 |
| Our $70 inflatable mattress served us faithfully for 5 years before busting a seam |
Some background
Knowing that I was content with an inflatable mattress, would you believe that I am a mattress snob? It's true, I am. For this, I blame my sensitivity to chemicals and odors. In the past, when I was sick (I'm all better now!), I developed MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity). MCS can be a real problem when one needs to buy a new mattress. Typically, mattresses are manufactured using a myriad of noxious chemicals (e.g. formaldehyde, glues, isocyanate from the polyurethane foam). These mattresses continue to off-gas nasty odors for months and possibly even years. No thanks.
Having MCS is an even bigger problem when on a limited student budget. So I sewed my own mattress using organic materials. It was a queen size, about 4 inches thick, and comprised layers of organic cotton batting topped with a 2 inch natural latex topper. In all, it cost $200 to make. I got a good four years out of it and brought it with me to PA when I married my dear hubs in 2008.
I guess my dear hubs wasn't a fan of my hand-made organic mattress. Because in late 2008, as a wedding gift to ourselves, Spencer bought us a brand new $500 mattress from The Original Mattress Store. It was plush and comfortable to lie on, but oh boy did it stink. I put my activated carbon blanket ($159 from Nirvana Safe Haven) over the mattress to help absorb the odors and that made it tolerable. But after a few months, the mattress was still off-gassing. So, we got rid of it.
Thus began the era of the Inflatable Mattress. :)
Fast Forward Five Years
I had my heart set on a Talalay natural latex mattress but most of these cost upwards of $1500 in queen size. There were also mattresses marketed as 'latex mattress' (e.g. the $600 Ultimate Dreams Latex Mattress) that are actually a combination of natural latex with a core/base of HR Foam (Polyfoam), thus not 100% latex.
I ordered this queen-sized Miracle Sleep 6 inch natural latex mattress as a set (box spring and mattress) for $1000 from Amazon. Getting it as a set was $200 cheaper than buying just the mattress.
This mattress has absolutely no odor. It appears well put together from quality materials. It is firm (I ordered 'firm' figuring if it was too firm I could always add a plush topper). It conforms to my side-sleeping contour yet feels nicely supportive. Among other plusses, it claims to:
- Reduce pressure points, disperse body heat and maintain a neutral temperature environment
- Be antimicrobial, hypoallergenic, inhibits the growth of bacteria, mold, mildew and is dust mite resistant
- Extremely durable, maintains it shape, no need to flip the mattress, and has a 20 year life span
- Available in soft, medium and firm support
I'll update a few months down the line as I get more acquainted with my new favorite purchase, but right now it's LOVE!
 |
| Box spring foundation, 6 inches of firm natural Talalay latex foam. Put on my own allergy/bed bug barrier mattress casing and topped with a plush mattress topper. |
 |
| It's hard to tell from the pic, but the materials are good quality. No odor! |
