Below is a link to a photo gallery of our mattress assembly process. It will help you to understand the steps involved in assembling a latex mattress kit; and help you to visualize what is being described in the review.
http://mvpinboynton.smugmug.com/gallery/2287645

I had decided that it was time to look for a new mattress. Our current seven year old Sterns & Foster pillow top was not as comfortable as it once was; and my wife was having difficulty finding a comfortable position to sleep in. She has back and shoulder issues that kept her waking up and turning a lot at night. I sleep primarily on my back because my shoulders were getting sore if I slept on them too long. After a lot of research on this forum and checking out mattresses at numerous retailers in our area in South Florida, I decided to order a SleepEZ Select Sleep 10,000 in the standard Soft, Medium and Firm configuration. The main factors in my selection were price, excellent reviews on the product and numerous glowing reviews on the service level of SleepEZ. I was quite amazed that there were no negative reviews on SleepEZ. Quite unusual for any product. During the decision making process I was focusing a lot on the return policies of the various on-line vendors, since I thought that I might not like latex, although unlikely. Flobeds had the best return policy, but their initial mattress cost was quite a bit higher. I finally decided to go with the sure savings rather than possible savings if I had to return it. The cost for the king size mattress was $1,325 plus $75 for shipping. This was less than half the price of other latex mattresses we had looked at and there was no sales tax.

I called Shawn at SleepEZ to order the mattress on a Saturday after my wife told me she loved the feel of the latex mattress we tried out at our local City Mattress store. He told me that it should ship out in 3 days; and sure enough I got my tracking numbers on Wednesday afternoon. Due to the Christmas Holiday, FedEx said it would take 7 days to get to our house. Shawn said it normally takes 6 days to get to Florida, but he assumed it would be longer due to the Christmas holiday. Sure enough it arrived right on time. Once I had ordered this mattress, I really started to notice the pressure points on my old mattress. I was really looking forward to seeing if the latex would solve my wife's sleeping issues and help me to be able to spend more time sleeping on my side.

When I walked in the house, I saw the three 15” X 15” X 36” boxes waiting for me. Each box was 40 pounds, so they were easy to move around. From what I had read on this forum, I was expecting a major challenge to get the wrappings off of the latex. It turned out to be easier than getting the staples out of the boxes. SleepEZ really packs these babies securely. After a box is opened there appears to be a cocoon of plastic wrap sitting in it. When you tip the box over and let the cocoon fall onto the floor, it kind of springs back like a rubber ball. I guess that makes sense since it is rubber.

Cutting the plastic tape on the outer clear wrapping was very easy. I then sliced the wrapping to get to the latex with a black garbage bag looking material on it. As soon as it was free of the outer wrapping, the latex expanded with an air sucking sound. It looked like a big sandwich with a black wrapping on it. The black wrapping came off easily to reveal the latex layer. The first box I opened said that the mattress cover was in it. Sure enough sandwiched between the folded over latex was the cover with three zippered sides.

My wife helped me lay it out the one sided mattress cover over our existing foundation. SleepEZ uses a cover with only three zippered sides. Some kit companies use one that has four zippered sides where the whole top can come off. Shawn said that they had some problems when they were using the four zippered side cover and had no issues with this one. Since I don't plan on taking the cover off, it didn't make any difference to me. It does seem reasonable though that the less zipper the better. With the way our bed sits, it was easier to leave the cover flap at the foot of the bed rather than the head. Some people pull the cover down over the platform to keep the cover out of the way. Leaving the sides up worked fine for us. This wasn't a big deal, but it meant that the SleepEZ label could not be seen.

Each of the three layers in the Model 10,000 is 2.8 inches deep. Since my wife and I both wanted a plusher feel rather than firm, each of the layers, which can come in two sides, were glued together. It made the layer a little more difficult to maneuver. We put down the firm layer (38-40 ILD) first. It was a challenge to move it to the proper position, because we hadn't gotten the knack of moving the latex around. As others had said, it didn't seem like there was any way that three pieces would fit into the cover and still be able to zip it. It seemed like the cover wasn't wide enough either; but that was apparently caused by us not being able to stretch the bottom fully until we had a layer inserted. I kept reassuring my wife that everyone felt this way when they start the assembly process. I was crossing my fingers hoping I was right. It didn't look big enough. But I had faith.

