Memory foam mattress sizes

Memory Foam Mattress Blog

Blue is the colour for sleep - survey

Friday 24th May 2013
A bedroom painted in blue could be the most effective when it comes to creating a good sleep environment, while purple may be the least sleep-friendly, according to the findings of a new UK survey. The poll of 2000 households by Travelodge determined...

Read: Blue is the colour for sleep - survey

Extra sleep may lower suicidal risk in insomniacs - study

Thursday 23rd May 2013
The likelihood of suicidal tendencies in insomnia sufferers may be reduced with more sleep, according to a new study. It was determined that just a one hour increase in sleep duration was linked to a 72% decrease in moderate or high suicide risks....

Read: Extra sleep may lower suicidal risk in insomniacs - study

Sleep texting could be disorder category

Wednesday 22nd May 2013
Sending text messages while asleep may be about to be categorised as a new sleeping disorder, as the phenomenon is reportedly becoming more common in patients seeking the advice of sleep professionals. “It’s (the phone) really on the...

Read: Sleep texting could be disorder category

Exercise before bed may help sleep

Tuesday 21st May 2013
People who exercise, including close to bedtime, have a better sleep quality compared to those who don’t work-out, according to the results of a new US lifestyle study. Previous research into exercising prior to sleep advised against more strenuous...

Read: Exercise before bed may help sleep

40% of NZ high schoolers sleep deprived

Monday 20th May 2013
A survey of the sleeping durations of students in New Zealand has found that around 40% are not sleeping for the recommended duration each night, in the latest report on sleep deprivation in school-age children around the world. Some 6000 NZ pupils...

Read: 40% of NZ high schoolers sleep deprived

Kids’ sleep quality varies with diet – study

Friday 17th May 2013
Children who eat a large amount of energy-dense snack foods are more likely to have poor sleep quality compared to those with healthy diets, according to the results of a new study in Denmark. Researchers looked at the sleep patterns and dietary...

Read: Kids’ sleep quality varies with diet – study

UK sleep survey sheds light on nation's habits

Thursday 16th May 2013
More than a third of UK residents sleep for between four and six hours a night, significantly less than the generally recommend duration, according to the results of a new nationwide study. The YouGov survey, commissioned by Time4Sleep, asked 2060...

Read: UK sleep survey sheds light on nation's habits

Nasal allergies can impact on sleep – survey

Wednesday 15th May 2013
Over 50% of nasal allergy sufferers in the US have sleep deprivation problems related to their condition, but only around a third actually seek treatment for their allergies, a survey from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and Teva Respiratory....

Read: Nasal allergies can impact on sleep – survey

Scottish school-children suffering sleep loss

Tuesday 14th May 2013
A study of Scotland’s school-children has found a high level of sleep deprivation, in a situation that is affecting academic performance and productivity. Alarmingly, around one in six of the high school-age pupils polled for the survey by charity...

Read: Scottish school-children suffering sleep loss

Obesity behind sleep apnoea increase

Monday 13th May 2013
A rise in US obesity levels may be behind an increase in the cases of sleep apnoea, a potentially serious sleep disorder, according to the findings of a newly published study. The University of Wisconsin-Madison research looked at the sleep patterns...

Read: Obesity behind sleep apnoea increase

Regular bedtimes may assist CPAP success

Friday 10th May 2013
Sticking to a regular night-time schedule could help with the adherence of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, according to the results of a study on the treatment. A team at Penn State University School of Nursing found that patients...

Read: Regular bedtimes may assist CPAP success

Kids sleep deprivation higher in developed nations

Thursday 9th May 2013
The prevalence of sleep deprivation among school children is higher in developed countries, according to new research from the US. The study of international education by Boston College found that America was the worst nation for the problem, with...

Read: Kids sleep deprivation higher in developed nations

Abu Dhabi airport helping tired travellers

Wednesday 8th May 2013
The hustle and bustle of an international airport may not sound like the best place for sleep, but Abu Dhabi International may be about to change that perception with the introduction of some novel new ‘sleeping pods’, designed to let weary...

Read: Abu Dhabi airport helping tired travellers

Sleep problems could increase prostate risk - study

Tuesday 7th May 2013
Sleep problems including an inability to go to sleep within a reasonable amount of time and regular night-time awakenings could increase the chances of men developing prostate cancer, according to the findings of a new Icelandic study. The University...

Read: Sleep problems could increase prostate risk - study

Air India incident raises pilot fatigue issue

Friday 3rd May 2013
An incident aboard an Air India flight from Bangkok to Delhi last month in which two pilots instructed air hostesses to fly the plane for 40 minutes while they napped in business class has again highlighted the issue of pilot fatigue and sleep deprivation....

Read: Air India incident raises pilot fatigue issue

How to select a mattress

From a technical perspective, memory foam mattresses can be assessed in three main areas – density, ILD and firmness.

