Memory foam/foam quality?

[phoenix]

Hi brass,

I see a lot of good information and advice for people here in the forums, unfortunately my budget just isn’t there for what most would consider good or high quality. Knowing this, I accept that anything I end up with is liable to be less durable in the long run.

It’s certainly true that the amount and the quality/durability of the materials and components are the biggest part of the cost of a mattress but no matter what your budget range there will be better and worse quality and value in mattresses and the basic ideas in choosing the “best” mattress for you would be the same.

Some of the info out there is misleading, not sure if it’s on purpose or just to simplify things for marketing purposes.

Some of this is intentional or agenda/marketing driven and some of it is just because so many mattress salespeople have very little knowledge about what they are selling. Outside of the better retailers or manufacturers … most of what they are taught in the mainstream industry is “how to sell a mattress” or “how to close a sale” rather than “how to educate and inform” or how to identify the needs and preferences of their customers. They are salespeople focused on making the sale more than they are “consultants”.

If you deal with knowledgeable and informed retailers or manufacturers that are transparent and put the interests of their customers above their own … then mattress shopping can be much more enjoyable and much less frustrating.

Advertised as 3" 3lbs memory over 3" of ‘aircool’ foam comfort and 6" of h.d. base - I questioned whether the airflow layer was a perforated layer or convoluted, they told me convoluted. The base is actually 1.5" convoluted h.d. over 4.5" solid h.d. at 1.8lbs density and an ild of 24. 24 ild may be a bit on the softer side, but given 6" or maybe more accurately 5" if you account for the convoluted collapse, it may up the overall ild to closer in the neighborhood of 27-30.

3" of 3 lb memory foam over another 1.5" of unknown density convoluted foam would be a risky construction in any budget range. I would also avoid the tendency to “predict” how a mattress feels or performs based on the ILD of the foam layers because it would take many years of experience and knowledge to be able to even guess this. ILD is also not “additive” and only applies to individual layers not the mattress as a whole so if the firmest layer is 24 ILD then the additional layers would not make the “overall mattress” firmer. If you are considering a mattress you haven’t tried or tested in person and without years of experience in mattress design and theory then you will be dependent on finding out how the mattress feels and performs when you receive it and the return policy of the retailer or manufacturer if it isn’t a suitable match for you in terms of PPP.

(according to a curve showing ild measured at 4" thick, the ild will increase slightly with higher thicknesses).

This has to do with the thickness of the material when the ILD is measured and “rated”… not the actual ILD when the material is used in a mattress. Different methods used to measure ILD (such as a different layer thickness that is tested or a different percentage of compression that is used to take the measurement) will lead to differences in how ILD is assessed but it doesn’t change the ILD of the material when it is used in a mattress (there is more about ILD in post #6 here).

Outside of “quality/durability” specs (foam density in the case of memory foam or polyfoam and type and blend of latex) I wouldn’t get overinvolved in mattress specs (especially “comfort” specs such as ILD) because it will do more to confuse and can lead to information overwhelm and “paralysis by analysis” without providing any information that would be meaningful to most people.

Although I’d think the peaks would tend to wear down more rapidly just because there’s less material and nothing in the valleys to support them.

This also isn’t accurate because the peaks would be bearing more of the weight over a smaller surface area and would compress more which will break down a foam more rapidly.

The other thing I wonder since I’m not familiar with different visco densities is how much the feel will change even if higher densities are more durable and of better quality. Obviously 3lbs is pretty low end, but I’ve had experience with it. Familiar with the way it gives and returns back, even if it’s not ideal it feels pretty decent (just my perception). Will the 4 or 5lb densities have a much different perceived feel being more putty like and longer return time? I sort of like the deadened action and moderately quick return of the 3lb even if it’s considered a poor quality. Or will a 4lb react in much the same way with more or less the added benefit of better durability?

There is no specific answer to this because different density memory foams can still have very different properties (see post #9 here and post #8 here). Density is more closely related to the durability of memory foam than with how it “feels” although lower densities “in general” will tend to be faster responding and less “memory foam like” than higher density memory foams. Some 5 lb memory foams in other words may “feel” better, have a faster response, or be softer than lower density memory foams depending on the combination of chemicals that is used to make it.

At this point, anything has to be better than my 12-13yr old stearns and foster, where the pillowtop is flattened and lumpier than mashed potatoes, the springs feel as if they’ve bottomed out with maybe an inch or two of give even sitting on the edge. Valleys on both sides and to the point the bolstered or reinforced edge is bowed out and no longer a straight edge. lol

That’s probably true … and is the reason that such a high percentage of people are happy with a new mattress purchase because it’s usually better than what they are replacing … at least for a little while. Their satisfaction level would probably be much different if you were to ask them 2 or 3 years down the road.

Phoenix