Master Guide: Latex vs Gel vs Foam vs Inner Spring

[phoenix]

Hi Ivanhoe,

I was told to go with memory foam to reduce motion transfer. After doing some research, I found that the expensive Tempur-pedic’s were not a perfect solution. I am now learning about latex. I have been told by a salesperson than in the near future, all mattresses will be made of some type of foam material, and the industry will eventually do away with inner spring design. So does that mean that inner coil mattress design is obsolete?

Whoever told you about the “death” of innersprings is sadly misinformed IMO. There is as much research being done into various spring designs as there is into various different types of foam and they have a unique feel and response that is a matter of preference and has nothing to do with better or worse.

It’s also true that memory foam is excellent for motion transfer because it has the lowest resilience (how much energy it returns) and highest hysteresis (how much energy it absorbs) of any foam material but memory foam can only be used in the comfort or upper layers of a mattress and the layers below it will also play a role here.

Below is an example of a ranking or a list I was asking about.

1. All natural plant based latex
2. Hybrid Latex (mix of plant and synthetic)
3. Latex topper with foam base
4. Gel?
5. Synthetic memory foam (the Tempur-pedics of the world)
6. Latex topper with any mattress base
7. Inner coil base mattress with foam/gel/latex in a topper or pillow top or Euro top
8. Individually wrapped coil mattress
9. Regular mattress
10. soft carpet with a blanket (joke)
11. Haystack (not funny)

None of these can be “ranked” because they all have advantages and disadvantages and are a matter of preference based on each person’s unique idea of what they like better or what best suits their budget or tastes. One of these options that is “ideal” for one person may be the absolutely worst choice for the next person. Without a specific context … there are no better or worse on the list and they can’t possible be ranked. Each material and combination has advantages and disadvantages. In the overviews … it talks about all the different materials and different types of designs, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how to determine which types of materials and components are most suitable for each person (except for the soft carpet and the haystack). The two most popular specialty foams are memory foam and latex and there is also an article about the pros and cons of memory foam here and the pros and cons of latex here.

The key is always to know the quality of all the materials in your mattress and this is expecially important with the comfort layers which are the most subject to stress, softening (or compression in the case of fibers) and breakdown.

Just as a single example … an individually wrapped coil mattress still has some type of foam over the coils which would likely be the weak link of the mattress. Knowing the thickness, quality, and durability of the comfort foam would be key to knowing the quality and durability of the pocket coil mattress itself … probably even more than the many variations of the pocket coils themselves. A pocket coil with cheap polyfoam on top won’t last. A pocket coil with latex on top may be one of the best choices possible for some people.

So knowing the quality of the materials is always what counts (this determines durability) along with testing for the two basic functions of a mattress (pressure relief and support/alignment) and making meaningful apples to apples comparisons with other mattresses (based on their materials and components). Everything after that is about preferences rather than “better worse”. Post #5 here may also be worth reading.

Phoenix