In today’s always-on-the-run lifestyle, we all get disconnected from nature and its goodness. Everything we use has chemical or harmful substances, from the food we eat to the best mattress we sleep on.
However, many of us choose healthy and natural habits, such as adopting sustainable and natural habits and materials, like latex for healthy sleep. Latex relatively new to mattress industry and especially in Indian markets, offers many benefits like natural sleep surface, body contouring comfort, enhanced breathability, etc. However, a large part of the consumers are still unaware of its benefits or even what it is. If you too want to know about latex mattress, we’ve got you. Here, we are going to discuss it all.
What are latex mattresses?
Latex mattresses are the mattress type that has latex as its main component with other supporting materials like innersprings or memory foam. Unlike other options, these mattresses are quite eco-friendly, sustainable, recyclable and comfortable. And based on their quality and purity level they are available in various price range.
Here are some of its notable benefits:
- It provide the ideal level of firmness and contouring comfort to support proper spinal alignment and restful sleep.
- With its flexibility, responsiveness and buoyancy, it effectively contour your body to provide a more individualized comfort while preventing the motion to transfer across the bed surface. So you or your partner’s movement don’t disturb each other.
- Known for durability, latex mattresses outlast traditional memory foam or innerspring mattresses, ensuring long-term sleep quality.
- Because it is derived from rubber tree sap, it is a natural, renewable, biodegradable and eco-friendly material that provides comfort and promotes the health of our planet.
- It is naturally resistant to mould, mildew and dust mites, ensuring a healthier sleep especially beneficial for people suffering from allergies or asthma.
- With its open-cell construction and design, it promotes breathability, airflow and effectively disperses body heat so you don’t feel too warm while sleeping.
How the Latex is Made
Harvesting: The production process of latex begins by collecting the milky sap from the rubber trees with the process of tapping. Under the tapping, farmers gently shave a tiny part of the tree's bark and make a series of small cuts on the inner bark. From these cuts, the sap drips into the containers tied to the trees.
Production Process: After the tons of saps is collected it is put for the coagulation process. This involves adding some substance or chemical to solidify it into a jelly-like consistency for further processing.
Use for Mattress Manufacturing: Once the foam has solidified, it is rolled into sheets, dried and treated to remove impurities and improve quality. After that, the foam is vulcanized to strengthen its resilience, flexibility, and resistance to heat and chemicals, making it ready for use in mattresses.
When the foam is ready, it is used to make mattresses using various compositions and materials like pocket springs, memory foam, HR foam and so on. Depending on the construction, composition and material quality the mattresses offer various degrees of comfort.
Types of Latex Mattresses
Organic: Organic latex is produced organically, from cultivation to production, without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or hazardous chemicals and additions. The entire process is carried out humanely to provide maximum benefits, eco-friendliness, and sustainability.
Natural: It is also sourced from the rubber tree sap, but these trees are grown normally without being stringent about organic practices. The natural latex mattress offers durability, support, and breathability but it’s less eco-conscious.
Synthetic: Synthetic latex is created using synthetic materials and chemicals rather than the natural sap of rubber trees. It is a low-cost, non-natural substitute that provides the necessary support and comfort to sleep well.
Blended: It is made by blending natural and synthetic latex so it provides the benefits of both. It is comfortable, supportive, and buoyant.
The Production Process
Dunlop: In the Dunlop method, the rubber sap is whipped till it reached a foam-like consistency and has air bubbles. Then it’s poured into the molds in a single continuous pour, and heated to vulcanize, resulting in solid foam. The ready product is denser and firmer that is great for individuals looking for a more supportive mattress.
Talalay: In this method also, the rubber sap is whipped to produce foam; however, the foam is placed into moulds and vacuum-sealed to remove air bubbles. The full moulds are then flash-frozen to stabilize the foam structure and then backed to vulcanize it. The foam produced through this method is lighter, more uniform and offers a softer and more cushioning feel.
Conclusion
Latex mattresses in India are still a new topic and lots and lots of people still don’t know what it is what benefits it offers or how it’s made. However, it is an amazing mattress type that offers many benefits like tailored comfort, support and motion isolation. And with all these benefits, types and price ranges this is an amazing sleep solution suitable to all. So invest in a latex mattress and see for yourself how it improves your sleep