Posts Tagged ‘foam mattress pad’
Do you sometimes feel like you have to choose between your own comfort and the health of the planet? If you want a latex mattress, then will you be required to decide between those made of petrochemicals but supposedly with more comfort, or those natural latex mattresses that many believe to be less comfortable but which are more ecology-friendly? Is there a more natural version that doesn’t force such a difficult choice upon you? Read on for some latex mattress tips.
Before deciding that, you may want a quick primer on what natural latex mattresses are actually made of. This latex is a substance that’s derived from the sap of rubber trees. In 100% natural latex, the thick liquid is frothy or otherwise infused with tiny air bubbles, a process that creates the unique foam mattress properties of this type of bed. Other kinds of latex, however, while using a similar process, are synthetic instead, made with petrochemicals. A third, blended type of latex foam mattresses uses a mix of natural and petrochemical latex to reduce costs. An all-natural latex mattress can be very expensive, which is why the latter two kinds are so popular.
But the higher cost may still prove to be more economically justifiable in the long run. You won’t be buying another foam bed for a long time, because natural latex is the most durable of all the different types. Natural latex mattresses last much longer than other kinds. Additionally, when it comes to comfort, the process that infuses the latex with natural oils produces mattresses that are just as comfortable as memory foam bed products. These also don’t experience the odorous off-gassing that other latex mattresses exhibit. So a natural latex mattress may turn out to be the best financial and healthy choice.
This means that you may not, after all, have to choose between your own life and that of the planet. Natural latex mattresses may be the answer you’re looking for if you want all the sleep and health benefits of a foam bed, without promoting the increasing use of petrochemicals in your home and the world in general. If you think of this bed as a financial investment in your future well being, much like a home or a vehicle, then you may no longer feel that a natural latex foam mattress is out of your reach.
Sarah Lomas is a foremost expert in the treat yeast infection field. Her work has been extensively published in various online publications in the areas of natural cure for yeast infection. For more information on the treatment for yeast infections, visit remedyforyeastinfection.com.
Perhaps if you’re into eco-friendly products, you may have decided to leave behind your old box spring/mattress combo and consider something new, like a memory mattress or a latex mattress. Yet you may also have made the assumption that latex is a natural substance, so you’d also be leaving behind a bed infused with petrochemicals. But think again. Latex can also be a synthetic, oil-based material, so you’ll need to do your homework on latex foam mattresses to be sure you’re get what you want.
There are two processes used to create latex mattresses. With the Standard method, the liquid (whether it’s the rubber sap or the petrochemical substance) is whipped into a froth, which creates the millions of air bubbles that are responsible for the special properties of a foam mattress. Then the liquid is poured into a mold, which is sealed and heated until it cures into its finished mattress form. In the Talalay method, the mold contains countless tiny pinprick spikes that make extra little channels for air to move through. This method creates a latex foam mattress that’s somewhat more resilient and buoyant.
Natural latex apparently works fine with either the Standard or the Talalay method of creating a latex mattress. So the question then is why anyone would need to use the synthetic version of the material at all. One of the reasons is that natural latex isn’t always as comfortable as the kind made from petrochemicals. Thus you find so many foam mattresses made entirely with synthetic latex.
The end result of all this is that before you buy a latex mattress, do some research, as it is an absolute must. If natural latex is infused with natural oils, then it can be as comfortable as an all-synthetic mattress or even a memory foam bed. But even if the mattress has a “green” label, it might still contain some petrochemicals. So you need to watch for all of these things as you head out mattress shopping. Do some searching and find out about both the manufacturers and their products, and discover the process and the materials they used. If you buy a foam bed, you want to know what you’re getting before you take it home.
Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed treatment for anxiety attacks as well as tips on the various panic disorder medications available at anxietydisordercure.com.
Don’t get carried away as you begin reading glowing descriptions of the potential benefits of a memory foam mattress topper. It’s true that the revolutionary material in memory foam beds deliver good nights of sleep with excellent support, and also seems to “remember” its original shape when you get up in the morning. But these benefits come from the way the mattress is constructed as a whole, and you might not experience them with just the foam mattress pad or topper alone.
What makes a memory foam bed work so well is a combination of things. The top layer of foam is what softens when exposed to body heat, changing to adjust itself to your contours. But the memory foam in lower levels of the mattress retains its shape and firmness, since the heat doesn’t reach down that far. That quality of support provided by the lower level of the foam stems from its high density; in some cases as much as 8 pounds per cubic foot. This very firm support is just as important to the function of the memory mattress as the softening and changing of the upper level.
