JUST RIGHT BEDS

 

There are always a lot of questions when buying a mattress, because we do it so rarely its hard to recall what we learnt from the time before, also if the salesperson who sold you your previous mattress didn`t know what he/she was talking about or they were under orders to deliberatly mislead you just to sell a particular mattress then any information you may have retained may be corrupted.

What is memory foam?

Memory foam is a very tricky subject and very few people understand it totally, but here we go:
if you imagine a balloon with holes in it, when weight is applied to the balloon it deflates pushing the air into the balloon next to it, but retains its soft feel. When you remove the weight the balloon inflates to its original shape, because the air in the balloon next to it has more air in it and air pressure has to equalize.
There are billions upon billions of these little balloons in each mattress. So memory foam moves in essence like a water bed. When you lay on it you float on the surface and then gently sink into the mattress as you push the air out of each individual balloon cell.

There are a variety of different types of memory foam mattresses and they vary greatly in quality. Pure memory foam is very expensive so when its in its resign stage it can be mixed with " visco elastic" to bring the cost down.
Visco elastic is very similar to memory foam, its like the same balloons but without the holes to help the movement of heat and the body to shape perfectly. The benefits of using visco elastic is that it puts the spring back into the mattress making it easier to move at night, so you don`t feel quite so moulded in. However in order to keep costs down some manufacturers apply even more resign in a bid to skimp and save even more cash, so please be aware and do your research before buying! Or better still try before you buy!

After that you get variations in the covers, some are quilted some use "coolmax", which was originally used in walking clothing to wick heat away from the body. Some mattresses have removable cleanable covers, some don`t. Its best to check as more often than not you have to dry clean not wash. Lastly the mattress is normally placed on a reflex foam base for regidity and to give the mattress height, these can be cut to allow ventilation underneath again helping to keep the mattress cooler at night.

Does memory foam make you hot?

It really depends on the quantity of visco elastic in the mix, memory foam holds air, much like an old fashioned string vest, so in some respects its like laying in a warm bath, but it is porous so heat can dis-sapate.Poor quality memory foam mattresses use too much visco elastic which can not transfer heat away from the body, because visco elasic is not porous so heat becomes trapped and because your in it rather than on it you will gradually get hotter and hotter! Finally visco elastic is not as heat responsive as memory foam. Memory foam reacts to heat because warm air moves quicker than cold so the mattress becomes more supple within the body`s normal temperature range, however visco elastic is heat responsive but only outside the body`s normal temperature, so for it to work properly you would have to be running a high fever!!!

What is side stiching?

In traditional pocket spring mattresses you can stitch along the edge all the way round the mattress in two or three places going through the sides of the mattress into the first few rows of springs and out again, this stops the mattress from collapsing at the edge so you don`t roll out, because the springs are forced to stay in the upright position.

My mattress has dipped in one place is that normal?

This happens with pocket spring and open coil mattresses. Most of our body wieght is stored from the waist up so if the mattress is not turned regularly enough the springs wear out quickly in one area and dip, this is not covered by mattress guarantees because its considered to be neglect rather than manufacturing defect.

What about no turn mattresses?

No turn mattresses are not as good as regular mattresses, generally its a cost cutting exercise. The exception is latex mattresses and memory foam.There are a few manufacturers who can put memory foam on both sides, but for the most if you had foam on both sides the mattress would mould to the slats on the base or it could wallow because it didnt have a firm platform to sit on.The manufacturer of traditional mattresses could very easily pad both sides of a mattress with no detrimental affects for you or the mattress but they can save money by only padding one side so on budget mattresses they do this and try to sell it as a benefit to you rather than a means of increasing there margins.
If you have a no turn mattress you can still rotate it top to bottom to help it last a bit longer.

Do you have to turn memory foam mattresses?

Not so regularly but I would still recommend rotating top to bottom to help extend the life of the mattress

How often do you have to turn a normal mattress?

When new its best to turn your mattress once a week for the first three months then once a month for the life of the mattress

Is a firmer mattress better for my back?

Not really, the key phrase here is "supportive" your mattress should support you along the legnth of your back, but not be so hard as to make matters worse and trap blood causing pins and needles and sore shoulders.