Memory foam v regular foam

Foam mattresses and beds have been around for many years prior to the arrival of visco elastic memory foam. Standard foam and a variant called reflex foam have been staples of the mattress and pillow making industry for decades, but how do these two synthetic foam match up

Retail price

A basic foam mattress can be very cheap, but even so some memory foam mattresses are almost comparable on price. It is important to realise that these very cheap memory foam mattresses have a low density foam and offer support that is almost the same as standard foam equivalent.

Good quality visco elastic orthopedic mattresses are considerably more expensive than standard foam.

Springiness

Visco elastic memory foams come in a range of densities and many top end mattresses utilise multiple layers of foam within different levels of the mattress body. The result is the typical slow recovery spring back that takes seconds rather than an instant.

Standard foams have a more natural springy recovery, but this is also affected by their density and in some countries they come with a firmness rating within the scale of 1 to 10,where 10 is the firmest (i.e. hardest).

Cool or warm feel

Memory foam sleeps warm and the denser it is the more it tends to retain body heat. A number of more expensive memory foam mattress manufacturers recognise that this is not to everyone’s liking and as a result some mattress designs have a clever ventilation system incorporated into their design.

Standard foam tends to sleep neutral (i.e. feeling neither warm or cool).

Ability to mould

Memory foam shapes and contours around any weight or impression that is pressed down on it. This contouring effect is accentuated by heat (e.g. from a warm human body).

Standard foam will also shape itself around any person resting on it, but with much more displacement.

Mattress displacement

Visco elastic foam only deforms and shapes around the object pressing on to it. There is a minimum degree of displacement in the areas immediately adjacent to where the pressure is being applied.

All of the variants on standard foam have a higher level of displacement (i.e. flexing, bending and shaping) in the areas around where the actual pressure is being applied.

Density

Memory foam mattress products are usually specified by density (typically as a percentage) and the general view is that the higher the density the higher the price. Even so, this does not mean that a high density foam is superior to a medium density foam – it is just different.

Hypoallergenic properties

Memory foam is hypoallergenic. Standard foam is usually inert and therefore resistant to most bacteria, however is does not have the same hypoallergenic properties as memory foam or latex.

Life expectancy

A high quality memory foam mattress can come with a warranty of up to 10 years. Mattresses made from other foams normally have a 12 month warranty.

Turn or none turn

Memory foam mattress products are normally no-turn mattresses. This is because they are often constructed of a number of layers each with a different density. For this reason they have a right and a wrong way up.

Standard foam mattresses tend to be made from a single foam and they can be turned (or flipped) over.

Cleaning and maintenance

No cleaning should be required unless stated by the manufacturer. However both of these mattress materials can exhibit a chemical smell for the first few days after they have been unpacked.

Sales popularity

Memory foam products are very popular, however the standard foam mattress remains a big seller at the budget end of the bedding market.

New or old technology

Memory foam is one of the newest mattress materials and it is popular in an orthopedic mattress. Standard foam has been around longer, but it remains a big seller.

Packing and delivery

Both of these mattress types can be delivered in vacuum sealed shrink wrapped form. Expensive memory foam mattresses should be delivered in their natural expanded form, i.e. ready for immediate use.

Weight

The denser (e.g. memory foam) or higher firmness rating (e.g. standard foam), the heavier the mattress.

Our verdict

Memory foam products are excellent, but not at the cheap end of the market place. If you want a cheap mattress, then a standard foam will offer similar properties to an (imported from the third world) memory foam product. If you buy a cheap mattress, appreciate that it will have a limited lifespan and that you will get precisely what you pay for.