Which is better? Latex or Memory Foam in a mattress?
This a common question asked by many customers and there is the matter of personal choice, which clearly we can’t provide a definitive answer on. What we can do is compare the two objective measures. Providing you with the hard facts to decide for yourselves.
We have put together a short video to explain the main comfort differences.
Material – Natural Latex is a far superior material to Memory Foam as it does not have the associated heat issues and is a natural breathable material. Latex has been tested side by side against other foam mattresses and has consistently scored higher in terms of durability and comfort. Sleep like the dead is an excellent resource which has tested hundreds if not thousands of beds on this score!
Memory Foam suffers from a slower rebound rate, the rate at which it returns to its natural state whereas Latex is almost immediate. This means for those who dislike the moulding and sinking feeling in Memory foam, Latex can offer an alternative.
Memory foam is temperature sensitive so when its colder, ie winter, it will be firmer than when it is hotter, in the summer months. Latex has a consistent firmness.
Since we like cakes, Memory foam could be compared to a simple Victoria sponge cake and Latex a bespoke hand made rich fruit cake. Some like one over the other but the Latex, or rich fruit cake, is made of a much higher quality ingredient list which provides a more rich result.
Budget - In terms of budget Memory foam is considerably cheaper and we have some excellent foams and Hybrid foams that provide a quality product at the entry level pricing. If money was no object in your decision making then a Latex bed would win overall. Most customers are balancing budget, requirements, quality and durability off against each other.
Is Latex the same as Tempur and or memory foam? – These are questions that are frequently searched for online. Let me start by clarifying, tempur foam / memory foam is a completely different synthetic material compared to Natural Latex. They are certainly not the same thing! Whilst they have a similar pressure reliving property, they react and feel different to each other. Tempur / memory foam is heat sensitive and reacts to heat. Latex on the other hand reacts to pressure and moulds based on body weight primarily. Trying to compare them is unfair to both materials, like comparing beer and wine! Latex is a more advanced and natural product, if its natural latex more on that here, than a synthetic memory foam. Solid core latex mattresses can also be fully turned unlike memory and Tempur foam mattresses.
We recommend that if in doubt please get in touch to discuss things further.
Our Latex Range Below:
Paul
I am in the process of purchasing a new kingsize mattress and came across the La-Z-Boy system 3000 pocket sprung mattress with latex in my local Furniture Village store, which I tried out and liked. However I am aware that La-Z-Boy is relatively new in the U.K. and just wondered if you have any knowledge or views on this mattress. I would be interested to know if you have any comparable mattresses in your outlet. The retail price is approximately £750.
I’ve seen that Lay-Z-Boy have a range of sleepers, which are sofa beds but I’ve not seen much on stand alone mattresses by them. I’d need to know some more detail such as the listed tension and the blend / density of the latex to do any real comparison. I would bare in mind that there are hundreds of types and blends of latex with natural being the best of the best and fully synthetic being the lowest quality in latex terms. Have you looked at our Fusion zero latex and pocket sprung mattress as a basis for comparison? – Lee
Lisa
We are looking for a new king size mattress and like both spring and latex. Don’t like memory foam. We like your natural latex 80/20 mix bed at £900 but we are very different weights – Husband 15st, I’m 9.5st. Need support as hips painful at times. We have a wooden slatted bed with slats bowed upwards in the middle.
Other question is if you do finance to spread the costs over a time period.
Any advice welcome as research has proved a minefield. Hubby feels the heat so natural is better?
Thanks
Hi Lisa, Its going to be difficult given your weight difference, it could turn out to be too firm for you or too soft for your husband. It depends on how different your preferred tensions are. Ideally you are a medium latex tension for your weight but your husband is nearing the firm tension. Latex is good at managing different weights but with nearly a 6 stone difference it maybe too great a variance Ideally a split tension traditional model from our John Ryan By Design division maybe better but we can’t do this with latex. My advice would be to work out what tension you both want and then we can help further.
For the slats we don’t recommend sprung slats for a latex mattress as it tends to conform to the gaps in-between the slats over time and can look to dip. We recommend you board over the slats to prevent this.
We don’t offer finance or instalments as a method of payment I’m afraid. – Lee
David
Hi, I have been looking over your site and offers, I have picked out 3 mattresses which I think would suit me! I am male, 69 years old; I am around 5′ 10″ tall, weight, 11 stone ! I suffer with Rheumatoid Arthritis, also respiratory problems! Advise me please on which of the 3; ie: Fusion 1 Latex medium single, or, Hybrid 6 or Hybrid 7 single ?? I don’t like too firm or too soft !!