When we put down the medium layer (30-32 ILD), it got into position much easier. Probably because it just needed to match up to the bottom layer; and we had figured how to shake the latex to move it. The final soft layer (22-24 ILD) was a piece of cake to put on top, since we had now become latex layer mover experts. We could see that it would take a little stuffing to get the zipper closed, but much less of a hassle than we had expected. The zipping process went very fast. The cover was a perfect fit.

The total assembly took about 40 minutes. It took longer because I was taking a lot of pictures for this review. I was quite pleased with the quality of the cover and the exact sizes the layers were cut into. Like I had read in other reviews SleepEZ made a quality product.

At last I was able to lay on my new mattress. When I ordered the mattress, I was thinking it might be too soft, but was surprised that it felt a bit firmer than I expected. It did feel quite nice, but it wasn't as soft as the mattress we had tried out at City Mattress. I was anxious to see what it felt like with sheets on it and after everything settled in place.

Our first night was great. After laying on it for a while, it did feel plusher. I was quite pleased that although it was soft enough not to cause any pressure points, it provided very nice support. My main concern had been how well my wife slept on it. Other than getting up once for a bathroom break, she slept through the whole night. Quite an unusual event.

We just slept on it for our second night and we couldn't be happier with our new mattress. The biggest problem is that we don't want to get out of bed, since it feels so good. My wife's original hope was that she would be able to sleep on her shoulders without too much pain. She hasn't been able to sleep on her back, because it would hurt too much if she stayed on it too long; and she would be way too stiff in the morning. Last night she was able to sleep on her back and she just loved it. Because there are no pressure point issues, she didn't have the normal issues she has experienced on our old mattress.

Bottom line – We couldn't be happier with our new latex mattress. I do believe that it has solved our sleep issues. I also couldn't be happier with the service I received from Shawn at SleepEZ. He was a wealth of information and very accommodating with all the questions I had on the numerous phone calls I had with him. He is very easy to work with and if anything, he undersells the product. This is quite unique, since so many mattress salesmen's goals are to move you up the line to the higher priced models. He told us that what we were looking for would be accomplished with the three layer mattress rather than the four. Had we ordered a mattress with a softer top layer, like we tried at City Mattress that felt really soft in the showroom, I have a feeling that it would have ended up being too soft for a whole nights sleep. Until you sleep on a mattress, you jut don't know. Fortunately I had learned, from reading on this forum, that most people that have issues with latex kit mattresses normally find that the mattress is too soft and they have to exchange a layer for a firmer one. I listened to Shawn and am so glad I did.


Date Purchased: Dec 2006
Price Paid: $1325
Recommend: Yes

Outstanding service
Very well made
High quality cover and latex
Excellent price
Excellent packaging

I bought the queen 8500 version, which was 2.4" of firm latex, 2.4" of medium latex and 1.4" of soft. I got the 8500 because I wanted to be certain that it would fit in standard sheets. Shawn at Sleep EZ said that standard sheets would fit the 10000, but I didn't want to risk it. I also got the Euro slat foundation. The 8500 wasn't thick enough or supportive enough for me on the hard foundation, so Sleep EZ took back the cover and made it into a 10000 cover (they let out the sides a bit). I also had them send 2 more full size latex sheets, so that I would have firm, firm, medium (and I sent back the half size soft sheets). Standard sheets do fit the 10000. The mattress is a dream to sleep on. I love it. Shawn was always professional and responsive. Items shipped from Sleep EZ in 2-3 days! I also got the Glide legs, 16 to be exact, which attach to the foundation. They make it easy to move the bed on the carpet, but they aren't otherwise substantially better than a metal bed frame.

Please see the forum for a more in-depth review.

