How to Buy the Best Mattress

The ultimate guide to the best mattress types and brands.

Admin

Memory Foam: Is it all the same, or different?

by

There seem to be a lot of different types of memory foam these days. For example, one retailer may advertise their SureSleepTemp memory foam while another has their SureTempSleep foam. Both of these will likely have a little trademark™ to add legitimacy, but this still leaves a huge question.

Is there really a difference between types of memory foam? If so, how do I tell?

The quick and short answer is that most memory foam is very similar. This is in both structure and material because it’s almost all visco-elastic memory foam. That said, there are some differences that can affect the quality, comfort, and cost of a mattress.

One good explanation that we found was over at Sleep Full Nights, a store that sells memory foam mattresses. They call the memory foam layer the “money layer,” because it is both the most expensive part of the mattress and the part that is most important. The money layer is affected by two main factors, density and thickness. The density is measured in pounds per cubic foot of material and the thickness is in inches. This is what we refer to when we say Money Layer:

explanation of memory foam mattress

Money Layer Density

The density of memory foam is hugely important for a number of reasons. It determines the comfort, cost, and longevity of the mattress more than any other component. The higher density of the material, the more support and higher level of comfort it can provide. Conversely, lower density memory foam will have more airflow. Here’s a quick breakdown of the different density ranges:

1. Low-density memory foam (1.8 – 2.7 lbs./cubic foot) is the cheaper end of the spectrum. It has more space between the foam material and allows for more airflow, which can allow it to sleep cooler. The flip side of this less dense material is that it isn’t as resilient as higher density foams. This means that over the long run, the foam won’t return to form as completely after you get up off of it.

2. Medium-density memory foam (3.0 – 4.5 lbs./cubic foot) is mid-level foam. It combines some of the breathability of lower density foam while also having some of the resiliency and longevity of high-density memory foam.

3. High-density memory foam (4.5 + lbs./cubic foot) is the luxury, high cost end of the spectrum. This is the foam that goes into top of the line mattresses. Although it doesn’t have the breathability and airflow of lower density foams, it tends to be more resilient, last longer, and provide better support to the sleeper.

4. Over 6.5 lbs./cubic foot starts to feel like you’re sleeping in pudding. It can lead to the mattress working like an incubator and making it hard to get out of bed (in a bad way).

Thickness: Money Layer thickness affects the longevity of a mattress. Generally, thickness can range anywhere from 1-6 inches or more. A rough rule of thumb is that you’ll get 3-5 years of optimal performance per inch of Money Layer. Keep in mind that this can vary with usage and that the resiliency is affected by the density of the memory foam.

Is Base Foam memory foam?

No. Base foam refers to a different type of foam. Polyurethane foam is a more rigid and firm type of foam that has a lower density than almost all memory foam. It doesn’t change the price of a mattress much while providing the rest of the mattress volume to get it to the right 8, 10, 12, or more inches tall.

What’s the deal with Gel Memory Foam?

Gel memory foam is one of the most popular new technologies. The memory foam is infused with billions of micro-gel beads during the foam pouring process. This creates a combination of cooling features because it’s generally a lower density material that allows for more airflow and the micro-gel beads have been shown to improve the temperature regulation of sleepers, helping them to stay cooler.

What else is good to know?

The main things to consider, as stated above, are the density and thickness of the Money Layer because most of the other advertised features are fluff. Organic memory foam may have a nice sound to it, but it won’t have any affect on how well the memory foam supports your body while sleeping. Same thing with all natural memory foam. Nice to know. Doesn’t affect the quality of sleep much.

Also beware of specially branded names of memory foam. DormiPureTech Memory foam likely isn’t anything special beyond a name. In fact, some less than honest retailers may use a fancy trademarked™ foam name to try and justify higher prices. Keep your eyes out for this and be sure to focus on what’s important: the density and thickness of the Money Layer.

The Best Pillow: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Bed Pillow

by

Looking for the best bed pillow, ever? You should be! It’s estimated that approximately one third of our entire life is spent sleeping. Where else can you spend so little money on an item that you will spend so much time with, one that can seriously improve or hamper your ability to sleep soundly and function properly in the morning?

