Confusion about "resilience" + Not likeing HD Polyfoam support layer

[phoenix]

Hi mark_in_sf,

Thanks for the update and feedback and I’m sorry to hear that the Dreamfoam 12 in 1 customizable isn’t working out for you.

I notice in your discussion of comfort layers you say “The only soft polyurethane foam that is really suitable for use in a comfort layer is the highest grade called HR (High Resilience 2.5 lbs or higher) polyfoam.” I guess I should have payed more attention to that given that the 12-in-1 only has 2.0lb HD foam layers.

Thanks for bring this page to my attention since it had some information that wasn’t accurate at all and contradicted some of the other pages and guidelines on the site. I’ve re-written it so that it is more in line with the information about polyfoam comfort layers here and in the foam quality guidelines here and it now also includes some information about some of the newer versions of high performance polyfoam that are available in the market.

This particular page was written over 4 years ago when I was first writing the initial articles for the site (before the site was online) and was written with an eye to identifying more “premium” higher quality materials that were more comparable to latex and memory foam and suitable for use in higher budget mattresses and also didn’t take into account the budget range of the mattress. It was never edited over time (unlike most of the other pages of the site) as the scope and focus of the site was broadened or new types of foam were developed. I’m amazed that you were the first one to mention it and appreciate that you brought the inaccuracies and discrepancies in it to my attention.

2.0 lb polyfoam is a high quality and durable material that would be suitable for higher weight ranges as well and the information you read was certainly misleading.

I’m wondering if the quality I’m looking for is “resilience”. If heard it described as “the ability to push back and hold the more recessed parts of you up” (by this site), but I’ve also read in several other places that it’s the speed at which the foam returns back to it’s original form after removing pressure. These seem unrelated. Which is it?

Resilience is a measure of how much energy a foam stores rather than dissipates and is measured by the percentage of the original height that a ball will bounce when it is dropped on a material. It has very little to do with “support” which has more to do with firmness and compression modulus because even lower density or softer materials can have a higher resilience (be more springy) and slow response materials like memory foam have no resilience at all. It is also closely connected to the freedom of movement on a mattress (low resilience materials are more “motion restricting”).

In any case … the Dreamfoam 12 in 1 mattress certainly uses high quality materials and there are no “weak links” in its design and it is a particulary good quality choice in it’s budget range and would be suitable for higher weight ranges as well although that doesn’t mean that it would be a good match for any particular person in terms of PPP (although with 12 different configurations it would be unusual that someone didn’t find a configuration that was suitable for them).

And more practically, is it’s likely I can find this kind of lumbar support with a mattress that has a 3" latex comfort layer, and the rest is HD polyfoam? I’d love to have a $2000 mattress but unfortunately I cannot afford that right now. It seems though there are lots of options in the $600-1000 range with latex comfort layers (including several from Dreamfoam).

The only way to know whether any mattress would be a good match for you in terms of PPP would be by your own testing or personal sleeping experience but there is more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between the two types of “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel” and why some mattresses are suitable for some people but not for others that have a different body type, sleeping position, or preferences or sensitivities.

There is also more about the different ways to choose a mattress that can help you identify and minimize the risks involved with each of them in post #2 here but in the end it the only way to know for with absolute certainty whether any mattress is a good match for you is when you actually sleep on it.

Thanks again for the update and your feedback … and especially for bringing a page that had some misleading or outdated information to my attention so I could correct it … I appreciate it

Phoenix