What is natural latex? 100% vs blended latex

Short answer: natural latex is a foam made from the sap of the rubber tree. “100% natural latex” should mean the latex in the product is all natural rubber, with no synthetic latex mixed in. Many products sold as “natural latex” are blends, so ask what percentage is natural.

Checked 7 November 2026

Dominique Bienfait in a rubber plantation, a cup of fresh white latex in one hand and a block of perforated latex in the other, a thread of latex running down its face.

In this guide

What latex is
Natural, synthetic, blended
What 100% should mean
What it looks like
How to check
Our latex
Questions

What is latex?

Latex is the milky sap of the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis. It runs from a slanting cut in the bark into a cup, and the tree is never cut down for it. In a factory, the sap is whipped into a foam and set in a mould.

That foam is soft and elastic, and it lasts: natural latex recovers its shape rather than hollowing out.

Natural, synthetic and blended latex

Three kinds of latex: what each is made from, and what to know
Type	Made from	What to know
Natural latex	Sap of the rubber tree	What our mattresses are made of
Synthetic latex	Petrochemicals (styrene-butadiene rubber, SBR)	Feels similar, but it is not natural rubber
Blended latex	A mix of natural and synthetic	Often sold as “natural latex” without saying how much is natural

“The real thing, not mixed with cheap materials.”

Frank QvistOn Google, 2025

So when a label says “natural latex” without “100%”, it may be a blend. The question to ask is simple: what percentage of the latex is natural?

What “100% natural latex” should mean

The latex comes entirely from rubber tree sap.
No synthetic latex is mixed into it.
The seller can tell you where the latex comes from and show you how it is made.

What natural latex looks like

The corner of a stack of natural latex slabs: rows of pin holes across the top and open cells along the cut side.

How to check before you buy

Ask: “Is it 100% natural latex, or a blend? What percentage?”
Ask where the latex comes from.
Best of all, lie on it before you buy.

A slice of natural latex held up to a lamp between two hands: the light shows the open cells of the foam round the pin holes.

You can lie on ours in the showroom, inside our workshop in Prawet, Bangkok. Tell us a day that suits you and we confirm the time.

Our latex

Our mattresses have a core of 100% natural latex, divided into seven comfort zones, so the support changes under the different parts of the body. The 15 cm mattress is one block of medium latex, 80 kg/m³, as it comes out of the mould. In the deeper ones, a soft layer of 70 kg/m³ lies on that block, on the side you sleep on, and the two are joined with natural latex: see each depth, layer by layer. The latex is perforated, so air moves through it, and it carries a 10-year warranty.

Rows of rubber trees, each with a slanting cut in its bark and a cup hung under it.

We buy our raw materials mostly close to home, which keeps transport short. Our workshop in Bangkok makes the covers by hand and finishes every mattress.

See where our materials come from, or choose a mattress.

The latex is moulded in a factory; the covers and the finishing are made by hand in our Bangkok workshop.

How the latex becomes a mattress

Questions we are often asked

Is latex a natural material?

It can be. Natural latex is made from the sap of the rubber tree. Synthetic latex is made from petrochemicals, and blended latex mixes the two, so it depends on the product.