Thank you for this helpful website!

I have a question on latex mattresses. We have a king talalay latex mattress and noticed that the cores look different. One of the 6" cores is "medium" and the other is "firm." The holes in the firm side are clearly larger than those on the medium. This seems strange to us as you would think if they were different that the medium would be larger. We are a little skeptical as to whether we bought what we think we did. How would we know? Does this make sense?

Thank you!

Hi joanvol,

The ILD and density of talalay latex is mostly controlled by the amount of latex that is poured into the mold which results in different densities and the pincore size of the different densities or firmness levels using the same mold are the same. The vacuum process is what allows the different amounts of latex to fill the mold to produce different ILD's. Latex international however does have newer and older molds which have slightly different pincore sizes and different manufacturers such as Radium also may use molds with slightly different pincore sizes or spacing patterns.

With custom molds for pillows or zoned talalay latex cores ... the pincore sizes and patterns are more variable.

So in essence ... most of the difference between different densities (and firmness levels) come from the density of the latex (controlled by the amount of latex used in each core) and the pincore size is a secondary factor in producing different firmness levels.

If your core came from a reputable supplier ... I would think that the firmness levels are accurate. The different firmness levels would also have a different feel if you pressed down on them on a firm surface like the floor and the medium would compress more using the same weight and surface area (if the cores were the same thickness).

Phoenix