Latex All Natural Foam Bedding
Latex foam bedding is one of the best ways to get a great night’s sleep, while still being friendly on the environment and saving some cash along the way. So many bedding products on the market use dangerous chemicals and offer poor support during some of the most important hours of our lives.
What is Latex?
Latex is natural rubber material produced in a variety of plants, but most of the latex we use from the Hevea brasiliensis or Pará rubber tree, mainly found in South America. The barked is stripped from the tree and a milky substance drains from the trees. This substance can be used to make a variety of products including rubber. In the bedding world, the milky serum is processed to produce a foam that is used in mattresses, as a mattress topper or pillows.
There are so many great things about natural latex, let’s take a look at why latex is an excellent choice for bedding.
Durability
I have heard and read stories of so many people who have owned some form of latex product in their bedroom for years. Latex outlast almost any other bedding material, while still providing the same level of support over the years. Most latex will last for at least 10 years and sometimes as long as 20 or 30 years.
Excellent Support
Latex is one of the few bedding products that is both fairly soft, yet provides excellent support throughout the night. Many of the best quality mattresses are either fully constructed from latex or contain latex as padding because of the great support it provides.
Environmentally Friendly
Since latex is made from harvesting trees sustainably, it is considered one of the most eco-friendly for bedding. So many mattresses and memory foam products contain dangerous chemicals that they are not safe for you or the environment when disposed of. There are some memory foam makers that keep the environment in mind, but do not compare in terms of durability and support to latex. And don’t be fooled by “synthetic” latex products as they may have similar properties to its natural counterpart, its made using petroleum products.
Savings
One of the first things that could prevent most people from buying latex is the higher prices than products made from other materials. This is just another example of how if you spend a little more money, the more you can save in the long haul. Both the durability and support aspects alone make latex worth slightly higher price. Instead of having to purchase pillow after pillow and mattress after mattress,
The Processing
Usually advertised with latex bedding products is the process in which the latex foam was made, either Dunlop or Talalay.
Dunlop
The first of the two pr0cesses to make latex bedding is Dunlop. This process has been used since the early 1900’s and is the more traditional and simple method of producing latex bedding. It’s made by whipping the substance, pouring it into a mold and then baking it. This method produces is said to produces a slightly more uneven foam, but it requires much less processing than the Talalay method.
Talalay
This process is much more advanced process than the Dunlop. The latex starts out the same way as in the Dunlop method, but after it’s put into the mold, it is then flash frozen to help get a more even finished latex product. Heat is then added to help the foam set.
Both types of latex have their followers and which type you buy really depends on your preference. Dunlop are said to be a little more firm, while the Talalay are said to be more consistent. It also depends on the manufacturer that makes the actual latex.
The best way to really determine which type of latex to buy is to try them out. Laying on the product is the only true way to determine if the brand/type of latex is right for you.
Comments
now this is a good post thanx.
Personally I am not convinced that latex is necessarily a green alternative. Sure latex can be created sustainably, but is it really? It would be much cheaper for them to just keep cutting down more rain forest instead of bothering to replant anything.
Your comment does not make any sense and is not at all relevant to this post. If you are going to dispute something I write, be sure that it is logical and not something to just write a comment.
How is my comment not relevant post? And how is clear cutting South American rain forests an environmentally friendly action? It is like driving an suv instead of a hummer and saying it’s good for the environment.
I was a little confused when I first read your original comment. I was not able to find anywhere that they are cutting down rainforests to make room for the Para Rubber trees. If you can provide an article or resource that provides that information, I would be interested in reading.
I really like my memory foam mattress. But, thanks to your blog, I’ll keep the environment in mind when it is time to dispose of it.
I have not tried using latex foam mattress. Thanks for this post i am convinced to buy one.