Visco Elastic Memory Foam

The use of visco elastic memory foam has quite literally revolutionised the bedding industry. The application of this material in mattresses has produced a new type of bed that shapes and moulds itself to the body profile of the person lying on it and this has opened up a different type of sleeping experience. Beds using memory foam are nothing like conventional bed that use springs or coils.

What does memory foam do?

Historically it had been assumed that firm to hard beds, often described as orthopedic beds, were ideal for the back. For this reason hospital beds were firm and many of the more expensive showroom beds had an un-flexing and almost hard feel to them. Then memory foam came along and, rather than offering a flat board like form of support, the foam moulded and contoured itself to every curve and bend of the human body.

Once the significance of this foam was recognised, many experts in back and body support along with sleeping specialists, decided that this new type of mattress was very supportive. The main reason being that, whatever position the body came to rest in, the moulding of the memory foam meant that the back and spine retained the same straightness that they had when upright.

This happens because the heavier and more protruding parts of the body like the hips and shoulders sink further into the foam, whilst the narrower parts of the body like the waste have the foam rise up against them. The overall result is an equal level of support for all parts of the body with the spine being kept in good alignment.

A further characteristic of the visco elastic material is that, after the initial shaping around the profile of a person, it continues to mould and adjust as the heat of the human body warms it up. For this reason the material is sometimes described as both mass (weight) and heat reactive.

The common name for visco elastic foam, “memory foam”, refers to the slow recovery action of the foam after the weight has been removed. With all other foams, the material springs back to its original shape almost simultaneously. However, with memory foam this “recovery” is quite slow, often taking two or three seconds for the material to recover to its original flat profile. It is the fact that during this recovery time, the outline or imprint of the weight that was on the memory foam remains visible, that gives the material its unusual name.

Memory foam bedding products

The bedding products that use memory foam are mattresses, pillows and mattress toppers.

The mattresses have gained the greatest acceptance and they now represent a significant part of the bed market. Toppers too are very popular although pillows have yet to receive the same level of sales.

When it comes to the mattress, there is a significant spread of memory foam products in the market place. This sees different thicknesses of foam, different densities of foam and vastly differing prices. Some of the more expensive memory foam beds have mattresses that are assembled from multiple layers of visco elastic memory foam where respective layers have varying densities. In most cases the higher the density of the foam the better the product is considered to be. However, some bed and mattress manufacturers use a lower density foam for the very top layer so that the sinking, engulfing feature of the foam is maximised.

A final feature of some memory foam products is the way in which they are shipped and delivered. Memory foam can be vacuum shrunk making it smaller and easier to transport, however this is rarely done with the more expensive mattresses (i.e. higher densities).

It is also important to be a ware that, as a high density foam, visco elastic products are actually quite heavy. Many people assume that the word “foam” automatically confers lightness, but with visco elastic memory foam quite the reverse is true.