Date Purchased: July 2006
Price Paid: $1249
Recommend: Yes

Great bed.
Great service.
Easy/fast exchange policy.
Value/money ratio high relative to other latex vendors.
Out of state, so no sales tax.
They've been in business 32 years

Purchased from SleepEZ in mid February '06. No problem ordering, all components arrived withing a week in excellent condition. We ordered the firm, medium, medium, soft (ILD 35, 28, 28, 20) on the advice of Shawn and are pleased with it almost 3 months later. With two people, it was relatively easy putting together inside the mattress cover (which is very nice) and looks just like a regular mattress. At first my husband was afraid it would be too soft for him, but now he is really enjoying it. I do believe it takes some time to "acclimate" after having slept on an innerspring mattress for more than 20 years. It feels different--when you bounce on it, nothing bounces back! It is very comfortable. We chose 4 layers since the mattress is on a waterbed platform frame. This saved us from having to purchase a separate foundation, and made it tall enough to come up above the sides of the waterbed frame. Also, for us, it was more cost effective to get more latex and not get a foundation. My husband sleeps on his back and side, I sleep stomach, side, and back. This on line purchase was easy, we had all our questions answered and are delighted with the mattress. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of making a latex mattress purchase.

Date Purchased: 2/15/06
Price Paid: $1275
Recommend: Yes

Great price--$1275 for a queen, easy set up with two people--very comfortable--no box spring needed

Great mattress for a great value!

After reading as much info as I could digest from this website, I decided to go with Select Comfort East King Size 8500 (8.5 inches finished height) Sleep EZ over Memoryfoam.com and Flobeds. I purchased the bed on Ebay ($975 +75 shipping) and basically saved $75 over ordering from Sleep EZ's website ($1050 + 75 shipping). Also, Shaun was very helpful and was prompt in returning calls.

The mattress consists of a very nice damask cover quilted with wool and three Talalay latex layers (1.4", 2.8", and 2.8"). I don't know if it is Latex Intl latex, but the quality and consistency appears to be top notch. I really think a lot of the folks on this website go overboard in their believe that the Latex Int latex is that much higher quality than the euro manufactured Talalay, IMHO. Because Latex Intl latex was not a requirement for me and price was a big consideration, I chose to go with Sleep EZ over the other previously mentioned companies.

I was torn whether I should go with the thicker 10,000 model (three 2.8" layers) from Sleep EZ or if the 8500 would be sufficient. As the bed is satisfaction guaranteed for 30 days, I decide to take a chance on the thinner 8500. The standard setup for the 8500 is to have the 1.4" top layer be the softest of the three (soft 1.4", med 2.8", firm 2.8"). I decided instead to go with the following from top to bottom (2.8" soft ild 19, 2.8" medium 24 ild, and 1.4" firm ild 28). I am using my old box springs topped with plywood to give the mattress a solid foundation.

I won't detail why I chose the 1.4" layer to go on the bottom with the firmest ild (other than the scientist in me made me do it), but we have had the bed for about a month now, and my wife and I could not be happier. I am 6'1" 180lbs and my wife is 5'10" 120lbs and we are primarily side sleepers - we both have bad backs. Previously, we were sleeping on one of the big S brands ultraplush. That mattress was NOT CHEAP and was sagging after less than 5 years. It was a huge disappointment and I always woke up with an aching back.

After experimenting with the SleepEZ bed, top to bottom (soft, med, firm) and (med, soft, firm), we decide we both preferred the soft to firm setup. There seems to be plenty of support and I do not constantly have to change sleeping positions throughout the night.

The only bad part about going with an 8.5 inch thick mattress from a 13 inch thick one, is I no longer need a step ladder to get into bed ;-0 Our bed did look a little strange, so I just built a 2x4 frame under the box springs to raise everything up and it looks fine now.

Sorry for the lengthy story, but I thought the info might be useful for someone in a quandary about choosing a latex mattress. I firmly believe the Sleep EZ bed is an good value and I do not believe my wife nor I would have benefitted from a thicker mattress. I know many of the posters on this website say they can tell the difference with the extra thickness, i.e., more = better. I can't speak to that other than if you are on a budget, I doubt you would find yourself yearning for a few more inches of foam.

Overall, I am very happy with the bed (no buyers remorse) as it is super comfortable. It has not been a miracle cure for my bad back, but I know that I have been tossing and turning MUCH less during the night. I am hoping and expecting that we get much more than the 5 years use out of this mattress than we got with our last Big S brand. Joe Bob says check it out.

