What exactly is a Memory Foam Mattress?

We are all used to foams in our various furnishings and mattresses, in fact nowadays foam must ne one of the most common materials used in household furnishings. The question is what is the difference between ordinary foam and memory foam?

Ordinary foams consist of a millions of tiny air bubbles that are more or less evenly distributed within a polymer matrix. It is the contraction and expansion of the air trapped in these bubbles that make the foam both soft (as the air contracts as it is compressed) and springy (as the air expands). When you lie on a foam mattress you are in effect being supported by many millions of compressed air balloons.

Memory foam is a visco elastic material. It does not consist of sealed bubbles of air, but instead the air in its bubbles can escape when the material is compressed, and refill with air and thus expand when the stress is removed. This is achieved by creating millions of tiny channels through which the air can flow. You can imagine there to be microscopic holes through which the air bubbles are interconnected. and also connected to the outside world. As you lie on the mattress, some air is expelled as the tiny air bubbles collapse and when you get up air is reabsorbed by the mattress.

As the cells collapse, the pressure is evened out through all the cells. The cells are interconnected, so the air pressure in each cell will be equal. This means that the pressure exerted on your body by the mattress will be equal. This is very different from ordinary foam in which the air pressure within the discrete air bubbles will be different, and uneven forces will be exerted on your body.

The overall sensation is a combination of softness of feel with an even bodily support. This can be beneficial to health as well as assuring a really goods night sleep.

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