I’ve tried to post my question in this article Spring Mattress Buying Guide but I am not sure if I should ask the question here as well.
First let me thank you and the Underground for such an amazing site and for such detailed, well-documented and well-written articles. I’ve never seen so much information and contributions in one place about a subject that is having such a major impact on one’s life.
I live in Canada, my budget is a bit restrictive to go with my ideal mattress so am considering lower budget options… Which I know may come at a “price” down the road because of durability, but as I am looking around I have a few questions.
I don’t like the feel of memory foam because of the lack of elasticity that you mention, but I am looking at pocket coils mattress options with polyfoam on top of springs and I’d like to know how does the polyfoam elasticity compare with the elasticity latex or springs? The main article about springs lists 3 grades of polyfoams which are not all “equal” and would like to know if the highest grade of HR poly is comparable in elasticity and durability with latex or the microcoils you mention in your article. Aside from being “plastic” and manmade are there any other disadvantages in using high-grade polyfoam?
Ari
Just copying my response from the article so people can find this here as well Thanks again for the great questions
'Hello Ari! Thanks for the kind words. HR polyfoam is a great quality material to use in mattresses, it certainly has a lot of elasticity to it. I would argue more than Dunlop latex and less than Talalay, although perhaps not as long lasting as Dunlop, ultimately it is durable enough to not really be considered a weak point. The one challenge with HR is that it seems to be in very limited availability, particularly in Canada. Microcoils are a little harder to compare to because foam (of all types) is more generally conforming than pocket springs which are more ‘point-elastic’. HR foam will not breathe as well as Talalay latex foam, we really recommend using a wool filled mattress protector over any mattress with polyfoam, something like the St. Dormeir wool mattress protector.
We are working with one of our suppliers to produce a two sided, flippable pocket coil mattress with a couple of inches of 3.4lb HR foam on both sides of the springs, the challenge is that we are likely more than a year away from getting this done in earnest as we will need to order somewhat larger quantities to get the price to where we want it to be (around $1000-$1100 CDN for a queen mattress). Right now the best options I have seen for HR foam are all being used over a standard polyurethane foam core, similar to our Tranquil mattress that we sell online. Not bad for the price, would be better in my opinion to have a good pocket spring system in place of the base foam.
Realistically you might be able to buy a well priced pocket coil mattress from a local independent supplier, one with minimal foam upholstery, if we are operating on the safe assumption that most of the foam used is of a lower density/grade, then I like this less = more approach. Then you save some money on the cost of the mattress but can buy a decent quality topper, perhaps one even made of latex foam.
Thanks again for the great questions