Hi murrayki,
Welcome to the
Mattress Forum!
I'm trying to recreate this type of feel as close as possible. King size.
There is more information in
post #9 here
about the different ways that one mattress can "match" or "approximate" another one. Every layer and component in a mattress (including the cover and any quilting materials) will affect the feel and performance of every other layer and component and the mattress "as a whole" so unless you are able to find another mattress that uses exactly the same type of materials (Talalay in this case, blended), components, cover and quilting, layer thicknesses, layer firmnesses (ILD), and overall design, then there really isn't a reliable way to match one mattress to another one in terms of "comfort", firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) based on the specifications of the mattresses. The best you will hope for is to find something “in the range”, but realize that only your own careful personal testing will reveal whether or not the feel is what you desire.
So questions:
1. Should I consider the full vs split layers (top layer is full either way) given that I will sleep in middle?
Having the split layering is advantageous to make potential changes down the road for each side, and it is also an easier mattress to assemble (split pieces versus a full sheet of latex). With a cover with decent integrity that helps hold the layers in place, combined with the “stickiness” and high coefficient of friction of pieces of latex, it would be odd for you to feel a gap in the center of your mattress, so I would not have a concern should you decide to proceed with the split layers.
2. Which ILD order seems to match best the Beautiful bed? I'm worried the top layer is most important and that I won't like the 18 compared to the 15, whereas the 14 is only 2" instead of 3" of 15. So I don't know which is more similar. Also if I go flobeds whether to go soft or medium for 2nd layer.
The Foam Sweet Foam configuration that you’ve listed would be the “closest” in the upper layers to the PTB Beautiful. The Beautiful dos use blended Talalay and the FSF uses 100% natural Talalay, but it’s unlikely that you’ll feel much of a difference between the two. The transition to the support core will be a bit more gradual with the 32/38 layers, but as this is deeper down it won’t be quite as noticeable. But it will be different. The cover FSF uses is also more substantial that the cover used by PTB.
The Flobeds uses 100% natural Talalay from Vita Talalay. Their top layer is convoluted, so this would conform very well but have a different feel than a solid sheet of latex. There would also be 1” less latex beneath your top layer and a little more “firmer” (in comparison) latex closer to the top of the mattress, so this product differs just a bit more in configuration to the Beautiful, most notably in the uppermost layer. Their cover is also more substantial than the PTB cover.
Overall, strictly spec-wise, by theory at a distance, the FSF seems to be a bit closer to the Beautiful, but I have no doubt that either product would be in a “similar” range of comfort. Whether or not you would prefer one over the other can only be determined by you. The good news is that you’re dealing with two reputable companies (both are site members here, which means that I think highly of them), and they each have good return/exchange policies.
I’ll be interested in learning about any decisions that you make.
Phoenix