Cheers, David.
Hi David, The models you are looking at all have medium support so you’re probably on the right track given your weight. The best of the three is the fusion 1 model in terms of material, the fact its two sided and is made of latex trumps the rest is terms of material. That said it is also the most expensive. The hybrid 6 and 7 are a high quality feps based mattress meaning you get the traditional robust support followed by progressive comfort of the top layers. These are both one sided mattresses. Id say the Hybrid 7 is the firmest out of the 3.
My advice would be that latex is the most responsive, is naturally hypoallergenic and is the coolest of the materials so if these are benefits that you are looking for then maybe the fusion 1 is the best choice. – Lee
Paula
Hi there,
I’ve really enjoyed browsing your websites and am v interested to lean that you now sell latex mattresses. Having trawled all the big shops lots of times, my favourite mattresses are the Tempur sensation deluxe and those at the top end of the John Lewis naturals collection (cashmere 14000, silk 12000, angora 10000, wool 7000). As we can’t easily afford any of these products, buying a mattress is something that has now been a work in progress for us for well over a year! I think it is entirely possible that one of your mattresses could be the solution to our problem, as it seems from what I have read that some of your models are comparable to those high street models I have mentioned.
My husband has no hard feelings about whether we go for a pocket sprung product or a Tempur, but he is not as impressed with Tempur as I am. He also perspires a lot in bed and I’ve read that Tempur products can make people very hot, which would make me wary.
We need a superking mattress and currently have a zip and link. I am not sure we’d get a superking mattress up the stairs, so will probably stick to a zip and link option.
My initial question is this – would it be possible to buy mixed zip and link products from you – i.e. a latex mattress linked to a pocket sprung? I believe this would suit us down to the ground. However, if the answer to this is no, then we obviously need to figure out exactly which of the two types of product we want and take it from there. Obviously the height of the mattresses would need to be equal, for example, and this might not be possible.
Also, could you confirm whether your latex products are akin to Tempur please? If not, could you recommend something we are likely to be able to try in a high street store to get an idea of the feel of your latex mattresses please?
I’ll look forward to your response and any advice you may be able to offer.
Kind regards,
Paula
Hi Paula, You certainly have been busy doing your research which means you’re in a better position than most to finding a suitable mattress!
Firstly if your husband is a warm sleeper I’d advise against tempur or any memory foam mattresses as these are heat retentive. It’s how they work, they use heat to mould so will retain heat from your body. This is the drawback of such foams. Latex isn’t heat retentive so it cooler but due to its density will still be warmer than say a traditional pocket sprung mattress, but again latex has a more progressive comfort to it. As you can see you’re trading off all sorts of benefits and draw backs when choosing a mattress material!
I’m going to exclude the temper sensation for this heat issue from my advice.
You’ve preempted my reply in that it would’t be possible to do a zip and link solid core latex like the fusion range and a pocket sprung mattress like the artisan naturals range. This is firstly because of the height difference. Also the two different materials will compress and bed down at different rates so we wouldn’t advise trying to match up the two. You could be left with an uneven overall bed surface if one compresses quicker than the other. Further to this the overall mattress could behave quite strangely as latex has a slow progressive soft sink and a pocket sprung bed may have a more robust comfort feel to it. I know this may sound confusing, its not that ones more robust in terms of durability Paula, but the materials have different sensations to them.
Latex and Tempur mattresses are completely different fish Paula. 100% Natural Latex is a premium mattress material that has pressure relieving qualities like Tempur and memory foam buts its much more responsive. i.e. it comes back to its original shape far quicker than a heat retentive foam such as memory foam. Trying to compare them is very difficult but I have written about latex vs memory foam on the site. If you want to compare I’d go an have a look at the dunlopillo range of latex mattresses we provide comparisons on each fusions range in the shop to see which exact models they compare to.
Lastly I’d advise you give us a call directly 0161 945 3757 to discuss the zip and link options John Ryan By Design offer. This can get you the best mix of mattress tensions to suit you and your husband. – Many thanks Paula – Lee
Helen
Hi,
I’ve been searching for a new mattress but am on a really limited budget, around £350 for a double size mattress. Personally I thought this would be more than enough but as I’ve looked around I’ve realised I’ve underestimated the world of beds and prices. I must be out of touch!
I’ve read all about latex, great site by the way, and so have decided that if possible I want to go for latex.
