What is a Memory Foam Mattress?

Due to the increasing popularity of memory foam mattresses, you will now find a large number of brands and different varieties on the market. Whilst this is great for you, it is important to know what you are buying.

To help you make sense of it all, below you will find a buyer’s guide to memory foam mattresses.

What is a Memory Foam Mattress?

Memory foam mattresses are temperature sensitive so they will react to body heat and will mold to support your body’s contours. As you can imagine, this will create a very comfortable area for you to sleep in as the bed molds to support your personal sleeping position.

Unlike traditional foam, memory foam has been specifically designed to return to its normal shape once pressure is no longer applied. As such, you won’t have to worry about your mattress being forever indented with your sleep position. This is why you will often hear of them referred to as visco memory foam mattresses.

History of Memory Foam:

Memory foam was developed by NASA in the 1970s and has undergone numerous revisions and improvements since.

It was originally designed for wheelchair seats and to reduce bedsores in patients. However, mattress manufactures quickly became aware of the commercial value of memory foam and what benefits this would bring to their customers.

But What Are The Advantages?

As it has the ability to mold to your body’s shape, you will find that it will neutrally support each part of your body and therefore be supportive for any sleep position. This ensures that your spine constantly remains aligned which, as you will see in the picture below, is of the utmost importance.

Another major advantage is how memory foam will only provide support to the section where pressure is exerted on it. This is unlike traditional open coil mattresses where the coils all work together; so if your partner is a restless sleeper you are unlikely to feel the effects.

It is also worth noting that they are allergy free and hypoallergenic which is great for those with an allergy to house dust mites.

Choose the Density to Match Your Needs:

Often memory foam mattress will have a core that consists of supportive materials such as springs and the memory foam will be layered on top. The thickness of this memory foam top will affect how supportive a mattress is. Put simply, the denser the memory foam the firmer the mattress. Therefore, a thick layer of memory foam will be more supportive and feel more luxurious.

As a general rule 50mm of memory foam will provide plenty of support for an adult of average weight. This will provide you with great support and will allow the memory foam to conform to the body’s shape effectively. As you would expect, you should increase the thickness for heavier adults and reduce it for lighter adults.

Warning: Can You Handle The Heat?

A common complaint with memory foam mattresses is that they retain body heat. Although this might be great if you enjoy a cosy night’s sleep, it won’t suit everybody.

However, hope is on the horizon as there are a new generation of memory foams with a cool feel fabric to combat this problem. Some have a fabric covering which helps reduce heat absorption, whilst others have heat repellent properties inbuilt in the memory foam.

This is a welcome addition to the memory foam mattress family which caters to those who love the supportive and luxurious feel of traditional memory foam mattresses, but can’t handle the heat.

Quality: You get what you pay for

As with any type of mattress, memory foam mattresses vary in quality. Whilst some reasonably priced ones are of high quality, be aware of extremely cheap ones. These are often made with poor quality, low density, memory foam which will not give you the support or durability that a good quality memory foam mattress would.

Don’t be confined to springs all of your life, as Bob Dylan famously said “The Times They Are A Changin’”. So if you are yet to experience the pleasures of memory foam, we think you should definitely give this one a go.