Mattresses and foam beds

Find more about mattresses

A mattress is a piece of bedding typically consisting of multiple layers of foams and fibers, along with an innerspring unit used to provide support to one's back during sleep. Mattresses are usually used along with a box-spring, made of metal springs or torsion bars on a wooden frame, which supports the mattress and reduces wear and tear.

Memory Foam is a heat sensitive, visco-elastic foam. At room temperature memory foam will mould itself to the shape of the body within a few minutes. The foam also holds its shape temporarily - a hand pressed into memory foam will leave a clear impression when removed.

Memory Foam was originally developed by a Swedish company, Tempur-Pedic, for NASA to use in the space programme. NASA adopted memory foam because of its ability to distribute pressure across the entire surface, thus easing the pressure of extreme G forces.

Memory foam was subsequently used in medical applications, for example where a patient suffered with pressure sores or had to be bed-bound for a long period of time. Initially memory foam was too expensive for general use.

In recent years visco-elastic memory foam has become cheaper to produce and is now widely available for the home bedroom. The most common domestic applications of memory foam are in mattresses, pillows and mattress toppers (also known as mattress pads).

You can learn more about memory foam

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