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Memory Foam and Memory Foam Mattress Buyers Guide
While memory foam was developed for NASA in the 1970's, it didn't hit the consumer market until the early 1990's - first as memory foam mattress topper pads, and later used in memory foam mattresses. Since then, memory foam mattresses have become the fasting growing segment in the mattress industry. With every year, you see more and more companies selling memory foam mattresses and topper pads, and it is very difficult, even for those of us in the industry, to keep up with all the new memory foam products being introduced. What is a consumer to do? In this guide, I'm going to do my best to give you the straight story on what memory foam is, how it works, and what to look for in memory foam (density and quality, memory foam toppers versus memory foam mattresses, etc.). For those looking for a memory foam mattress, we do now offer a The Healthy Foundations Memory Foam Mattress, and our mattress page tells you how we researched and selected this mattress from all the others that we tested. Armed with the information in these different guides, I hope you are able to find just the right memory foam mattress, topper pad, or other product that fits your needs. Brief History of Memory Foam After memory foam was developed as part of a NASA project, some saw the promise of memory foam for use in the medical industry to relieve pressure sores. Over the years, memory foam was shown to be unique in the way it responded to temperature and also in its ability to spread pressure over a greater surface area (and thereby reducing pressure points significantly). While the initial version of the foam developed for NASA (called T-Foam) did have a great deal of promise as a bed topper or wheel chair cushion material, it did have issues with wear over time. This first generation of material wasn't very durable, and would often compress or crack over time. The first company to realize the potential of memory foam for the consumer market was Tempur-Pedic ®. They had worked on creating their own version of memory foam, and developed foam they called Tempur ®, that was much more durable and still had the pressure reducing benefits of memory foam. Initially, this Tempur ® foam was used in medical settings, but soon they began to hear that patients who used the foam slept better, had less back pain, and felt more refreshed in the morning. A light bulb switched on over someone's head in Sweden, and Tempur-Pedic ® began to sell the products to consumers. Due to its origin as a medical device, Tempur ® foam was very expensive, and has stayed that way to this day. After a few years on the consumer market, other foam manufacturers saw the potential of memory foam and began to produce their own memory foam product lines. Because these manufacturers came from the consumer foam industry, rather than the medical industry, their cost structure for memory foam was much lower and they priced their products at a fraction of the Tempur ® foam. As the years went by, memory foam became more and more popular, and now manufacturers all over the world are making their versions of memory foam. What you need to remember is that not all memory foams are equal. They differ a great deal in quality - density, hardness or softness, response to temperature, and also durability and longevity. In looking for the right memory foam for our new topper pads, we looked at a number of products that were in the 3 to 5 pound density range, and we found they really do differ significantly in quality and feel. In the rest of this guide, I will try to share with you the types of things to consider when buying memory foam so that you can get the best product for your needs. Memory Foam Really is Unique, and Has Unique Benefits I've looked at many bedding materials, from latex to cotton to wool. And nothing compares to memory foam in the way it conforms to your body and reduces pressure points. However, you wouldn't want an entire mattress made strictly of memory foam. Memory foam is too soft a material and isn't meant to be supportive. So it works best when layered over a firm, supportive material. That is why you will mainly find memory foam as a 2" or 3" topper to be used on your existing, firm mattress, or as a 2" or 3" topping layer in a new memory foam mattress. There are a couple of reasons that memory foam is so unique. First is the way memory foam cells deform when weight is applied. Unlike standard foams that compress and want to spring back to their original shape immediately, memory foam cells (open cell foam, which means the individual cells in the foam have holes in them) compress fully and spread their air pressure to adjoining cells. This spreads the pressure through a greater number of cells of the memory foam - which decreases the pressure you feel in the cells of the memory foam that you are laying on. This accounts for the way that memory foam actually reduces pressure points. And this ability of memory foam to deform also allows it to really conform to your body's shape and weight bearing areas, thereby reducing these pressure points. No other material has this ability to shape to your body - this is unique to memory foam. Second, memory foam is temperature sensitive. Which means that at lower temperatures it is firmer (more viscous), and at higher temperatures it is softer and more conforming (more elastic). Hence the reason memory foam is known as visco-elastic memory foam. This temperature sensitive quality accounts for the melting feeling that you get lying down on memory foam, and also accentuates the custom molding affect of the foam. Certain memory foams, such as Tempur-Pedic's ® Tempur foam, are quite temperature sensitive and can get firm even near room temperature. The memory foam used in our toppers and mattresses, in contrast, have a broader range of temperatures where they stay nice and soft, so they work well in different climates. Not All Memory Foams are Created Equal Many manufacturers have begun producing memory foam in recent years. This has allowed the retail price of memory foam to drop and become an affordable product. And while this has meant that