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Article - Guide to Memory FoamMemory foam was originally developed as part of a NASA project, and for the next 20 years it really only was used in the medical industry as a way to combat pressure sores. The unique cell structure of memory foam reduced pressure points by allowing pressure to be spread out through the foam cells, and as a result memory foam was good success in both bedding and seating situations. In the early 1990s, memory foam was brought out of the medical industry and for the first time used in consumer products. The most visible company producing memory foam for the consumer market was and is Tempur-Pedic ®c. Their products are still the gold standard for memory foam, and while expensive, they are a high quality foam. As the market increased general consumer foam companies began to make their versions of memory foam - often at a great discount to those offered by specialty foam companies. While some of these first products weren't of great quality, these days a few US foamers make good quality memory foams of different densities that are fairly widely available. People often hear about the benefits of memory foam (reduced pressure points, better sleep quality with less tossing and turning) and get interested in the product, only to become confused by the disparate information thrown out about memory foam. So I wanted to offer a short checklist to look for if you are interested in memory foam products: 1. Get a good density foam. There are all sorts of densities of memory foam available, and you generally pay for what you get. From my experience, I would recommend 4 lb memory foam as the sweet spot. This is a very high quality memory foam that is still at an affordable price. Lower density memory foams just don't have the memory feel of a 4 lb foam, and higher density foams tend to be both more expensive and have a stiffer feel. 2. Memory foam works best on a firm bed. Memory foam does a great job of making an overly firm bed much more comfortable. That is because memory foam is a soft type of foam and at a high density ads a great deal of comfort and cushion to your bed. Typically people get a 2" or 3" pad, and these work well on a firm bed. But if your bed is too soft or already has dips or compressed areas, you need to really replace your bed rather than adding a topper pad. 3. Get a good money back guarantee. There is nothing worse than spending a fair amount of money on a product that sounds good or feels good in the store, and then finding it just doesn't work in your home - and you can't return it. That is I offer a 90 day money back trial on all our pads and pillows because I think it is important that people have the opportunity to try out the pad or pillow in their home. I used to offer 30 days, but I went to 90 days just to make sure people had a real good chance to see if the memory foam pad or pillow worked for them. If you want to learn a lot more about memory foam, you can see the Memory Foam guide I've put together and also the FAQs I have on memory foam as well. One of our most asked questions is on comparing our pads to Tempur-Pedic ®, and we've prepared a comparison of our pads to Tempurpedic ® as well. We get a fair number of questions from people looking into the Tempur-Pedic ® mattress, and we don't carry them or any mattress product at the moment. But for more information on the Tempur-Pedic mattress ®, you may want to check out a site someone put up on this - the Tempurpedic Mattress ® Buying guide. I've recently expanded our buying guides to look at other kinds of specialy bedding also. We now have buying guides that cover Air Bed and Latex Mattress . While I don't carry these kinds of specialty bedding, I've learned a lot about them over the years of going to trade shows and checking out the quality and design of air beds and latex mattresses. I hope this introduction to memory foam and specialty bedding has been helpful. If you have questions on memory foam that aren't answered on our site please let us know (see our Contact Page for our email address). David Rosenberg
The Tai Chi For Health Institute The Tai Chi For Health Institute |