to latex is contact dermatitis. It only occurs when someone with the allergy touches something latex skin to skin. A latex bed of any kind will not have any visible latex. In fact, you won’t know it’s latex unless you cut it open. You don’t sleep on the rubber. It’s just a component deep down in the core of the bed, hidden under woven layers of heavy fabric. If you have any doubt, ask a bedding expert to give you a demonstration.
“This All-Latex Bed Is the Most Expensive Mattress in Here, so That Means It’s the Best One.”
People are under the impression the higher the price, the better the product is. While this may be true in some cases, it is not correct when it comes to an all-latex bed. As we stated above, all-latex mattresses are not suitable for your spinal health and alignment. They transfer movement quickly and continuously. They are also the heaviest beds on the market. It might take a team of football players to lift it every time you want to rearrange your furniture. Just because something is more expensive, that doesn’t make it a better-quality item. In the case of an all-latex bed, it just means the materials inside cost more. That’s the extent of the price point.
A Look at General Reviews
After looking at the general misconceptions and objections to buying a latex mattress, we turned our attention to general reviews. We wanted to see what people who purchased these products were saying about them. The response is overwhelmingly positive. The average rating was five stars. This seems to speak volumes about the product quality and people’s responsiveness to the negative aspects of a latex mattress.
However, upon further research, we found that most of the positive reviews were written within the first month of purchase. This is important for a few reasons. The first and perhaps most important reason is their opinion is probably skewed. If you go out and get a new bed, it’s not because you loved your old one and were sleeping soundly; it was because you needed a new one. After years of sleeping on an old and uncomfortable mattress, you finally get a new one, and it is bliss! You decide to write a review about how much you enjoy your latex mattress and all that it’s done for your sleep quality. Overnight, you feel so much more well-rested.
Then after a month or two, you start to notice your neck hurts. Maybe you need to get an extra pillow, so you do that, but with no relief. Then you take the pillow away and get a smaller one because your head is too high. That doesn’t work either. Why? The most substantial amount of pressure exerted on the mattress is in the middle, leaving your head much higher than the rest of your body. How does something that felt so right just a short month before now feel so terrible? It doesn’t seem right. You decide to return the bed and go with a more traditional mattress or a memory foam one. What you don’t do is go back and revise your feedback to now say you had to return the bed. All that’s left hanging out on the internet is that glowing recommendation you gave it.We know this example may be a little extreme, but we wanted to illustrate the point that we all need to keep reviews in perspective.
How Does Latex Compare to All Foam?
If you are considering an all-latex bed, it means you’re done with traditional inner springs. You don’t want body impressions or broken coils. You’re ready for better technology, and because latex is one of the best types of material to have in an innerspring bed, the logic is that an all-latex mattress must be that much better. This is not the case.
If you want to get away from innerspring beds and you want to go to all one type of material, you want something that’s going to give you proper spinal alignment. Something that’s going to take the pressure off the body while it rejuvenates. Something that will provide you with all the health benefits that the latex layer in inner springs is trying to give you. At that point, the best thing for you to move to is all foam, not all rubber.
Memory foam is explicitly a negative pressure material. It’s designed to relieve pressure. Unlike a latex rubber, you will sink into a perfect spinal alignment in a memory foam mattress. It has give, albeit very supportive give. No matter which way you prefer to sleep, your spine will be in perfect alignment every night.
What We Think
After all our research, we believe it is possible that a layered latex bed is an excellent option if you’re looking to get away from coils and springs. An all-latex mattress, however, is not. The poor body alignment while you sleep, the transfer of movement regularly, along with the heat retention, make for some pretty miserable nights ahead. The layered latex is the best of both worlds, offering some of the pressure positive aspects without sacrificing proper body alignment. If memory foam is the main component in the bed, then you will be sure to get restful sleep.