Density ratings generally relate to the specific memory foam layer itself, rather than the whole mattress, and are based on the level of visco elastic material present in the layer. In layman's terms, the higher the density, the more support the memory foam layer will be capable of providing. High density memory foam layers have smaller, more tightly packed air cavities, resulting in less pronounced 'give' under weight. In contrast, lower density memory foam layers have large, spaced air cavities that naturally shift and bend under weight. As well as the 'quality' of support, the density rating of a mattress is also an accurate indicator as to how long a mattress will be able to actively last before needing to be replaced.

ILD stands for 'indentation load deflection', and essentially relates to the softness level of a memory foam mattress. The ILD rating is measured by assessing how many pounds are needed to depress a 4” layer of memory foam material by 25%, when applied equally over an area of 50 square inches. The rating itself is calculated in weight, and is represented by most manufacturers as a slight range, owing to certain environmental factors that can marginally change the rating. It is important to know the ILD rating of any memory foam mattress that you are considering, as it effectively denotes the softness of the mattress and how it will feel under your body. A rating of 10-12 indicates a softer mattress, while a 13-15 would represent a medium to firm mattress.

Firmness is the general measurement that most of us will consider when buying a new memory foam mattress, and everyone has a personal preference in this area. However, while a soft mattress may feel luxuriously comfortable after one or two nights, it is simply not providing the level of support that the body consistently needs, and joints, muscles and the skeleton will be exposed to undue pressure. When a mattress is medium to firm, the body is supported where it needs it most, and no single area is overlooked. This results in not only a deeper, more restful sleep, but a healthier body without stresses and strains.

Why all memory foam is not equal

With the massive explosion in popularity for memory foam mattresses over recent years there has inevitably been a dramatic increase in the number of companies and products on the market. While this scenario has resulted in a greater level of choice for the consumer, it has also lead to a large amount of low quality, poor performance and cheap mattresses flooding the market.

Memory foam mattresses, and memory foam as a technological material, are inherently complex and cannot realistically come under a certain price bracket if they are to provide any significant level of performance. That's why many of the cheaper mattresses don't actually use memory foam at all, rather a low grade, low performance substitute material. This doesn't stop manufacturers of these mattresses from claiming that they are memory foam, and piggy-backing on the popularity of the technology.

Premium memory foam mattresses are made up of not just high quality visco elastic memory foam material, but also a carefully layered composition that results in each and every component part working together to provide the best possible performance. While some lesser alternatives use largely the same principle, they employ significantly lower quality materials that don't provide the same supportive performance or longevity as those in the upper end of the market.

The lowest grade, and therefore cheapest, mattresses competing in the memory foam market are created with a single piece of poor quality foam, and cannot hope to offer anything approaching the level of performance offered by a genuine high quality memory foam mattress.

Will memory foam make me too hot

It is often reported in consumer reviews that a memory foam mattress can make the user feel too warm, or, "sleep warmer" than a traditional mattress of inner-spring construction. Incorrectly, this is considered true of all memory foam mattresses.

Not all memory foam mattresses are the same. And, as is the case with most things, some models and brands will perform better than others.

To make better sense of this, let's understand why memory foam mattresses can feel warmer than traditional inner-spring mattresses:

There are many contributors to this, and some brands and their materials and construction designs have their part to play in mitigating heat retention. How effective these solutions are is difficult to ascertain, as there are so many variable factors to consider.

As you would expect, not all of these solutions work well enough to make a noticeable difference, and quite often, to take the common approaches by manufacturers used to combat this issue in isolation, will unfortunately not provide a definitive answer on whether a certain memory foam mattress brand or style will perform better than another.

To explain, it's safe to say that we all appreciate that comfort is rather subjective. For example, some like to be very warm in bed, whilst the majority prefer to be cooler. Clearly our individual genetic persuasion has a large part to play too. Factors such as age, gender, height, weight, and BMI will affect the way in which we individually interpret the climate of a certain mattress and duvet combined as too hot, too cold, or just as required. And these are only the general factors that don't take into account any underlying medical conditions or environmental factors that can influence the experience a certain memory foam mattress provides to it's user.

So, it's fairly safe to assume that ones individual experience of whether a certain type of memory foam mattress sleeps too warm or is just right, can vary between users. People will of course use different bedding and duvets using different filler materials and varying tog rating values, whilst some will sleep in beds in small rooms close to radiators, and others in large open rooms that may be draughty and naturally cooler.

To this end, no manufacturer, regardless of their claims, can ever guarantee their mattress will be right for you. We however at Ergoflex have dedicated considerable research and development to our mattresses to ensure that, all things considered, our Deluxe, 3rd generation visco-elastic memory foam mattresses delivers true high-density pressure relieving performance, yet works intelligently to negate heat retention to ensure a comfortable, relaxed and temperate night's sleep.

