Gel beds and mattresses

In addition to visco elastic memory foam and natural and synthetic Latex, another new mattress material is Gel.

Gel mattresses are a new innovation and there are very few on the market and their price tags are still quite high. The benefits of Gel beds are multi fold and they offer many of the same characteristics as memory and Latex foam.

Contrary to what one night think, the gel is not a viscous liquid like material, but rather something that resembles rubber and it is usually manufactured in a nest or honeycomb profile with large air voids between the small sections. For this reason the gel will usually have a further mattress construction beneath it, typically springs or memory foam.

The gel material recovers its original profile, so it feels soft and compressible and it is also cool to the touch which makes it ideal for people who feel hot in the night.

Gel beds constructed of gel nests also claim to provide a massage sensation during movements or shifts in position which is claimed to be soothing to the body. The actually gel nests appear quite flimsy when they are seen outside of a mattress, however testing suggests that they do have good wearing properties.

Most beds offering a gel layer will, in reality, be composite beds where the gel acts as a top cushioning layer. Most gel layers will be between 40mm and 50mm in depth and mattresses incorporating this material will always be none turn mattresses.