Saatva has established themselves as a modern household name in the bedding industry with their affordably priced yet high-end feature-laden innerspring mattress of the same name. It was only a matter of time before they diversified into other materials and sure enough, they’ve created a couple of offshoots: the Loom and Leaf memory foam hybrid mattress and the Zenhaven natural latex mattress.
Both of these mattresses are sold online, which significantly reduces their retail price compared to their respective competitors. More importantly, they fill a gap in consumer demand that Saatva could not with their innerspring mattress alone.
From a consumer’s perspective, the Saatva brand now presents incredible diversity – but keeping the innerspring aside, which of the two offshoot products – the memory foam hybrid and the natural latex mattress– will be better suited to your sleep preferences? This Loom and Leaf vs Zenhaven comparison will help you answer this very question.
Look and Leaf Breakdown
The Loom and Leaf is an all-foam mattress that uses a combination of viscoelastic foam and polyurethane foam in its construction; all this is encased in an organic cotton cover.
Construction
Cover
A cover made from organic cotton encases the various foam layers of the Loom and Leaf – it is simple yet elegant at that. A padding layer separates it from the actual foam layers, and it is stretched tightly over it to keep it from developing slivers and bunches.
First Layer
The topmost layer of the mattress is made out of 4 lbs/cu ft dense, 2” thick gel-swirl memory foam. As is true for any memory foam layer, this one yields lots of contouring and pressure relief for your particular posture.
The gel-swirl infusion mitigates some of the heat retention problems that one normally expects from a memory foam mattress. In this regard, it is assisted by its egg-crate like design that allows for adequate airflow. Moreover, a spinal gel panel provides targeted heat dissipation for your lower back, as the heat in your body tends to concentrate in this region.
Second Layer
The next layer consists of 5 lbs/ cu ft dense, 2.5” thick memory foam that adds to the conformity of the mattress but, at the same time, slightly stiffens the overall response to keep you from sinking further without restraint. This noticeably reduces the feeling of being ‘enveloped’ by the mattress – a sensation that memory foam is notorious for causing.
Third Layer
This 2” layer of transition foam creates a uniform shift from the relative plushness of the upper layers to the rapidly firming support core underneath.
Fourth layer
The base of the mattress is made from 5.5” of HD polyurethane foam. This layer is responsible for yielding the deep support necessary for correct spinal alignment to prevent you from developing back pain.
Firmness and Feel
Comfort and Support
The Loom and Leaf mattress comes in two firmness options:
Edge Support
Considering that this is an all-foam mattress that is largely comprised of memory foam, the Loom and Leaf yields a reasonable amount of edge support, particularly when compared to the Zenhaven. Perhaps the HD polyfoam support core of the mattress is responsible for this, as it is much less pliable than the latex core present in the competitor.
Cooling
Thanks to the gel infusion in the comfort layer (and its convoluted construction), as well as the spinal gel panel that specifically dissipates heat away from the lower back, the Loom and Leaf has a stellar cooling profile compared to other memory foam products.
Naturally, the memory foam inside it will still retain some amount of heat, which is why it cannot exceed the Zenhaven in this aspect.
Motion Transfer
The memory foam layers of the Loom and Leaf enable it to effectively filter out the impact of any movement. Indeed, it may even be marginally better at this than the Zenhaven because memory foam yields a dead response that absorbs all impacts whereas natural latex retains a small amount of bounce.
Unique Features
Considerably less expensive
Being a synthetic material, the memory foam that the Loom and Leaf uses is significantly less costly than the natural latex incorporated into the Zenhaven. As a result, this mattress’ price tag is much more accessible to the average consumer.
Cool and contouring viscoelastic feel
The high-density memory foam composition of the mattress means that it will provide you with customized comfort and support for many years to come. What sets this apart from other viscoelastic products is that this conformity does not come at the cost of increased heat retention.
The multiple dedicated heat dissipation features of the Loom and Leaf ensure that you get a remarkably cool bed that has the same pressure relieving plushness that one expects from a typical memory foam mattress.
