Archive | August, 2010

Memory Foam 101

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Memory foam, also known as viscoelastic foam, is a material made from polyurethane. It was developed to increase bodily support and comfort by reducing pressure on the body and spine when sleeping. Memory foam is mainly used for pillows, mattresses, and mattress toppers.

History of Memory Foam

NASA originally developed memory foam in 1966 because astronauts experience heavy G-forces during a launch. Viscoelastic foam was made to help provide them with more comfort. Later, they found out the foam released a small amount of gas. In a normal setting, this would not be a problem. However, a space shuttle is completely enclosed, and gas could build up enough in that environment to cause problems.

Even though it was not found to be useful for astronauts, it played a role in hospitals and various medical areas. It was mainly used for patients who needed to lie still for extended periods of time. Immobile patients can easily develop bedsores. This foam greatly helped patients in such situations.

Memory foam did not get any popular attention until the early 90s when the tempur-pedic company released it for commercial use. Initially, the foam was a bit pricey, but has recently dropped to a  reasonable price.

Characteristics, Uses, and Benefits of Memory Foam

A complicated process goes into deciding the foam’s firmness. Memory foam is designed to be an in-between material. It is not too soft or too hard. It works by adjusting to a person’s height and weight, molding to provide maximum comfort.

The most obvious use for this foam is in bedding. Because of the way viscoelastic foam works, it reduces pressure points on the body. This means you will not need to wake up and change positions to get comfortable. This increases your quality of sleep by providing you with more time for REM sleep.

The best choice for this would be an entire memory foam mattress, but they can be pricey. A top of the range memory foam mattress may well cost as much as $3000. However, a topper may suit your needs just as well, and the same effect can be had with a viscoelastic pillow, which will reduce pressure on your neck.

In addition, it does not hold on to dust or mold as easily as other bedding materials. This is a major advantage for people who have severe breathing problems or asthma.

Disadvantages and Hazards of Memory Foam

Of course, such a useful product comes with a few drawbacks. Even though the price has dropped, it can still be expensive, especially if you want an entire mattress. However, they made a cheaper mattress topper for this reason.

Another common complaint with this kind of foam is the smell. It is made from chemicals, and therefore, it can have a distinct odor to it. For the most part, it fades as time passes, but some people who are sensitive to smell may never get used to it.

It is also not recommended that you let small children use memory foam. Since it moulds to their bodies, children have difficulties rolling over and getting out of it. In short, it can be a smothering hazard, so it is best  not to let small children lie on it.

In addition, since viscoelastic foam is made from polyurethane, it is more flammable than regular bedding materials. A law was passed that requires manufacturers to use fire-retardant compounds in their bedding, but some suspect the fire-retardant compound can also cause its own health problems.

All that said, memory foam is still safe for the most part. Maybe smokers should worry a little about it, but they should not smoke in bed anyway. Everything considered, it is a useful product designed by NASA, and many people sleep great because of it.

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Common Complaints Relating To Memory Foam Products In The Home

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Memory foam is one of the most frequently used materials in mattresses these days. As a result there is a huge amount of customer experience built up in the population at large. This experience, although diverse, is encapsulated on various sites on the web which contain consumer reviews, or are large product related forums. However, it is easy to pick up one or two opinions from these sites and conclude that that is the general consensus. This would be a mistake, as one bad review does not mean that the product is necessarily all bad, and similarly you should be wary of the very friendly reviews made by people who are to all intents and purposes associated with the manufacturers.

