Medium density poly foam?

[phoenix]

Hi mcleanm,

What they told him is:

• The foam core is a medium density foam, and on top of the core is a high density foam.
• The latex used is Dunlop.

These is very generic information and not particularly meaningful because different manufacturers will have a different range of foam densities that they may refer to as either “medium” or “high” density polyfoam. The only spec that has any real meaning is the specific density number.

With the latex … I would normally want to know the type (which in this case is Dunlop) and the blend of the latex.

As mcleanm mentioned … some manufacturers will call 1.5 lb density “medium density” and others may call it “high density”. Some manufacturers that use very high density materials may even call 1.8 lb “medium” density (which would be relative to what they consider to be the “best” quality).

Is there a big disadvantage to using medium density foam (I am guessing 1.5 lb. ?) in the mattress core if the materials above it are higher quality (High density poly foam and Dunlop) ? Both my wife and I are on the lighter (~180 lbs and ~120 lbs) side. Just hoping that we can still get some longevity out of the mattress, so far it is worlds better than the innerspring that it replaced. Thanks.

You can see the density guidelines I would suggest using in post #4 here and there are more details about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress in post #4 here but the weakest link of a mattress is usually in the upper layers not the deeper layers of a mattress.

If for example the top 2.5" was latex and then the next few inches was what they called high density polyfoam (say 1.8 lbs) and then the bottom few inches was 1.5 lb polyfoam then there would be no weak links in the mattress and for lower budgets or for lower weights then even 1.5 lb polyfoam in all the deeper layers would generally be a suitable choice (the “best” place to use lower density materials and lower the cost of a mattress is in the deeper layers).

Other than this I can’t really make any meaningful comments unless I know the specifics because “medium” and “high” is relative to who is using the words to describe their polyfoam and can refer to different densities. Having said that … this is information that I would normally want to know before a purchase … not after it.

Phoenix