Better edge support
The high-density polyurethane support core of the Loom and Leaf provides somewhat better edge support than the all-latex design of the Zenhaven. Of course, if edge support is of high priority for you, an all-foam mattress may not be the best choice – you may want to consider the Saatva innerspring mattress in that case.
Zenhaven Breakdown
The Zenhaven is also an all-foam mattress, albeit constructed from natural materials – an organic cotton cover encases four layers of 100% American natural latex foam of varying densities.
Construction
Cotton Cover
A 1” thick organic cotton cover is the part of mattress that will be in most direct contact with your skin. The fabric is both soft and breathable, making a pleasant initial feel. It is also in line with the Zenhaven’s philosophy of an ‘all-natural’ mattress.
Organic Wool Layer
Next up is a lining of pure organic New Zealand wool on both the top and bottom sides of the mattress. The wool is a natural flame retardant (so it isn’t toxic), and it also carries the benefits of inherent breathability and moisture absorbency that allow it to act as a thermal regulator.
First Layer
The first layer of the Zenhaven is 1.5” of 25-29 ILD natural latex. This makes for lots of give so that it can adapt to the contours of your body for optimal pressure relief.
Second Layer
The next layer is also made of natural latex, but this time, it is at a depth of 3” and an ILD rating of 30-34. This adds some buoyancy to the comfort response of the Zenhaven and facilitates the sleeper when they are changing positions mid-sleep.
Note that the comfort layers of the mattress are divided into five zones that provide different levels of firmness based on the part of your body they are in contact with. This translates into precise spinal alignment that minimizes occurrences of back pain due to unbalanced support.
Third Layer
This layer is also 3” of 30-34 ILD natural latex, but the way it is positioned, it provides transitional support to stop your body from going deeper, and instead, it yields a light, floating feeling. If you flip the mattress over so that the support core (described right below) is now on top, this becomes an intermediary firm comfort layer instead.
Fourth Layer
This 1.5” medium firm natural latex serves as the support core of the mattress that sustains your entire body weight after the initial impacts have been absorbed by the upper layers. However, if the mattress is flipped, it becomes an extra firm comfort layer for people who don’t want a lot of conformity.
Firmness and Feel
The Zenhaven is available in two basic firmness levels that offer varying overall responses. The manufacturer achieves the different firmness levels by altering the pinhole configuration of the latex foam used in the mattress.
Comfort and Support
2-in-1 firmness
Besides the two firmness variants described above, the Zenhaven’s flippable design lets you experience two firmness levels in the same mattress! Turning the mattress over will bring the firmer support layer on top so that instead of the plush conformity you got with the default orientation, you now get a stiffer, more resilient comfort response.
Edge Support
Sitting on the edge of the Zenhaven produces noticeable sinkage – but this is to be expected from a natural latex mattress given the high contouring capability of the material. Naturally, the Gentle Firm variant will have less sinkage than the Luxury Plush variant.
Cooling
Since it uses cotton and wool as encasing materials and only natural latex as the actual foam, the Zenhaven is able to achieve superb cooling – taking much less time than the average for the market to return to room temperature after you’ve laid on it for half an hour.
I expect that the pinholes used to vary the firmness of the latex layers also have the positive effect of setting up adequate airflow, and the inherent breathability of both the cotton and the latex does not impede the transfer of heat and moisture either so that the surface temperature remains quite pleasant for the sleeper.
Motion Transfer
Natural latex is good at restricting motion caused by sudden impacts to the mattress – and the plush top layer of the Zenhaven amplifies this capability even more. The result is a bed that lets you sleep without disturbance from a restless partner.
Unique Features
Ample contouring and responsivity in the same mattress
The Zenhaven is a prototypical representation of what makes latex such a desirable sleeping material: it is able to yield and mold itself to exactly match your sleep posture, but unlike memory foam, it adapts to any change in your posture almost immediately, so you don’t feel like you’ve been ‘enveloped’ by your bed in the least.
Here is a short video that highlights the differences between the two materials:
All-natural construction
From the organic cotton cover to the New Zealand wool lining to the natural American latex foam, the Zenhaven is made through and throughout of organic and natural materials, making it one of the safest, most environment-friendly mattresses around.
