Sealy Foam Density (calculated)

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Mattress U seems to be the go-to site when searching for the best information on the quality of mattress construction. When researching Sealy mattresses (after finding one comfortable in a store), I was saddened to find links referencing Sealy’s unwillingness to share densities (an experience I shared). However, I found several approaches that let me calculate approximate densities and am sharing the process and results in hopes that the information is useful to others.

First some background so you can apply the numbers to your case. Sealy has (at least) 3 memory foam mattress lines. Since my research was on a Plush, I’m referencing those models, but most of the math will apply to other firmness once you sort out the line carried by a retailer:

  • “Conform” line sold by typical retailers (1" SealyCool Gel, 2.5" ComfortSense, 7.5" SealySupport)
  • “LaZe” (Big Lots) or “Memory Foam Mattress” (Mattress Firm) (3" SealyCool HD Gel, 2" SealyCushion, 7" SealySupport)
  • “To Go” mattress in a box sold direct and by e.g. Wayfair (3" CopperChill, 4" Advanced Comfort, 5" UltraSupport).

When it comes to density, I found two exceptions to the “no data” rule:

  • Big Lots actually advertises the SealyCool with GraphICE as a 2.5lb foam
  • Wayfair lists its top layer as 3lb. The image is actually a “To Go” mattress and the layer sizes all match.

I was also able to work out very good numbers for the To Go line. In this case, there are four different styles that combine different quantities of each foam. Amazon has a great comparison table and is also the source of my weights (for king):

  • 0" Memory Foam / 2" Advanced Comfort Foam / 6" Base Foam is 58 lb
  • 2" Memory Foam / 0" Advanced Comfort Foam / 6" Base Foam is 66 lb
  • 2" Memory Foam / 3" Advanced Comfort Foam / 5" Base Foam is 79 lb
  • 3" Memory Foam / 4" Advanced Comfort Foam / 5" Base Foam is 97 lb

If you solve the simultaneous linear equations, we get the following (very reasonable) values;

  • CopperChill Memory Foam at 11 lb per inch or ~3 lb density (which matches the Wayfair density)
  • Advanced Comfort Foam at 7 lb per inch or ~2 lb density
  • UltraSupport Base foam at 7 lb per inch or ~2 lb density

The last way to estimate density is to find a topper of the same material with a published weight. A 3" king topper is nice because it works out to 10.6 cu. ft. of material so the conversion to standard density (lb per cu. ft.) is pretty simple: All my math will multiply/divide by 10 (vs 10.6) so the weights will be a hair high but close enough.

Dividing by 10, the foams range from ~2.3lb to ~4.6lb. To cross-check all of these values, I also looked at the total weight of full constructed beds:

  1. On Amazon, the Conform bed is listed at 50lb, but this seemed low so I double checked the weight and found a 61lb weight on MattressShowRoom.net and US Mattress. If we assume the Conform uses the same 2.5lb SealyCool foam advertised by Big Lots for the 1" layer (8lb) and the 3 lb topper weight for the 2.5" layer (25lb total), a 61 lb king weight leaves 28lb for 7.5" of base foam or about a ~1 lb foam. This seems unrealistically low so I think it likely that the ComfortSense layer is not 3lb. If I use a 2lb layer (20lb), the base foam would be 33lb or 1.3lb foam – consistent with low quality foams.

  2. The 99lb weight of the LaZe king (at BigLots) really doesn’t make sense and US Mattress doesn’t have a weight on its comparable bed. If we assume the top and bottom foams (of the same names) are the same as the Conform, this bed appears to use 7" of the 1.3lb support foam (30lb total) and 3" of 2.5lb SealyCool (25lb), but that that leaves an implausible 44lb for the last 2" of SealyCushion (non-memory) air foam (i.e. a ~6.6lb density). The shipping weight must be incorrect and, given that the math works best with 2lb transition foam in the other two models, this seems most likely here as well.