Here are some great pillow options for various sleeping preferences:

[Read more…] about The Best Pillow: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Bed Pillow

Mattress Jousting? A strange and fun “new” mattress trend.

by

mattress jousting collision

When you run a site about mattresses, you tend to pay attention to anything new that you see that’s related to beds.

Recently, I was typing “Mattress j” into Google when I was doing a search, and my trusty Chrome autocomplete spits out, “mattress jousting” as the first recommended phrase.

“Mattress what?” I thought to myself, raising an eyebrow. “Is this some new product that I’ve never heard of?”

Alas, no. Mattress jousting is not a product. It’s more like a “sport.” And when I say “sport” with quotation marks around it, that’s exactly how I mean it.

Evidently, the search mattress jousting became popular as a result of this GEICO commercial (sorry, couldn’t find it on YouTube) that used footage from this original YouTube video. Note that the original video is from at least 7 years ago!

Naturally, after you watch your first mattress jousting video, it leads you down the YouTube rabbit hole of OTHER mattress jousting videos.

My personal favorite mattress jousting video is this one, with an entirely different take on mattress jousting where the jousters slide the mattresses on the slick floor of the dorm hallway and spectacularly collide with each other, getting massive air in the process. The best part is that they are wearing what looks like some kind of helmet, which turns out to be necessary.

What kind of mattress works best for mattress jousting? Looks like a small and lightweight mattress that is easy to carry, but with enough cushioning that you don’t end up with a brain injury when you collide with your fellow jouster.

You’ll also want to make sure that you are in a similar weight class as your opponent, as this guy proves by losing his tooth in a mattress joust.

College campuses are the most popular venue for mattress jousting — particularly in freshman dorms. However, you’ll also find the sport in army barracks, and even as official summer camp competitions with adult supervision.

Have fun, and don’t get your teeth knocked out. As one YouTube commenter so wisely says, “Pillow fights are for little boys. Mattress fights are for men.”

Latex Mattress vs. TempurPedic: Our Opinion

by

When you are shopping for a new mattress and looking at all of your options, one of the comparisons that will surely make at some point is a latex mattress vs. TempurPedic memory foam. You’ve probably already seen one of the top ranking articles on Google that makes it sound like TempurPedic mattresses are hot, wear out after a few years, and are somehow toxic. But notice that the article is written by someone selling organic latex mattresses. I would think that in general, there is probably an incentive to promote what a company sells in comparison to a brand that it doesn’t carry. Here are some facts about TempurPedic mattresses:

  • They have a 25 year limited warranty. That doesn’t jive with “loses memory in 3 to 5 years,” if you ask me.
  • They were ranked as the top mattress by Consumer Reports in 2012.
  • TempurPedic uses a type of memory foam that was originally invented by NASA scientists as a pressure absorbing material for astronauts during liftoff. A Swedish company licensed and developed the foam for use as a mattress in the 1990s, which eventually became the TempurPedic company you know today. They have continued developing the material ever since.

There’s no question that TempurPedic mattresses are expensive. But I have personally owned one for almost 10 years, and it is still exactly as good as it was when I originally purchased it. It was the best mattress purchase I have ever made, and well worth the money I spent buying it at full retail. TempurPedic says that a 2010 Blackstone Group Tempur-Pedic Owners Study showed that 9 out of 10 people who bought one of their mattresses would buy one again. (Although they don’t specify how long after the purchase they said that.) And they also claim that 94 percent of owners are satisfied with their purchase.

With all that said, I am not saying that latex mattresses aren’t any good. In fact, latex mattresses have quite a few advantages of their own. One issue you have to consider, however, is that TempurPedic is one brand, using its own memory foam. Latex mattresses come in many forms, from many different manufacturers.