However, if you are interested then the main areas of complaints associated with the vast majority of memory foam product used in the household, specifically memory foam mattresses, beds, pillows and mattress toppers follow now:

  1. Probably, the number one complaint associated with memory foam and the various products in which it is contained is that when it is and that back at home it in emits very unpleasant odour. This unpleasant smell is perfectly normal, and is related to the various chemicals that provide protection against fire, elasticity and durability. It is unpleasant. But is easily dealt with if you simply leave the mattress or memory foam product in a well ventilated room for a few days following purchase. Inevitably, of course, there will be some, many of whom will take the trouble to comment on various review sites, you will never and are not capable of getting past that initial smell. You should take any such complaints therefore in this context.
  2. Price. Memory foam products, especially a full memory foam mattress is an expensive item. Some of them can cost more than $3000. The fact of the matter is, that for a bedding product this is sometimes seen as an astonishing amount of money. And it is a lot. However, when you consider that a good quality memory foam mattress can last for more than 15 years, then the price, even if it is high, may not seem so expensive. Consider the scenario where you buy a significantly cheaper memory foam mattress but because it’s cheaper and less durable it doesn’t last anywhere near the same period of time as the more expensive version and as a consequence you end up replacing it two or three times in that period and consequently spending more than $3000 you would have had to spend in the first instance to get the better quality mattress.
  3. The next significant complaint is that despite spending a great deal of money on your memory foam product it is not as comfortable to use as you had expected. It may be that you cannot get used to the particular characteristic that makes memory foam products so popular in the home; there will be always such people who simply do not find memory foam comfortable to sleep on. However you should not let such comment influence you; the vast majority of experiences are that memory foam is an unusually comfortable and supportive material upon which to lie. If you are concerned however, then there is one simple solution; make sure that before you actually pay for the product that you are considering buying you take it home and try it out properly. You can never really do justice to a trial was to remain in the store. So why not minimise the risk take it home, and if you like it buy it.
  4. The final major complaint that is most frequently espoused is that the expensive memory foam product you have just bought seems to be wearing quicker then you would have expected. Probably the first consideration is where you will use your memory foam mattress or other product. If it is in a high traffic area, traffic being usage, and is likely to be exposed to external factors which might cause of damage, then you should not be surprised. If you have purchased a low density memory foam product, then it is likely that it will not have the same lifespan is a higher quality higher density product. Finally, perhaps the best way of avoiding short lifespan issues is by making sure that when you purchase your memory foam product it includes a warranty. Good well manufactured quality product will always have a warranty so that the manufacturer will gladly replace a product if it is not behaving as it should in the home environment.
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Introducing The Latex Memory Foam Mattress | Actually A Comparison Of Latex And Memory Foam

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There are essentially two types of foam mattress; the latex foam mattress and the memory foam mattress.  The latex foam mattress is made using latex foam and can be either natural or synthetic in its origin.  Latex is comfortable and durable when used in a mattress, in fact it is able to retain its shape and characteristic even after many years of use.  Memory foam is of course a viscoelastic product that becomes more liquid when it comes into contact with a warm body giving it the tendency to mold itself around a body providing both significant comfort and support.  You can purchase a memory foam mattress and you can purchase a latex foam mattress but as yet you cannot purchase a latex memory foam mattress because of course latex foam and memory foam are essentially two different products.

However, both types of mattress are very popular so it is worth spending a little time comparing both products in order to give a sensible view of which perhaps is the best product to buy.

Consumer Choices

There appears to be something of a geographical split when it comes to the popularity of the different types of mattress.  In the US the memory foam mattress is clearly in the ascendency and has become a very popular product for use in household products with perhaps the memory foam mattress at the top of the list in that regard.

Latex foam mattresses and indeed latex foam products generally have much more traction in Europe.  There does not seem to be any particular cause of this difference; perhaps it is just historical but latex foam products are strong in European countries and likely to remain so.

The Feel Of The Mattresses In Use

Generally speaking the feel of memory foam mattresses is well known.  Users describe a sort of “sinking” or “melting” feeling when they first lie on the mattress and because the mattress moulds itseld around them supporting at all points they tend to describe the sensation as “cocooned” and of course exceptionally comfortable.

Not everyone likes the sensation experienced when lying on memory foam however and for those who do not the latex foam mattress which is springier and generally firmer to sleep on is an ideal alternative.

