When shopping for a memory foam mattress you may come across quite a few terms that you may not know. Here are a few definitions that will help you as you shop for a memory foam mattress:
Comfort Guarantee – A comfort guarantee is basically a store credit. You can return your mattress within a certain time frame, but you do not get your money back. You must use the store credit to purchase another mattress at that store.
Density – The way the weight of memory foam is measured. This is measured by the cubic foot. Lbs./cubic foot is the US unit of density. For example, if memory foam weighs 4 lbs./cubic foot, this means is that a cube of the foam one foot in each dimension – length x width x height – would weigh four pounds.
IFD – Sometimes called ILD. This is a measure of how firm a foam is. It measures the initial deflection of the foam under a load. The higher this number, the firmer the foam is. Foam used in bed cores is often a 30 IFD or higher, and those used in car seating might be 40 – 50 or higher. A desirable IFD for memory foam may fall in the range of 10 – 15.
At Healthy Foundations, we want you to be as informed about your mattress choices as possible. That is why we have created our Mattress Buyer’s Guides. Check out our buyer’s guides for the memory foam mattress, the air bed, and the natural latex mattress.