Buy the Best Foam Rubber Mattress

What is Latex and How is it Made?

Latex is a milky white liquid composed of rubber particles dispersed in water. This material is whipped with air to form a foam, which is heated to produce foam rubber or latex. The soft, supple products of real foam rubber are what make our latex foam rubber mattresses superior. Latex foam rubber is inherently hypoallergenic, antimicrobial and dust-mite resistant. Latex is not a plastic foam, like polyurethane (polyfoam) or furniture foam. It is a denser product made of rubber to last a lifetime. Unlike urethane, latex foam rubber will feel as good years from now as it does the day it is produced.

How Talalay Latex Foam Is Made

The Talalay foam process features natural, biodegradable ingredients that come from a number of renewable resources and water-based raw materials like natural latex (milk from the rubber tree), air and water.

Talalay Process Steps

1. Liquid rubber whipped into a foam and poured into a mold.
2. When closed the mold has rods that go through the foamed rubber.
3. A vacuum is placed on the mold which removes air bubbles and distributes the liquid rubber evenly through the mold.
4. CO2 is run through the rods, freezing the foamed rubber and locking in the consistency.
5. Heat is sent through the rods providing even temperature and yielding a consistent latex core without air pockets or uneven firmnesses.

The Benefits of Talalay Latex Foam & Mattresses

The Talalay process is more expensive and takes five times as long to make than the Dunlop process. The process of making Talalay foam requires more time, but it produces a vastly superior product.

Unlike some competing products, our Talalay latex foam contains no fillers or extenders. The only components needed to convert the material from a liquid to a solid are soap, ammonia, zinc oxide and sulfur. The ammonia evaporates while the soap and zinc oxide are washed out. The sulfur is needed to cure the Talalay foam so that it bounces back after you sleep on it.

Check out the most recent Latex International (Talalay Global) test data on our standard and 100% natural latex foam rubber mattress products:

To test Softening over time a machine is used that conducts what we call our Impact test: 24,000 cycles over a twenty-four hour period with a 30 lb weight being dropped onto a 17″x17″x6″ block of foam. The test is similar to the first 24,000 cycles of the Cornell test where the vast majority of product softening occurs. We believe that our Impact test is more stringent.

To test Height Loss we conduct an ASTM latex foam compression set test of 50% compression at 158 F for 22 hours with height loss measured on a 6″ thick block of foam. We tested both blended and 100% natural latex.

Talalay Latex Foam vs Dunlop Latex

Every Talalay foam core takes almost 5 hours to make, compared to only 1 hour for a Dunlop processed core. However, Talalay latex foam is so much better, well worth the wait! Why settle for second best?

See more on what we found when we opened some latex that had been compressed for years.

A simple test of Talalay Latex and Dunlop Latex.

Natural vs. Blended

FloBeds offers 100% Natural Latex Foam Mattresses. We used to also offer Blended 30% Natural + 70% Synthetic Latex. Both processed using the Talalay method and will last 10 years with only 5% to 6% softening.

As more and more of our customers decided on the all-natural latex foam mattresses, we found we were buying a volume that made the price difference between Natural and Blended less than 10% and at that price Natural out-sold Blended by an ever-increasing margin.

The appearance, touch, feel and performance are virtually the same which is why FloBeds always offered a 20 Year Warranty whether a Blended or Natural Latex foam rubber mattress.

The most recent Latex International testing demonstrates a modest 2.6% increase in natural latex softening, and a less than 1% increase in height loss of natural latex versus blended over 10 years.

A Natural Latex foam rubber mattress is the best choice for those looking for a chemical-free bed.