This is where the memory foam mattress topper simply might not do as well as a complete bed. Your existing mattress will need to be very firm indeed if it’s going to provide anywhere near the underlying support the topper would get from a visco memory foam mattress. And your own mattress should be completely flat as well, because if it sags anywhere, then the foam mattress topper is going to sag in those places too. All the health and sleep benefits are likely to vanish completely if the existing mattress has such flaws.
With these factors to consider, you might want to stop and take stock again, when thinking of buying a memory foam mattress topper. Unless you can be sure your existing mattress is firm enough, not to mention flat enough, to provide all the support that a topper made of foam would need, then you may be wiser not to waste money on the topper at all. A better option, if you’re looking for all those health and support benefits while sleeping, might just be to forget half measures, and buy a complete bed made of memory foam instead.
Sarah Lomas is a foremost expert in treating yeast infections field. Her work has been extensively published in various online publications in the areas of cure for yeast infection. For more information on the treatment for yeast infections, visit remedyforyeastinfection.com.
In the general world of mattress choices, it’s often a matter of “Buyer Beware.” And when it comes to memory foam and latex mattresses, the situation is the same. Not all of these mattresses are made in the same way, nor do they all live up to the same ecological standards. The last thing you want to do, then, is to make the significant financial investment in a latex foam mattress, or a queen or king size memory foam mattress, and then discover later that you paid so much for something you’d really rather not have bought.
The two basic types of latex mattresses are made either from the sap of the rubber tree or synthetically with petrochemicals. Sometimes the two substances also are blended, often to save money, since a natural latex foam mattress is very expensive. The blending might also be done because natural latex can be less comfortable, so manufacturers try adding some of the properties that petrochemicals provide. Yet a natural latex mattress can be made more comfortable by infusing natural oils and plant extracts, so natural vs. chemical doesn’t need to be a deciding factor when it comes to comfort.
A latex mattress is created in one of two ways. With the Standard method, the rubber sap is whipped into a froth, to fill it with the air bubbles that give memory foam its unique characteristics. After the whipped substance is sealed in a mold, it’s heated and cured into finished form. The Talalay method adds thousands of pin-like spikes to the mold, creating channels for the air bubbles and making the final latex foam mattresses more buoyant and resilient. Both of these processes can use blended foam, though, so you’ll need to investigate further if you’re concerned about eco-friendly mattresses.
Nor is every latex mattress necessarily organic, so that will be the main certification to check out. If a mattress is simply labeled “natural” or “green,” it may still contain some synthetic materials. Having actual “organic” certification, however, should mean that all materials used will be completely natural, and chemical and pesticide-free.
If you want to be sure your mattress meets your own ecological standards, then some research into the available products is absolutely necessary. Labeling can be slippery, and even so-called “green” mattresses might still contain chemicals you’d rather not have in a bed. Read about latex mattresses and memory foam mattresses and learn about each product, what they contain, and even where they are made. Be sure to do your shopping with all the important facts at your disposal, so you can make an informed choice that you can live with for many years.
Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed anxiety therapy as well as tips on the various medications for panic disorder available at anxietydisordercure.com.
Many people sing the praises of the memory foam mattress, especially those who really need good support while they’re sleeping, yet who have a difficult time with mattresses that are as hard as a board. These beds are made of a substance called visco elastic foam, and it’s the special properties of this foam that makes the mattresses so comfortable, yet which also enables them to provide such excellent support.
Visco elastic memory foam is denser than other types of foam in household use, and is made of millions of tiny spherical cells that are weight and temperature sensitive. These properties make it firmer when the temperature is cool, and softer when it’s warm. What this means for you is that a memory foam mattress will react to your body’s heat and gradually conform itself to your shape. It will be firm when you lie down, but slowly contour around you and support you as you sleep. Yet it “remembers” its own shape and returns to it once you get up, and the foam cools down. This is where memory foam gets its name, of course.
There’s more to the support than that, though. The visco memory foam only heats up and becomes elastic down to a certain depth. So the top layers of cells will soften and adapt to your body shape, yet the foam farther down remains as cool as before, and therefore doesn’t change. So it retains its shape and provides extra underlying firmness, meaning that memory foam mattresses give you both the contoured support above and the firm support below.
Another factor in both the support and the shape of the mattress is its own density. You might find inexpensive memory foam mattresses with a density of 1.5 pounds per cubic foot, and another of 8 pounds. A higher density will provide more support and relief for those with hip or back problems. Additionally, there are single, double, queen or king size memory foam mattress choices available, as well as memory foam contour pillows.
What all of this information means, in the end, is that even the pressure points of the body that push harder into a mattress than other points do (things like hips, for example) are relieved on a memory foam mattress. Since the entire body is supported equally, this can help those with arthritis and even bedsores. A memory foam bed might be just the thing you’re looking for if you want to sleep without getting stiff and sore.