You might buy a high quality latex mattress that you like better than a TempurPedic, or a crappy cheap one that you think is worse than any mattress you’ve ever slept on. There are many other types of memory foam, and many brands of memory foam mattresses. So don’t say “TempurPedic” unless you are referring to that specific brand. There are plenty of cheap and terrible memory foam mattresses out there that are other brands.

There’s a lot of work you’ll have to do as a consumer to figure out if you are getting your money’s worth with a latex mattress. That’s because there are a ton of different variables with a latex mattress, and any of them can affect the price, the longevity, the comfort level, the quality of materials and more.

Natural latex is a product that comes from a rubber tree. A mattress can be made of natural latex, or synthetic latex, or a blend of the two. If you are looking for a high end, “natural” option for your bed, then latex is going to be a good way to go. You can buy a completely organic, natural latex mattress. Natural latex will last for many years, and many of the top organic natural latex mattress brands have up to a 20 year warranty.

That being said, there are plenty of blended latex mattresses that are still very high quality mattresses, that are very comfortable. Buying 100 percent “natural latex” guarantees that your price is going to be higher, but it doesn’t guarantee the highest level of comfort. Why? Because you still have to consider the other materials in the mattress, how much latex is being used, where the latex layers are in the mattress, which process was used to make the latex, etc.

What you have to be careful with is that many mattresses are called latex, but it’s rare to find a mattress that is just one big slab of 100 percent latex rubber. Latex mattresses are actually made of lots of different materials. So you don’t know how much latex rubber is actually part of the mattress without checking. It might just be a thin layer at the top of the mattress, instead of being part of the core. Many latex mattresses are part latex, and part memory foam.

Here is an example of a competitively priced latex mattress that comes well reviewed on Amazon, and on many of the mattress forums.

Do you already own a Tempur-Pedic or a latex mattress? Tell us about it, below!

Amazon has some good options to consider at surprising low prices.

Talalay Latex Mattress: What Does It Mean?

by

If you are still considering the type of mattress you want to buy and are looking at latex, you’ve probably heard the term “Talalay Latex” by now. What does that mean? Is it a brand? Is it a variety of latex? Actually, it’s neither. It’s a process used to make the latex into solid pieces of foam rubber. The process was developed in the 1940s by three guys with the last name Talalay, so it is named after them.

But first, let’s start with latex rubber itself. Latex rubber is a natural product that comes from the sap of rubber trees. Rubber trees are grown on plantations in places like South America and Malaysia, and they typically make rubber for up to 30 years. To tap the latex, someone will remove strips of bark, which causes the tree to drip the liquid latex that has to then be processed for whatever its end use will be.

For mattresses, which consist of very large pieces of latex foam rubber, there are two main processes. There is the Dunlop process, and the Talalay process.

The Dunlop process is a pretty simple process, where the rubber can settle in the mold and where the resulting material that comes out might be firmer on one side than the other. The material in general will also have an overall higher firmness. Dunlop material is also usually heavier.

With the Talalay process, the manufacturer will take liquid latex, put it into a mold where all air is vacuumed out. Then the mold is frozen to stabilize the molded material, and injected with carbon dioxide, and then heated up so that the rubber becomes vulcanized and will hold its shape permanently.

With either method, the mold where you pour the latex rubber will have pins in it, which leaves air holes. You can vary the number of pins and the size of the pins to make the mattress perform differently.

There is a lot of additional room for changing the properties of the mattress using the Talalay process, so you can make it softer or firmer.

When you are using latex as the core of the mattress, either method is pretty suitable. But for the layer at the top of the mattress that you feel, you might want to look for Talalay.

Keep in mind that latex can either mean completely natural latex rubber that comes from rubber trees, or it can be a blend of natural and synthetic latex rubber (made from styrene butadiene), or it can be completely synthetic rubber. Completely natural rubber latex is the most expensive. Blends are common. Purely synthetic latex is typically on the low end on the cost scale.

Here is an example of a competitively priced Talalay latex mattress that comes well reviewed on Amazon, and on many of the mattress forums.

Did I leave anything out? Do you still have questions about Talalay latex mattresses? Leave a comment, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to figure it out.