Price Comparison

Good quality memory foam products are quite expensive.  A good quality memory foam mattress, such as a Temper-Pedic mattress will set you back up to $3000 and even cost around $800 at the starter end of the market.

On the other hand, the latex foam mattresses are a little less expensive, starting at around $300 and moving up to perhaps $1500 at the top end.

Other Similarities And Differences

Both latex and memory foam mattresses tend to give off a strange almost clinical smell when they are first bought.  This usually wears off pretty quickly but in the case of memory foam especially the weird smell can last for several weeks.

Latex foam mattresses tend to last longer than memory foam, perhaps being twice as durable.  Memory foam mattresses are better for those suffering from back ache or chronic fatigue due to way it moulds around the body, reducing movement generally.  However moulding effect can also be a drawback for memory foam as it tends to be slow to re-mould when you do change your position and can make sitting up a little awkward.  Latex foam mattresses on the other hand are firmer, do not mould but over time can get a little out of shape.

Memory foam mattresses can absorb moisture and can get very hot, whereas there are less issues with latex foam mattresses in this regard.  Memory foam is heavier and therefore harder to manoeuvre around, especially when initially installing.  Although having said that, what mattress is easy to manoeuvre.  None that I have ever come across.

In summary, latex foam mattresses are generally popular in European countries, are springy and durable but perhaps less therapeutic in benefiting sleep.  They are however less expensive than their memory foam equivalents.  Memory foam mattresses are on the other hand popular in the US, fantastic for therapeutic sleep and generally more expensive than their latex counterparts.  They both have a weird smell.  Perhaps, in conclusion in order to get the best of both worlds a latex memory foam mattress should be manufactured.  It would clean up in both Europe and the US ;-) .

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Where To Find Honest And Accurate Memory Foam Mattress Topper Reviews

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In order that anyone reading this is on the same page as myself I will start by explaining what a mattress topper is and why memory foam is such a great material to use for a mattress topper.  Indeed it is such a great material that these days you would be hard pushed to find a mattress topper that wasn’t made of memory foam or some derivative of memory foam.

Anyway, a mattress topper is a pad, varying in thickness, but most usually between 3 inches and 5 inches that is placed on the top of an existing mattress to enhance the comfort and also the support provided by that mattress.  They can be used to refresh aging mattresses that have perhaps seen better days, or to enhance good quality mattresses, because the best ones can significantly improve the quality of the rest for those lying upon them.  As previously stated, memory foam is a particularly suitable material to use in the manufacture of memory foam due to the fluid behaviour of memory foam when brought into contact with a warm body, in mattresses most often of human form of course.

The great benefit of a mattress topper as opposed to a replacement mattress should be obvious. Price. A new mattress topper is usually more affordable than a new mattress.  Plain and simple.  Indeed if the mattress were a memory foam mattress the difference would be larger still and strangely enough comfortable as a memory foam mattress is, a memory foam mattress topper is in fact, not usually far behind.

Which brings us to the central point of this article. Memory foam mattress topper reviews, and where to go to get the most straightforward and honest reviews that you can.  You might think that I would say this site, and in fact I will do my very best to undertake as many memory foam mattress topper reviews as my time allows.  However, there are other places to go for opinions.  Perhaps the best place of all, because the volume of visitors is so significant and therefore the breadth of experience so wide is to visit Amazon and read the customer reviews.  The only word of caution worth pointing out is that people motivated to comment upon a website, even Amazon usually do so because their experience is at the extreme end of the curve, not necessarily bad, but potentially unusual.  As a result you can sometimes get a potentially skewed view of the products.  Notwithstanding this if you are sensible and take the more overt representations with a pinch of salt you won’t go far wrong.

So, if you are looking for memory foam mattress topper reviews the advice is clear.  Check this site first, and if that does not fulfill your need for knowledge, check out Amazon.  You can buy your memory foam mattress topper their too if you wish, so a double bonus!

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