What are the benefits of latex?

Why do you use latex in mattresses?

Natural latex is among most advantageous of bed materials:

• Exceptional durability. Natural latex foam outlasts soft inner sprung and synthetic foam mattresses
• Healthy. Latex is non-toxic.
• Good for sleep posture. Latex has excellent weight support and contouring in a wide variety of densities.
• Resistant to water, mold, temperature and humidity.
• Uninhabitable by dust mites and stays clean.
• Latex is only vulnerable to UV and sunlight (so keep the latex foam core inside its cover if airing outside, and if washed, dry in shade.)

Our Latex is Not Synthetic

Latex does not off-gas harmful chemicals, and is better all round than sprung or synthetic mattresses.

Memory foam is made of synthetic materials like polyurethane, solvents, adhesives and other chemicals. Tempurpedic has been taken to court based on their mattresses off-gassing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde. VOCs have been related to sickness, allergies, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome.

Tempur foam or memory foam is often compared to latex. A significant difference is that latex is 'temperature neutral', whereas memory foam often gets softer as it gets hotter. For this reason memory foam mattresses can be hot and sticky to sleep in. We regularly hear people complaining of feeling 'trapped in a hole' in a memory foam bed because they sink-in as the foam softens and can't roll over in their sleep.

For those people upgrading from a memory foam mattress who are looking for a natural 'moulds to the body' feel may like a 'very soft' latex mattress - often described like 'sleeping on a cloud' - with a knitted cover so that even the fabric has the flexibility to contour to the body.

Polyester foam, Polyurethane foam and plastic foam are made from synthetic or petrochemical derivatives. We avoid using any synthetic foam in our beds because it sags faster, contains multiple toxic materials, lacks elasticity, and is often 'closed cell' and so it doesn't breath. The structure of polyester mattress foam is not stable, and it will begin to sag over weeks and months. There are no advantages to synthetic foam mattresses except that low-quality foam mattresses can be made very cheaply. As it is hand gathered from rubber tree milk, latex foam is more expensive but far better value. It is more comfortable from the first sleep and will stay like that much longer, plus organic latex is completely non-toxic.