Superb cooling
For reasons described above, the Zenhaven enjoys markedly superior cooling compared to the Saatva (which uses memory foam – a known heat retainer).
2-in-1 firmness
The Zenhaven is designed to be flippable – the default orientation gives you the firmness level advertised on the website. But if you turn the mattress over, you now have a significantly firmer sleep surface that doesn’t sink in as much as the default firmness level.
Longer warranty period
While both the mattresses have the same 120-day trial period (they share the same manufacturer after all), the Zenhaven does have a 5-year longer warranty period (20 years) compared to the Loom and Leaf (15 years).
It is quite likely that this is because of the high durability afforded by natural latex – considerably more than what a memory foam mattress with comparable features can achieve.
Which One to Get?
Loom and Leaf
You might want to consider the Loom and Leaf if:
You’re on a budget: The Loom and Leaf’s queen-sized variant costs about $1000 – and the Zenhaven, being made from pure natural latex, costs almost twice that. Despite this enormous price gap, the Loom and Leaf is a premium mattress in its own right and can compete head-to-head with memory foam products much pricier than itself.
Thus, if you’re on a budget but still want a luxury mattress, you could go with the Loom and Leaf.
You enjoy the enveloping, contouring feel of memory foam: If you prefer plush, slow responding conformity over bouncy resilience, the Loom and Leaf’s memory foam focused design makes it the clearly superior candidate.
You require better edge support: For reasons covered previously, the Loom and Leaf offers sturdier support at the edges. If you find yourself sitting on the sides of the bed, for example, because the mattress is for your child to whom you read every night, you may want to choose the Loom and Leaf over the Zenhaven.
Zenhaven
Here are some situations where the Zenhaven mattress is a good choice:
You’re looking for an all-natural sleeping solution: If you’ve got a health condition that could potentially be aggravated from exposure to artificial foams, or you’re simply seeking an atmosphere in your room completely free from synthetic chemicals, then the Zenhaven, made entirely from natural materials, is the obvious better candidate for you.
You suffer from occasional back pain: People who suffer from sporadic bouts of back pain sometimes feel better sleeping on a firmer surface while experiencing an episode – in this case, the Zenhaven’s flippable feature that transforms the mattress from a plush, conforming bed to a stiff, relatively unyielding one, will be quite useful.
You want both responsiveness and conformity from your mattress: The liberal use of natural latex in its construction enables the mattress to contour to your posture and respond to changes swiftly, yielding an overall feel of weightless support and plush pressure relief simultaneously.
You have trouble sleeping cool: If you find yourself waking up during the night covered in sweat, I would definitely recommend a natural latex mattress over a memory foam mattress. In the case of the Zenhaven, you also have the added breathability afforded by an organic cotton cover as well as a natural wool lining.
You want better durability: While the Loom and Leaf is a highly durable memory foam mattress in its own right – it cannot compete with the durability achieved by a mattress made almost entirely from natural latex.
In other words, if you’re seeking a solution that you install once and forget about, or if a more pliable mattress simply doesn’t hold for long under your weight, the Zenhaven is the better pick of the two.
Hopefully, you found this comparison helpful in deciding which of these two superb sleeping options to go for. Remember to share it with people whom you think may benefit from the information it conveys, and if you’ve got questions or feedback, make use of the comments section below.
Loom and Leaf vs Zenhaven Comparison
| Loom and Leaf | Zenhaven | |
|---|---|---|
| Layers Used |
|
|
| Height | 12 inches | 10 inches |
| Firmness | Medium-Firm, Firm | Luxury-Plush, Gentle Firm (+ 2-in-1 firmness feature) |
| Motion Transfer | Minimal | Minimal |
| Breathability | Slightly above average | Well above average |
| Trial Period | 120-day | 120-day |
| Warranty | 15-year | 20-year |
| Pricing (Queen) | $1,699 | $2,399 |
| Shipping | Free across the US | Free across the US |
| Discount | None at present | None at present |