Ive seen this bed the sealy Jubilee and want to know what you think of it. Its far cheaper than your range but am wondering what the difference is. http://www.bedworld.net/product/19jublatmat–/sealy-jubilee-latex-mattress
I’ve also seen some mattresses on groupon with a ‘latex layer’ and pocket springs for about £400 which would be a push, it doesn’t have a model number but has a ‘deep layer of latex’. Can you advise please?
Thanks! Helen
Hi Helen, Don’t worry you’re not out of touch, its just that there’s so much hype and confusion around beds, a bit like sofas, that you get caught up in the price war without realising what you’re actually buying!
What I will say Helen is that £350 for a decent double bed is going to be pushing it, its not impossible but you will need to make some wise choices as to the material. By this I mean its far better to buy a high quality lower price point foam, ie a decent memory foam, than a low quality high price point latex foam ie synthetic latex. It maybe a better simili to say you would be better buying a higher quality balpoint pen than a cheap fountain pen for the same price.
High quality Latex is an expensive material. Low quality synthetic latex is cheaper but nearly all the original benefits of high quality Natural latex are lost. Please see here for a more in depth discussion over latex blends and qualities. The Sealy Jubille you have seen doesn’t give any specifics about the latex is contains it simply states ‘a thick layer of innergetic latex’. Unless you know the exact depth a thick layer could be 1 or 2cms. Also the term innergetic latex is sealys own blend of latex and they don’t divulge what exactly is in it making it hard to compare. There is also no mention of the type of spring unit used, I’m guessing fro the 620 that it refers to the amount of springs.
The groupon mattress you mention is harder to assess given there are no details. What I would say is that I wouldn’t purchase any latex mattress that’s under say £650. This is because I don’t know how, given the price of latex, any manufacture can create a quality offering for under this price point. Even then it would probably be a highly synthetic blend of latex. What will happen with cheaper mattresses is that the layers of foam are usually thinner and usually of lower quality. This means they will compress quicker and degrade quicker than say a deep 100% natural latex layer. So whilst you maybe getting a steal now, in short amount of time you’ll either be uncomfortable as the foams have compressed or out mattress shopping again. Now who on earth would choose to go out mattress shopping, apart from maybe John Ryan Staff!!
My advice Helen would be to more wisely spend your £350-£400 on a higher quality memory foam bed such as the Genesis 2 or to save up for a higher quality pocket sprung offering such as John Ryan By Design, such as maybe the origins pocket 1500. If you have your heart set on Latex then I would advise you look for solid core latex mattresses such as our fusion range. Anything else that’s latex and fully synthetic will fall far short of the true benefits of Latex.
As always, if you have any further questions please get in touch Helen directly on 0161 282 2425 – Lee
Bev Smith
Hi Guys,
I am wondering if you can help. I am planning on buying a new mattress but I have a limited budget. There’s so much bumf on the internet and I am totally exhausted just trying to compare the two to make a decision!
How does the durability of both materials compare ?
Is it really worth me spending more money and If I do decide to spend a little more what will I get for the extra money ?
Please help as I am coming to my wits end on this.
Thanks
Bev
Hi Bev,
I can understand your frustration, I’m guessing from the page you are on you’re comparing Memory Foam to Latex. As our post describes they are too very different foams. They both offer good progressive comfort, support and pressure relieving.
The difference is the quality and durability of the two different foams. Memory Foam is a completely synthetic material, that has been developed over years to provide a slow sink like feel, allowing it to mould to heat. So when you get on it and it warms up it start to conform to the shape of your body. Memory Foam is very good at this, but is limited in its ability to keep reacting in a consistent fashion, that is after years of usage the reaction rate of it will slow down. This is common in all foams. Therefore if you are choosing Memory Foam you need to ensure its a high quality ‘Vasco foam’ to ensure its durable.
Latex on the other hand is a much more durable and resilient material. At its highest quality 100% Natural it can’t be beaten in terms of progressive comfort and longevity Bev. With it being a natural form of rubber its incredibly responsive and resilient, far more than memory foam. Yes Latex is more expensive but will far outlast Memory Foam and has been shown to be more durable in comparable tests. Just google for some studies if you want to see more.
Latex doesn’t react to heat and moulds based on weight not temperature. It will however feel softer in warmer rooms than colder ones but isn’t reliant on heat like Memory Foam. Its breathable by nature so is a cooler foam. There are many different blends of latex, please see here for more detail. http://www.johnryancontemporary.co.uk/tricks-of-the-trade/types-of-latex-graphite-synthetic-and-natural/
If your decision is based solely on budget and it doesn’t stretch to our Latex, I would recommend Bev that you buy a high quality Memory Foam bed at the top end of your budget rather than a cheaper synthetic latex bed.
I hope that helps.
Lee