a good number of quality memory foams have come onto the market, it also means that a greater number of low quality, cut rate foams have also appeared. Memory foam is not a commodity, and not all memory foams are created equal. As a general rule of thumb, you should avoid the noticeably inexpensive pads or pillows you will find on the market. They are generally made of either low density memory foam or layered with other, cheaper foam products and ingredients. These inexpensive memory foams just won't give the same comfort as higher quality pads and will wear out relatively fast. So what type of memory foam should you look for? This issue is somewhat different depending on whether you are looking to buy a memory foam mattress or a memory foam topper pad to put on your existing bed. This is because the memory foam in a mattress is bonded to the "mattress core", and as such, can't be replaced, so it must not only be comfortable, but durable as well. A topper pad, on the other hand, is less expensive and can be replaced if it wears out after a few years (usually 4-5 years with our 4 lb density memory foam). So when you are researching a memory foam mattress, you need to look for one that uses memory foam which is both comfortable and durable. With a topper pad, comfort alone is the main issue since you can easily replace the topper. With a mattress, you should look for at least 3 inches of medium to high density memory foam. 3 inches of memory foam gives you a proper amount of material to cushion and conform to your body. While you could get by with 2 inches of memory foam in a mattress, 3 inches is plusher and a more comfortable feel for most people. It's a nice depth of foam where you wouldn't sink uncomfortably into the bed or lose the support of the base foam. I've seen memory foam mattresses that offer much thicker memory foam layers and they feel too cushy - you get sucked in, and adjusting from side to side can be a real problem. And you just don't have the same support for your body and back as you would with memory foam mattresses that are 3 inches or so of memory foam depth. Our memory foam mattress offers 3.4 total inches of memory foam, and we've had a great response from customers on its feel and comfort. As for densities of memory foam used in a mattress, I've had a change of mind with this over the years. For a long time, I've often heard from customers that they liked the feel of the "less dense memory foams" (memory foams 4 lb density or lower) better than that of the high density memory foam of the "leading brand" (memory foam of 5 lb or greater density). That was because people felt the "less dense memory foams" had a softer, more user friendly feel while the higher density memory foams could feel stiff and could be difficult to move around in. Until recently, though, I cautioned people about buying a mattress with these lower densities because of durability issues. But as the latest generations of memory foam have become much more durable, I've found that certain medium density memory foams (I'm talking about those in the 3 lb density to 4 lb density range made by certain manufacturers) rate just as high in durability testing. And these new generation medium density foams can have certain advantages over the higher density foams - they are softer, have better temperature sensitivity ranges (higher density memory foams are sometimes firmer and stiffer at room temperatures), and have good pressure relieving properties. But there are still many quality differences between memory foams, and if you want to go with a medium density memory foam in your mattress because you like this softer feel, you need to ask about that particular foams durability. This was one of the key things we looked at when we were reviewing our The Healthy Foundations Memory Foam Mattress, which uses 3.2 lb and 3.4 lb density memory foam. We knew from our customer testing, that people really liked the mattress - in fact, the response was even more positive than when we had sold the "leading brand". Due to our concerns about the durability, we had the manufacturer do special durability testing (which involved a 330 lb roller making 30,000 passes over the mattress to simulate 30 years of use). And our The Healthy Foundations Memory Foam Mattress passed with flying colors. In addition, the formulation used in our mattress has been in production for years, and it has proven to hold up very well over time (our manufacturer, for instance, has been producing this particular memory foam mattress for over 5 years and had less than 0.1% returns due to any abnormality with the memory foam (and that is why they can offer a 20 year non-prorated warranty)). Nothing beats real world testing, and just because foam tested well in artificial durability tests, this doesn't necessarily mean it will work in your home. You'll avoid a lot of problems by sticking with a memory foam mattress that has a proven history of real world durability. You should look for this sort of durability testing and real world performance in any memory foam mattress you research to assure that you are getting both the comfort and quality you are looking for. If you are looking for a memory foam topper pad to put on your mattress, you have many options. In general, you will pay more for a higher pound density memory foam pad - it just costs more to produce denser memory foam. Which ones do we recommend? We've looked at many topper pads, and we feel the 4 lb memory foam foam we decided to use in our Memory Foam Topper Pads just had the nicest feel. And after selling thousands over the years, we know they work extremely well for our customers. Often a 2" pad is sufficient for making a mattress much more comfortable, but we decided to offer a 3" version, as well, for those looking for a plusher feel. We've tested the 5 lb density pads, but decided not to carry them because they really didn't offer any more comfort than our 4 lb pad - in fact, the 4 lb pads were softer and had a nicer feel to them (the 5 lb pads often felt stiff and not as user friendly). And we didn't feel that the premium you pay for the 5 lb density foam was worth it. All you get for the extra price is a denser