Select Foam

[phoenix]

Hi bluebug,

hwuya, I see I’m not the only one to notice the very much non-memory foam feel of the foam in the Cirrus Luxe. I did a little research, and am pretty sure the reason is due to the soy and/or gel based memory foam. Other stores that sell mattresses that use foam of this type usually mention that these materials usually result in a much faster response time. Personally, I like the fast response time better, but I do question if this foam will be able to provide as much pressure relief as the Tempurpedic foam. My husband hasn’t yet decided if this foam provides the pain/pressure relief he was hoping for in getting a memory foam bed. We’ve had our Cirrus Luxe for almost a month, and I don’t think it’s softened much. I don’t expect it to change to a slow response form at all.

You’re certainly right that most of the gel memory foams have a faster response than some of the non gel memory foams (especially higher density although the non gel memory foams also have a fairly wide range of response times).

In general the newer memory foams tend to have a faster response time because so many people didn’t like the motion restriction and “sleeping in sand” feel of slower response memory foams (which along with sleeping temperature was the biggest complaint about memory foam). You’re also right that these faster response memory foams won’t “change” into slower response memory foam over time although they will soften as they break in (and higher density memory foam can take longer to break in than lower density memory foams).

The response time of memory foam (or any foam) doesn’t affect pressure relief though which is mostly controlled by the softness of the material, the thickness of the comfort layers, the compression modulus of the foam (how quickly it gets firmer with deeper compression), and the point resilience of the material (how well it contours to the shape of the body). Even latex for example can provide the same pressure relief as memory foam even though it’s a very resilient and fast responding material with no “memory” at all. There is more about the variables that can affect pressure relief in post #4 here and there is a much more detailed and technical discussion of pressure relief in post #2 here.

There are also a few suggestions in post #2 here that can affect the softness or pressure relief of a new memory foam mattress and in the case of Select Foam removing the wool sock can also make a difference.

You are certainly not alone in commenting on the faster response of most of the newer gel memory foams.

Phoenix