Originally there was just one kind of “latex,” often referred to as “natural rubber,” which described products made from the milk of the rubber tree. During World War II, rubber was unavailable, so synthetic rubber was created using petrochemicals, namely styrene and butadiene. This synthetic rubber, often called “SB rubber,” is also often referred to as “latex,” yet it comes from chemical reactions, not rubber plantations. To make matters even more confusing, marketers often refer to chemically produced polyurethane viscous or memory-foam products as “latex.” Further clouding the issue, manufacturers have begun blending small amounts of natural rubber with synthetic rubber and marketing these products as “made from 100% natural latex.” Talalay and Dunlop are the two methods used to convert raw rubber-tree milk into mattress cores. The main difference between them is that the Dunlop process utilizes sodium silicoflouride (SSF, aka sodium fluorosilicate) in its gelation stage, whereas the Talalay process does not. In the Talalay process, no SSF is necessary as a gellant, because gelation is achieved by circulating carbon dioxide through the hollow pins within the molds. A second important distinction between the two methods is that Talalay cores are cured by circulating heat through the pins, rather than the Dunlop method of essentially baking the cores in an oven. As Dunlop cores cure, gravity acts upon the mixture, compressing the cells near the bottom. In a Talalay vacuum mold, gravity is not a factor, so the cell sizes have a higher uniformity and are larger. In our opinion, Talalay creates a better-quality core that has more consistency and a longer life. In a side-by-side comparison, the advantages of Talalay natural rubber over Dunlop are obvious to the naked eye.

Organic Mattresses, Inc. uses only Talalay 100%-natural rubber latex. It has been independently tested and certified to Oeko-Tex Standard 100 (contains no harmful substances, and is naturally anti-microbial and anti-fungal).