pad - and density doesn't equal comfort, it just means that the pads weigh more. We've found that our 4 lb memory foam pads perform very well and really offer more comfort than denser pads. In our experience, they really do offer the best value for the money. Now a word of caution. When you are researching memory foam, you need to be careful what foam you buy. In my research into memory foam suppliers, I was horrified at the different insider stories I heard, such as manufacturers putting inexpensive fillers (like sand, etc.) into foam to save money, rather than using the more expensive materials used in making true memory foam. I also was cautioned about manufacturers who unload bad pours of foam on unsuspecting customers in order to recoup their costs in pouring this foam. Horror stories like these from foam manufacturing veterans were eye openers to me. I had no idea that these practices were going on, and I surely didn't want my customers to end up with these lower quality products. That is one of the reasons I settled on my current mattress and topper pad suppliers. They are both very concerned about the quality of the memory foams they use, and only use those foams that are certified to meet very rigorous quality control standards by the manufacturer. Given these issues, I would urge you to really look closely at not only the density of the memory foam you are buying, but the source as well. You can trust the big name brands like Tempur-Pedic ®, who have a vested interest in assuring that their customers get only the highest quality products, and don't sell bad pours of their foam. However, if you buy off-branded or house brand memory foam, such as ours, you really need to ask questions about the source of the foam to see if the reseller really knows whether the foam is the actual specification they are advertising. While resellers probably won't tell you the specific supplier they are using (which, after all, is part of their competitive advantage), ask them if their supplier has a long standing relationship with the foam manufacturer, and whether their supplier independently inspects each batch of foam after it was received from the manufacturer to ensure that the quality is what it should be. And, like all things, if the price seems too good, it may well be an indication that something isn't right and the foam may not be up to the advertised specifications. Density - the Real Story When you buy memory foam, you will pay more for a denser foam. It simply costs more to make denser foam - more raw materials go into making a denser substance. But density alone doesn't tell you about the feel or comfort of memory foam. In point of fact, all density tells you is how much the foam weighs. A 5 pound density foam simply means that a cubic foot of this material (a cube of this material measuring one foot in height, length and width) would weigh 5 pounds. Denser memory foam, in general, tends to have more of that special memory feel that makes the foam unique. Two pound density memory foam, for example, just doesn't have enough density to give you that quality memory feel you get from the denser memory foams (the medium and high density memory foams). That is why I don't carry the lower density memory foams (I don't carry anything less than 3 lb density memory foam). I've had many people tell me to carry the lower density foams because they offer lower price points, but I strongly feel that I should only sell memory foam products that offer the basic level of quality you can only get with the denser foams. So the minimum I will look at right now is the 4 lb. density foam we used for years our topper pads and the newer generation 3.2 and 3.4 lb density foams we use with our mattress. Can I Get By with Just a Topper, or Do I Need a Whole New Mattress This is a question we get all the time, and not an easy one to answer. In general, though, if your mattress is basically in good shape, but not as comfortable as you would like (looking for a softer feel, less aches and pains in the morning, etc), then a memory foam mattress topper pad may well do the job. To get a better feel for how a memory foam mattress topper pad can give you a better quality of sleep, see our Memory Foam Mattress Topper Page and Buying Guide. On the other hand, if your mattress is too soft, rock hard, or has compressed areas, dips or a hammock feel, etc., then you are better off buying a new mattress - a topper pad just can't help with these problems. If you need a new mattress, what should you look for? Stay away from the pillow tops. The foam and other materials used in standard pillow tops tend to be fairly inexpensive and will often break down fairly quickly. So rather than buying a pillow top mattress, I advise people to buy the best, basic bed they can find, and then add their own memory foam topper as the pillow top. That way, they get a quality topper (much higher density and quality than what comes in most pillow top mattresses). Then, if the topper pad softens with use after a number of years (we see people replacing their topper pads after 4 to 5 years or more), you can just replace the topper portion, rather than having to buy a brand new mattress. For the basic mattress portion, most people stay with a good innerspring. But if you are open to it, I urge you to consider a good foam bed or even a latex bed. These types of bases just have a more substantial feel than other beds and have significant longevity. It is important to get a good quality foam bed (2.2 pound density or higher of high resiliency or similar foam). Latex is even denser but you do pay a premium for it. Either way, your foam bed should be at least 5 - 6" deep. And you should invest the time to lay down on the foam or latex you will be buying to see if it is the right firmness. I know this isn't always possible, since you may not have a store carrying foam or latex near you. But buying these kinds of beds over the internet based on their specifications can be a crap shoot, since the firmness of these beds varies a great deal. So, if you do buy over the internet, make sure you can return the bed easily in case it is overly firm.
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