Date Purchased: 12/2005
Price Paid: $975
Recommend: Yes

Very comfortable, high quality, and Shaun at Sleep EZ was very helpful.

i've lurked for about six months on this site. i spent a lot of time researching different latex mattress sellers, visiting b&m stores and websites. so i just wanted to add my two cents, and give back a little.

we finally settled on sleepez for a latex mattress. they don't get a lot of mention on this website, and i don't think that they're listed on the latex int'l website either.

based on my research, it looked like they were, by far, the best value for the money. and they sold the same stuff that places like flobeds were selling. and they even had ebay auctions with savings of another 15% (not a great place for selling latex, but that's their call not mine).

we've had the mattress (8500) for about one month now. and it's absolutely great.

by the way, shaun was very, very helpful.

good quality; great price; nice people. when the moderators here are giving out recommendations, sleepez should really be on the list.

Date Purchased: 5/05
Price Paid: $890
Recommend: Yes

great price. good quality. prompt shipping. nice people.

I bought this product at the end because SleepEx had 20 ILD foam. I thought 14 would be too soft (offered by MemoryFoam.com) and 28 too firm. I was proven right about the former but not the latter. 28 is still very soft and supportive. I'd be tempted to use 28 as a top layer.

The foam all arrived in excellent condition. It was packaged very protectively. I could have done without some of the excessive tape but I guess it's probably friendliest to the foam.

As others have mentioned, its a bit of a trick to assemble by yourself but given 30 minutes or so, you can do it.

I also found the cover and wool/cotton top to be quite nice. Maybe even better then I expected. It's soft and adds one more layer of comfort. It is a snug fit around the foam.

So far my wife and I both like the mattress very much. Considering the nicer spring mattresses (some which use PU foam) cost 2x the price of this mattress, it's an excellent value. Time will tell how it lasts but it's really just latex and a cover so it'll wear as well as latex will wear. It has exceeded my comfort expectations so far . One thing I'll recommend is for folks to try the 8500. I think the smaller layer of 20 and the 28 undernear would provide more then adequate comfort and support.

Date Purchased: 3/10/2006
Price Paid: $1025
Recommend: Yes

Latex arrived in exellent condition, cover is good quality. 20ILD just right for a soft layer.

I got the Medium/Firm/X-firm combo stacked in that order (Medium on top). I am a bigger guy and the coil mattress I had for the previous 10 years was ultra firm, so I figured the more firm ILDs were the way to go. I am very happy with the firmness.

The foam was really nice. Clearly labelled, clean, well seamed, well cut, and well packaged.

It came in two boxes about 50 pounds each, tightly rolled up and double wrapped. The boxes are strong and held up very well in shipping. With all the protection, the shipper would have to push the boxes off a cliff to damage the foam in transit.

The cover itself is single sided, which is fine since there is no reason to flip the mattress. I like that it is just lightly quilted like a regular mattress cover. It's only about 1/4" thick on top so it doesn't interfere with the feel of the latex. The cover seems to be pretty well made overall. I think it will stand up over time. Of course it is replacable anyway if something happened to it.

The hardest part was putting it together... getting all the foam positioned on the cover in the right place. That would be a lot easier with two people (which I didn't have) or if I had better access to the other side of the bed. With the cover zipped up (zipping it up was much easier than I expected it to be), it looks just like any standard non-pillowtop mattress.

Overall I am very pleased with the purchase, especially considering it was only $1025 shipped. It should really last forever too, so it is a great value compared to the junk I could buy locally in the same price range.

Date Purchased: 02/2006
Price Paid: $1025
Recommend: Yes

Great price! It is a lot better than a $2500 store bought mattress and customizable. I can also replace just a single part if something wears out (like the cover), so I don't see ever having to replace the whole thing.

Well it's been 3 months now, and I love the bed more than ever. I have sciatica and my back starts to hurt during the day. My back will hurt at bedtime, by the time I wake up, the pain is GONE.

I did add Sleep EZ's 1.5" 22 ILD topper to the inside cover for just a little more "cush" as I am a tummy sleeper (I know, horrible for bad backs).

Date Purchased: 6/05
Price Paid: $1800
Recommend: Yes

Price, customer service, flexability, comfort, looks

Local (Phoenix)
Able to try out in store
Great customer service (no pressure)
Free Local Delivery
Great Price
Totally cusomized