In summary, my best estimates are:

  • “Conform” line with 1" 2.5 lb SealyCool Gel, 2.5" 2lb ComfortSense, 7.5" 1.3 lb SealySupport
  • “LaZe” line with 3" 2.5 lb SealyCool HD Gel, 2" 2lb SealyCushion, 7" 1.3 lb SealySupport
  • “To Go” mattress in a box with 3" 3lb CopperChill, 4" 2lb Advanced Comfort, 5" 2lb UltraSupport

At minimum, this highlights the relatively low durability of the foam in these models. Hopefully this is helpful to others.

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Hey clayton,

Welcome to the TMU :slight_smile: !

Thanks for your kind words on the site, clayton; we appreciate the positive endorsement! Large national brand manufacturers and their lack of transparency about the quality and specifications of the materials used in their mattresses led to the creation of the TMU, based on acommitment to provide consumers with a reliable source of information for making a mattress purchase.

Thanks for sharing your extensive research with the TMU, clayton! Wow…this is quite a durability comparison “geek out”; how long did it take to create your data base and reach these conclusions? Are you in the industry in some capacity? Your hypotheses are quite intriguing and I’ll be watching to see what sorts of responses and questions come your way… :wink: .

Cheers,
Sensei

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No. I’m just a very thorough shopper who’s good at solving puzzles. I have 6.5" of toppers (4" 5lb Sensus, 2.5" Serta Gel Foam) on a >10yr old Serta memory foam mattress. It’s still comfortable, but I’m hoping to find the same pressure relief without the unnecessary weight/height and ideally better cooling. I first found my way here looking for info on the Sensus (or its replacement) which opened my eyes on the density/durability issue.

We’re actually on a 100-day trial of a Sleep Number mattress. The bed is far better than you’d expect from the airbed article(s) on here, but that’s a whole unrelated discussion. The bottom line is that I had to add a (complementary) comfort layer to address my pressure points and it still sleeps too hot (so it’s eventually going back). They advertise that the bed “absorbs excess heat and releases it as you cool” which is actually reasonably accurate. Unfortunately, this means that the bed is cold when you get it (absorbing heat) and too hot by the middle of the night (releasing it).

I have actually ordered the Eight Sleep Pro Cover (active temperature regulation) as my next experiment. We’ll put it on the Sleep Number at first (so we don’t change too many variables), but plan to return the sleep number and either use our current setup or (ideally) a new bed. Since the Eight Sleep should 100% address temperature, I’m free to find a bed that best addresses pressure points with no concern for temperature – recognizing that the cooling layer will have a non-trivial effect on memory foam.

When I realized the Sleep Number probably wasn’t going to work, I went on a blitz of bed trails, online reviews, and data collecting, including the basis for this analysis.

I think I’ve been trying beds for ~3wks, but my guess is that I’ve only spent a couple hours on Sealy. I found the Sealy Conform pretty early in my search and was pleasantly surprised by the pressure relief. When I went online to price check, I found a bunch of Sealy memory foam beds with different names and foam layers which I eventually sorted into those 3 lines. Because I knew to track density, I wrote down those two LB values and actually had to go back to figure out where I found them to write my original post.

I was also impressed by the pressure maps of several Mattress in a Box companies where it was also hard to find data. At some point, it occurred to me that I could get a really rough estimate of density by looking at total bed weights (vs height). When I stumbled on the Amazon chart for the Sealy To Go, I immediately realized that it could be used to calculate densities for each of the layers. That prompted me to search for the foams in the other Sealy beds which led me to the toppers. The rest of the math fell into place pretty quickly.

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Great job Clayton, nice to see someone else applying a little math and science to what tends to be an industry full of fuzzy marketing. You might be interested in seeing some of the testing I did on materials so far and hopefully will add more as time allows so everyone benefits from the knowledge. I’ve been working on my own build and trying to see if I can then use the data to figure out based on weight and area what foams might work best for people in each zone on a mattress (hopefully applying it in my own case). Always happy to have others provide insight since many heads are better than one.

https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/simmons-beautyrest-mattress-rebuild