We'll look at how the 3rd generation Deluxe Ergoflex mattress technically addresses heat retention in a moment. First off, however, let's look at some of the approaches commonly adopted in the design and make up of a memory foam mattress:

Coolmax covers:

Coolmax is a patented material made by DuPont. Developed in 1986, Coolmax is popular and particularly effective in sports clothing, and works much in the same way as a wicking fabric. The engineered polyester fibres in the textile are best employed in sports clothing as exertion often precipitates perspiration, which the Coolmax textile deals with admirably, with its strength being that it enables perspiration to evaporate and dry more quickly than that of a standard natural textile such as cotton.

So, excellent in sports clothing, but how does it perform as a mattress cover?

Ergoflex mattresses don't use the Coolmax material in its outer cover for a couple of key reasons. Whilst it is undoubtedly an effective and advanced textile for the reasons mentioned above, we don't see it as an ideal material application for that of a mattress cover. Our reasons are as follows, the Coolmax material is most effective at enabling perspiration to evaporate quickly.

However, if you're excessively perspiring, you're obviously not "cool" in the first place?

Coolmax is excellent if you are athletic, and in clothing for runners for example, very effective in reducing the chance of getting a chill due to exercising outdoors whilst wet with perspiration. However when considered as a component solution to keep a mattress user "keep cool", it's recognised benefits aren't really a great fit.

A memory foam mattress will often get too warm in the core of the mattress, and an outer cover will not address this problem at source. Moreover, unlike sports clothing, it is highly unlikely that in the case of a mattress cover you will directly on the Coolmax material. The majority of people would always use a memory foam mattress with fitted cotton sheets.

For these reasons, we don't deem it beneficial to use the Coolmax textile in the Ergoflex Deluxe memory foam mattress coverings.

Outlast covers:

Outlast is an impressive and technically advanced textile that, unlike Coolmax, with its effective fast evaporation qualities, seeks to address the problem of "feeling too hot" as opposed to dealing with the perspiration accrued as the result of already being too warm.

It works by using intelligent PCM's or "phase change materials" that work to understand how warm or cold you are when in contact with the skin and regulate accordingly. Ergoflex is a licensed partner of Outlast enabling us to use their material in our products and, like others, are impressed at the technology and performance the material has in it's many applications.

Outlast, in our opinion, is a far superior choice to that of Coolmax when considered as a textile to be used in a mattress cover. There is a lot going in with the science of the Outlast technology, too much to explain in detail here, but for those that want to understand it in greater detail this can be found here.

Whilst Outlast is an impressive textile with many benefits, when it comes to it's application in that of a mattress cover , it can not be taken as a guarantee of "cool nights" in isolation.

The reason for this is that the build up of heat in a memory foam mattress happens at it's core. And, as is the case with Coolmax cover, we don't generally lie directly on top of a mattress cover without a barrier such as a cotton fitted sheet in between. This is why these other approaches are the most important factor with heat retention:

Ventilation channels:

Advanced manufacturers and converters of memory foam mattresses at the middle and top end of the market will look to incorporate some sort of ventilation in the foam layers and core of the mattress to allow airflow through the component layers. These ventilation channels have taken on many forms and designs, as manufacturers look to emulate those at the top end of the market and of course differentiate against competitors. As you would expect, the efficacy of some can be supported scientifically, and others, are purely cosmetic, usually to substantiate marketing claims.

Breathable properties of the visco-elastic memory foam:

Often overlooked and under considered, but this can be the biggest factor in whether a certain style or brand of memory foam mattress sleeps comfortably, or too warm.

By it's very design, memory foam is designed to react to body temperature and slowly contour around the shape of the body to provide full and tailored support to every shape. Whilst this delivers the pressure reducing comfort these mattresses are known for, it ultimately means that there is a greater contact area with the body than that of a sprung interior mattress. So you're fully supported in every area, your spine is correctly aligned, and your very comfortable. But, you're too hot?

An inner spring constructed mattress will inevitably lead to pressure points on the hip, shoulder, ankle, knee and elbow, as this is where the weight is concentrated. An inner spring mattress however has a hollow core, and the pressure points users experience also means that this posture, however uncomfortable, also allows a natural airflow around you. This is why inner-spring constructed mattresses do not suffer with the same heat retention issues as that of memory foam. They might not be as supportive or comfortable, but they don't usually cause users to sleep warmer.

This is where the Ergoflex HD mattress comes into its own. The open cell structure is engineered to take on the form of billions of spherical cells, ensuring a fully breathable and conforming material that takes the shape of the user, yet breathes.

We believe our advanced engineered 3rd generation open celled visco-elastic memory foam is one of the most breathable and advanced currently available in the domestic market, hence our dominance in consumer satisfaction polls over the last few years, resulting in our thousands of users rating us so highly and supporting our claims.