Hi portocar,
The only reliable way to to assess the “safety” of different materials in more general terms is based on lab tests and the certifications they have for harmful substances and VOCs so that you have some assurance than the VOCs are below the testing limits for the certification (see post #2 here for more information about some of the more reliable “safety” certifications). If the materials in a mattress or the mattress itself has a reliable “safety” certification then for most people they would certainly be “safe enough” … regardless of the type of material or the name of the manufacturer on the label.
All the Dreamfoam mattresses have a reliable safety certification and they are on the CertiPUR list here so there would be no reason for concern with any of their mattresses and the retailer that told you that gel memory foam is toxic is giving you some misleading information.
It would depend on the density of the gel memory foam but the durability of gel memory foam would be closely comparable to the durability of regular memory foam that was the same density. There is more about how to assess the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to your BMI range in the durability guidelines here.
The “hand feel” of most gel memory foams will be noticeably cooler than regular memory foam and they can provide some cooling benefits when you first go to sleep at night but temperatures will tend to equalize over time at which point the insulating properties of the memory foam will become dominant. The amount and type of gel in the foam can affect whether the temperature benefits will last longer or shorter and the cell structure and amount of airflow through foam will also play a very significant role in reducing heat buildup in the material but in general terms … gel memory foam can sleep a little cooler when you are first going to sleep at night but in most cases the benefits of the gel tend to be temporary and don’t normally last over the course of the night.
It’s not really possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person with any real accuracy because there are so many variables involved including the type of mattress protector and the sheets and bedding that you use (which in many cases can have just as significant an effect on sleeping temperature as the type of foam in a mattress) and on where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range and because there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials … there is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types of materials and components that are most likely to keep you in a comfortable temperature range.
In very general terms … the materials, layers, and components of a sleeping system that are closer to your skin will have a bigger effect on airflow, moisture transport, and temperature regulation than materials, layers, and components that are further away from your skin and softer mattresses or foam toppers will tend to be more “insulating” and for some people can sleep warmer than firmer versions of the same material.
Memory foam or to a slightly lesser degree gel memory foam in general will tend to sleep warmer than other types of foam materials such as polyfoam and latex and all foam materials will tend to sleep warmer than natural fibers such as wool or cotton but there are many different formulations of memory foam and gel memory foam that are being used in the industry that can vary in terms of airflow and temperature regulation. There is more information and comments about some of the different methods or formulations that can be used to help cool down the tendency of any memory foam to sleep warmer for some people in post #6 here but memory foam manufacturers don’t disclose their specific chemical formulations and there are so many variables involved in temperature regulation other than the memory foam formulation itself that the only way to know whether any memory foam mattress in combination with all the other variables that can affect temperature regulation will be “temperature regulating enough” for you will be based on your own personal experience.
Using a more resilient quilting material on top of memory foam can change the “feel” of a mattress compared to sleeping directly on memory foam so the quilting layer would result in a somewhat different “feel” from a similar Tempurpedic mattress even if the mattress was in a similar firmness range. For some people it would be an improvement, for some it would be “neutral” in terms of which one they liked better, and for some it would be worse because this would be a preference choice rather than a “better/worse” choice and would be somewhat subjective and relative to different people’s preferences.
Some memory foam mattresses are more motion restricting which means it can be a little more difficult to change positions because of the slower response of memory foam and having a more resilient layer on top of the memory foam can result in easier movement and can also add a little bit more breathability but it can also reduce the “feel” of the memory foam underneath it to some degree.
You can read more about Amerisleep and their sister companies and their so called “expert sites” that pose as being independent review sites in post #2 here and the posts it links to. A forum search on Amerisleep (you can just click the link) will bring up will bring up all the forum posts that mention them as well.
None of their mattresses use natural materials because the polyfoam and memory foam that they use (like all polyfoam and memory foam) are synthetic materials made primarily from petrochemicals.
There are many foam manufacturers that replace a relatively small percentage of one of the two main petrochemicals that are used to manufacture the foam (the polyol) with a plant based derivative but this certainly doesn’t make it natural and calling it that is greenwashing at its finest. There is more about so called “soy foams” or other “plant based” or “bio based” foams in post #2 here.
It would depend on how breathable the foam was compared to other similar foam materials so they could be cooler than some and warmer than others but most of the memory foam producers are making more open cell memory foam than they were several years ago (which is also less temperature sensitive and faster responding than the older generations of memory foam) so their foams aren’t particularly unusual compared to many other memory foams.
It would be similar to other memory foams that use a similar formulation but once again there is nothing particularly special about it either positive or negative.
It depends on how you define legit because they have been in business for quite a number or years (their website came online in 2005) but I would consider some of what they are saying to be misleading and they certainly wouldn’t be my first choice. Their mattresses also use some lower quality/density materials than I would normally suggest in the durability guidelines … especially for their budget range.
Phoenix