Where to get clay-like hard long-lasting memory foam?

[phoenix]

Hi brian.r.hamilton,

Is Tempurpedic the only one that makes this stuff? We just got a 2" Sensus 5# density topper & it is soft like any other polyurethane foam. Very disappointed & it was expensive.

You probably know this and it was most likely a typo but just to clarify … memory foam is not the same thing as polyfoam … even though it uses similar chemicals in its manufacturing. Memory foam is slow response and polyfoam is a fast response material.

Polyfoam comes in a huge range of firmness levels from ultra soft to ultra firm and responds to pressure. Memory foam is all “soft” (although some are in different parts of the soft range) and responds to pressure, temperature, humidity, and length of time it is compressed. there are also many other factors that affect how it feels and performs so its softness depends on many variables. Having said this … while the density of memory foam is the primary factor in its quality and durability (how long it willkeep its original properties) … it also comes in a very wide range of different types and each of them have been manufactured to have different characteristics, response, and properties. You can read more about this in post #9 here and post #8 here.

Because of the number of factors that can affect the feel and performance of memory foam … different people will describe the same memory foam in different ways and the environment in the bedroom (and the layers over and under the memory foam as well) will also play a significant role in how each type of memory foam feels for each person.

Overall though … the best way to approach buying memory foam is to talk with each supplier. If they are knowledgeable about thee memory foam they are selling and have experience with other types of memory foam … they will be able to give you a sense of how the particular memory foam they supply compares to the “feel” and response of the Tempurpedic memory foam (because it is so well known). In these cases … who you buy from and their knowledge and experience can be just as important as what you buy. Some of the better sources for memory foam I’m aware of are listed in post #4 here.

I don’t know if what we got was the norm, but the top is 3" of very firm memory foam glued to 7" of very firm polyurethane foam. The memory foam was a bit too firm for the first few months but then perfect for the next 3. The last 3 were all downhill & we now sink to the hard base foam.

This is fairly typical of lower quality/density memory foam which will soften faster than higher quality/density memory foam. Higher density memory foam (or any foam for that matter) keeps it’s original properties for longer once it is past the initial softening and break-in period (usually 90 days or less).

Phoenix