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| Built
around 100% Latex | | The
ultimate "cushioning material" used in premium mattresses over the last 60 years. >More... |
 In
its purest form, latex is the milky white liquid that is tapped from the trunks
of mature rubber trees. It is then converted into an ultra cushioning material
with a wide range of firmness and comfort, through heat, vacuum, and freezing.
The end product to mattress manufactures is in the form of solid latex cores approximately
6" thick, and in varying degrees of firmness. The 6"latex cores are used as an
entire mattress, or sliced to desired thickness to be used as comfort layers for
premium mattresses. It is 5 times denser than polyurethane foam, which is used
in 90% of all mattresses manufactured around the world. And yes, latex is quite
a bit more expensive initially but because of its life span is the least expensive
in the long run. |
The
perfect balance of comfort and support... |
 Is
engineered into every Latex Mattress Core using the finest Talalay process, which
produces the widest range of firmness. Because of its unique open cell properties
it dynamically conforms to your every movement throughout the night, so that you
are assured perfect comfort and support in any sleep position. |
| You will Feel
the Difference... |
| As
soon as you lay on a "Lifetime Dreams" mattress, you know sleeping on one will
nestle you in a world of comfort. It will conform to your body throughout the
night providing gentle orthopedic support and superior pressure relief. Only latex
will provide you with the same comfort years from now. We invite you to experience
the best night's sleep you've ever had. |
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Synthetic
rubber |
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Before
the Second World War, virtually all latex used in production
was natural. During WW2 supplies of latex from the Far East
were very restricted, hence the search for a synthetic alternative.
Scientists tried to copy natural latex (derived from cis-polyisoprene)
and largely failed: the latex produced was inferior to the
real thing.
Instead,
they developed a latex based on a synthetic polymer that
behaved in a similar way. The word ‘polymer' simply means
a compound made up of long chains of molecules, each link
in the chain being derived from simple chemicals known as
‘monomers'. A number of synthetic latices were developed,
the most useful one being made by polymerising Styrene (a
liquid) with Butadiene (a gas) to give Styrene-Butadiene
rubber, abbreviated to SBR. |
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Natural
rubber |
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Natural
and synthetic rubbers have differing properties. Natural
rubber is very soft and elastic, synthetic rubber gives
the foam good hardness and processes better (is easier to
work with) on production. Compounders tend to use blends
of natural & synthetic to get the best overall properties,
and to stabilize prices.
When
natural rubber is tapped from a tree it is very dilute,
the rubber content being only about 30%. It has to be concentrated
before use to above 61.5% solids. Of these solids 60.0%
is rubber, the remaining 1.5% are compounds that are unique
to natural latex (proteins, phospholipids, carbohydrates,
aminoacids). These unique ingredients are very important
in explaining the behavior of natural latex. |
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Soaps
– Potassium Oleate |
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This
stabilizes the mix, i.e. it prevents it from coagulating
until we are ready for it to do so, when the foam is in
the mould. Soaps also assist the latex mixture to foam up
when air is introduced in the foaming machine.
The
latex compound is foamed up to the correct foam density,
then the required amount metered into the mould. The mould
is closed and the Talalay cycle begins. The mould is cooled
and a vacuum is applied, which causes the foam to expand
to fill the mould completely. A disposable paper gasket
prevents latex entering the vacuum lines and a rubber gasket
seals the mould from the outside world. |
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Gelling |
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This
is the key step in the foam making process. It is at this
point that a phase change occurs and liquid foam becomes
‘solid' foam, and the foam sets or ‘gels'. In the original
Dunlop Process, the foam is set by addition to the wet foam
of a small amount of gelling agent (sodium silicofluoride
or SSF). In the Talalay process the foam is frozen at 0°F
then carbon dioxide gas (an acidic gas) is passed through
the foam to lower its pH & set it.
This
means that on warming up again the foam does not revert
to liquid. The foam at this stage is however very weak and
could not possibly be removed from the mould intact. The
strength is built in during the next stage – vulcanization. |
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Sulphur
and vulcanization |
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Sulphur
is added to the mix during compounding. Without sulphur
in the production process, the foam would resemble chewing
gum and would have little resilience. The double bonds in
the rubber molecule are utilized by sulphur, which forms
bridges with adjacent molecules, known as cross-linking.
This process gives the product its familiar properties of
elasticity and resilience.
The
process of heating rubber with sulphur is called vulcanization
or ‘curing', and was discovered by Charles Goodyear in 1839.
This is a fairly slow process, even at a temperature of
+240°F so certain accelerators are required in the production
process to make this happen quickly. A very small addition
of these reduces the time required for curing from about
25 minutes to about 8 minutes. At the end of this time the
mould is cooled, opened, and the product is removed and
sent to the washer. |
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Washing
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This
removes soaps, ammonia and anything else water soluble, which
have served their purpose and are no longer required or desirable.
If they were not removed they would contribute to discoloration,
odor and could leave the product feeling tacky. |
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Drying |
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This
removes all water from the block and completes the vulcanization
process, thus giving the product satisfactory physical properties
(compression set, tensile strength, elongation at break, pounding
and indentation set). The dried products then arrive at Inspection
for weighing, hardness checks and grading |
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Antioxidant |
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Any
double bonds in the rubber which are not used up by the sulphur
are at risk from attack by oxygen and ozone in the atmosphere,
particularly when catalyzed by the presence of UV light. This
is why latex will deteriorate in sunlight. A small amount
of ‘antioxidant' is added to the latex during compounding.
This is a substance which is preferentially oxidized (&
therefore sacrificed), thus affording some protection to the
rubber. Eventually however it becomes depleted and deterioration
of the rubber then occurs. Latex foam must never be cleaned
with solvents (dry-cleaning): this would remove any antioxidant
completely, deterioration would then be very rapid. |
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Moulds
and Heat transfer |
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Moulds
are made from aluminum (very good heat transfer properties)
and are hollow, with channels within their walls so that
a heat transfer fluid can circulate through them.
Since
latex foam is a very poor conductor of heat a large number
of ‘pins' are present to enable heat/cold to get into the
heart of the foam. The resulting pinholes then play another
very useful role in that they make it much easier to remove
moisture during the drying process. |
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LATEX
MATTRESSES
EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCES |
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Many
terms and catch phrases are used to describe latex mattresses
in today's marketplace. They are interchanged, taken out of
context, or mis-used unknowingly or intentionally. With this
going on, how in the world can a consumer compare? I hope
the following information will assist you in making your buying
decision by adding clarity and understanding . |
| 3 TYPES OF
LATEX |
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Shining
a little light on latex mattresses. |
- Pure Latex- A blend of 80% synthetic,
20% natural
- Natural Latex- A blend of 20% synthetic,
80% natural
- 100% Natural Latex- 100% latex from
rubber trees.
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2 PROCESSES USED TO MAKE THE BLENDS
OF LATEX |
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- Standard process- (sometimes called
the dunlop process)the less expensive process for manufacturing
all three blends of latex. This process produces a finished
product that has a firmer feel.
- Talalay process- the most advanced
process for manufacturing latex mattress cores. Produces
latex cores superior in comfort, durability, and in a
greater range of firmnesses...from very soft to super
firm.
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LATEX MANUFACTURERS -Major companies
in alphabetical order |
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- Dunlopillo-England
- Latexco
- Latex International
- New Zeland Foam
- Radium
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| See
our entire line of Latex Products. |
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Natural
Latex Pillows |
Mattress
Toppers |
Mattress
Sets |
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