Memory Foam Mattress

Is this something dangerous or something worth having?

Well for the last couple of weeks, I have been sleeping on my memory foam mattress and its been wonderful. Infact so wonderful that I started to tell everyone I knew to get one as my quality of sleep has just gone from 'everyday-ok' to feeling very energised and rejuvenated in the morning.

Now - I'm not here to dispute whether or not its 'good for you', as I then had the uncanny yet very enlightening readup online about people buying a memory foam mattress with complaints about being 'gassed' by their mattress, along with other horror stories whilst at the same time there were folks who loved their memory foam mattress so much, they were just telling every man, woman and their dog to get a memory foam mattress (yes there are memory foam mattresses made for pets, not just dogs but thats another article altogether...)

Anyway I made the plunge before even looking at any of these doom and gloom articles because if I had read them first, I would've most probably been sleeping on a coil mattress last night, well lucky for me I took a recommendation from a friend and just had to find out what it was all about - my memory foam mattress is wonderful to sleep on and I think its the best investment I've made all year! Its so soft yet firm enough to support my back whilst I sleep,

So whats all this memory foam mattress about then?

What is a memory foam mattress?

Memory foam is polyurethane which has chemicals added  to control/increase the viscosity and density. Memory foam is sometimes referred to as visco-elastic foam. The memory foam reacts to heat and coolness of your room so you can expect the memory foam mattress to be firmer when cooler. You can buy Higher density (5lb+) memory foam is also alot firmer - perfect for people who dont want a mattress which is too soft and reacts to body heat as well, this is the most talked about feature of a memory foam mattress when the mattress contours to a warm human body, it really does make you feel like your sleeping on a piece of heaven! A lower density (3lbs or lower) memory foam mattress is still the same pressure-sensitive material and moulds quickly to the shape of the body but alot of people have said a quality mattress which will last, has to be between 4lbs - 5lbs density - my mattress is 4lbs simply because I like a soft mattress yet is not too soft so that you can roll about on it easily without sinking into the memory foam mattress too much, also you might hear of people who say sleeping on a memory foam mattress leaves them feeling hot all night but thats a totally different problem altogether. Explained later.

Most people dont question the density or thickness of the memory foam (some people have bought tooooo thick a layer of memory foam and then complain why have they spent alot more money yet dont like the mattress) BTW this is proof that MORE MONEY thrown at a problem does not mean it'll be sorted faster... Anyway thats just a commentary on why some people complain about their beds.

Memory foam was initially used by pateients in medical settings. it was commonly used when a patient was required to stay in their bed on a firm mattress for a prolonged amount of time, either due to medical necessity or inability to move due to illness, this always amounted to an unhealthy amount of time spent on a mattress, this in turn caused pressure which started to cause problems as laying on a bed for vast amounts of time without sufficient movement often caused problems with bloodflow and decreased or stopped the blood flow to some regions of the body causing pressure sores or in some dire cases caused gangrene - not exactly good reasons to stay in bed! Memory foam mattresses on the other hand remarkably decreased such incidences and from this medical application, it eventually made it way into the consumer market and was widely recieved as a space age mattress which could be better than your standard spring mattress.

What to look for in a memory foam mattress

Most people only look at the product without actually understanding what to look for 'inside' the product itself! To determine the firmness (hardness - softness) of a memory foam mattress, you would need to look at its measured indentation force deflection (IFD) rating for that particular mattress. Some dispute this however, whilst some may contend that the lbs per square inch is not accurate, others may contend that the accurate measure on the hardness/softness of a mattress can still feel the same if a higher IFD memory foam was used but was made a lower density, this would still feel soft when compressed.

People also make the mistake to thinking paying more for a memory foam mattress or getting a higher density such as a 5lb rated memory foam mattress was going to sort all their problems, when in actual fact, if you pick the wrong mattress - you are most certainly not going to enjoy the sleep!

When considering a memory foam mattress, you have to remember it is a very heat absorbant material - this of course would mean if your a guy/gal who gets very hot at night, then you are most certainly going to feel uncomfortable in the summer, but dont let this minor point stall your quest in getting a better mattress as other people who have a spring mattress could also be in the same boiling night time conditions like you - so be wise and choose the right mattress, I like sleeping hot and love hot weather but you might not, so stop and think about 'what you dont like' and just figure out of a memory foam mattress is right for you as these not so obvious problems might just be the expensive deal breaker, especially when the memory foam mattress served you so well in the winter yet is going to cook you up nicely during the summer!

So should I get a memory foam mattress?

Well I'm not too sure, I have one simply because at my age, I decided that if I'm going to start spending my time wisely and doing meaningful wholesome activities in my life which doesnt include running from the law or operating some highly suspicious schemes, then i'm going to do my part for the planet, but for all my work I just want at least a good nights sleep to carry on doing my labour of love for the planet. If I was to get another mattress, I might just get a latex mattress just to see if they have any advantage over a memory foam mattress.

*~* Ok thats my long excuse over *~*

Basically a memory foam mattress is a chemical abomination to some people whilst for some people a memory foam mattress is the best thing they bought all year, also you've got to understand that all memory foam mattresses are not made equal, which means the buyer should always be aware who made it and the build quality of the mattress they are sleeping on. Ok thats VERY general so heres another way to explain it, over the years alot of manufacturers have tried to cut corners and make their memory foam mattresses even cheaper for the general public, now telling you that they would have to skimp and cut corners would be the 'captain obvious' answer which pretty much answers nothing yet infers everything else to lead you to think that you've got a satisfactory answer.......... What i've managed to dig up is a rather strange yet very interesting fact, did you know that most countries have their own version of what they think are 'acceptable' levels of toxicity for chemicals used in manufacturing 'stuff' that we use?

Well - because there is a differing scale depending on where your mattress was actually MADE, rather than who put the end product together and shuv'd it in a plastic bag... you start to realise that even if you bought a mattress in the UK or USA or even EUROPE, if the source material came from another place which had a more flexible scale/view to toxicity in materials, then you could start to connect the dots and gasp in horror, and for this reason you could logically assume that whilst some may love their memory foam mattress, others would revel in horror at the oblong/rectangular monstrosity as they breath and waltz in the 'off gassing' which was promised to be gone in a week after airing....

Moral of this story is - get your memory foam mattress, but dont depend on getting a brand name as they are just as guilty in sourcing from the wrong places, along with some of the horror stories on the net which mention BRAND NAMES being the main culprit to their problems.

(Part 2 is coming soon!)