Beth Kaminski is a leading expert in the anxiety or panic attacks and has been publishing lots of information on the best anxiety disorder medications for years now.
If you’re comparing the options of buying a complete bed made of memory foam or sticking with your original bed and putting a memory foam mattress topper on instead, you might need to exercise caution if you’re favoring the latter choice. Yes, you want the benefits of the memory foam, which are great nights of sleep, excellent support, and a mattress that “remembers” and returns to its original shape in the morning. But it’s how the foam topper interacts with your existing mattress that might be the problem.
What makes a memory foam bed work so well is a combination of things. The top layer of foam is what softens when exposed to body heat, changing to adjust itself to your contours. But the memory foam in lower levels of the mattress retains its shape and firmness, since the heat doesn’t reach down that far. That quality of support provided by the lower level of the foam stems from its high density; in some cases as much as 8 pounds per cubic foot. This very firm support is just as important to the function of the memory mattress as the softening and changing of the upper level.
The problem is that the memory foam mattress topper likely won’t do as well functioning alone; probably not as good as complete memory foam beds would do. A topper needs to rest on something that’s reliably firm if it’s going to work properly. Add to this the problem that unless your original mattress is brand new, it probably isn’t completely flat and may already sag in places. Any memory foam mattress enhancer or topper will sag in the same places, meaning you’ll derive almost no benefit from it at all.
With these factors to consider, you might want to stop and take stock again, when thinking of buying a memory foam mattress topper. Unless you can be sure your existing mattress is firm enough, not to mention flat enough, to provide all the support that a topper made of foam would need, then you may be wiser not to waste money on the topper at all. A better option, if you’re looking for all those health and support benefits while sleeping, might just be to forget half measures, and buy a complete bed made of memory foam instead.
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By now you’ve undoubtedly heard countless details and good stories about memory foam mattresses; how they provide you with excellent support, contour themselves to your body, enable you to have wonderful nights of sleep, and then return back to their original shape once you get up in the morning. But you probably also know that buying such a mattress can be very expensive. If you don’t have that kind of money to spare, you may think that you can never have such a healthy, comfortable bed. Yet on the other hand, you might consider a memory foam mattress topper to put on top of your existing bed.
Before looking at any memory foam mattress toppers or pads, do some research. To begin with, you need to be sure that your own original bed is in good enough shape to accommodate a memory foam mattress pad or topper. Your underlying mattress needs to be of moderate firmness (neither too soft nor too hard) and above all it must be very flat, with no dips in it and no “hammock” in the center. This is important because of the properties inherent in the visco memory foam of the topper itself.
A memory foam bed consists of millions of small cells that soften with a sleeper’s body heat, changing shape to contour around the person. But the heat only extends about 3 inches down into the mattress, meaning that the memory foam underneath remains cool and retains its shape, providing support. It’s is because of this factor that your original mattress will need to be both firm and flat, so it can provide similar underlying support when you place the mattress topper on it. And that’s also why the toppers should be in the vicinity of 3 to 5 inches thick, although when you reach 5 inches the expense will begin to rise.
If you see to the important details, then you may be able to benefit from a mattress topper of memory foam, without the cost of an entire bed. Having a firm underlying mattress that’s flat enough, and then acquiring a topper made of memory foam of the right thickness and density (about 5 pounds per cubic foot), you can place it on top of your regular bed. You can experience most of the benefits of memory foam without so much expense.
Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed treating anxiety disorder as well as tips on the various anxiety disorder medication available at anxietydisordercure.com.
It’s possible that you don’t want to spring for the full expense of a memory foam mattress, but you’d still like to enjoy some of its considerable benefits, such as excellent nights of sleep, body support, and enjoying the way the foam contours itself to you but returns to its own shape in the mornings. If you add a foam mattress topper onto your regular mattress, then you might derive virtually all the same comforts, but at a considerable saving to the pocketbook. You might think of the topper as a mattress enhancer, rather than an entire change of bed.
But for the sake of your future comfort, you should be aware of some of the drawbacks of foam mattress toppers as well. The reason why memory foam works so well in the first place is that the top 3 inches or so heat up and will change shape, while the lower layer is not affected, remaining cool and firm. This is how much of the good supportive effects are derived. If you don’t already have an existing mattress to provide similar underlying firmness, then the good effects of the foam topper will undoubtedly be lost.
Another crucial factor is that your existing mattress cannot have sags in it, but must be completely flat and firm. A foam mattress topper will rely on the underlying surface for support, and will sag right along with it if it’s not firm or flat. Then as your body heat activates the visco elastic memory foam, it will change shape further, perhaps even accentuating the sagging. You may find that your sleep and comfort are made worse rather than better.
Since a faulty underlying mattress might rob you of whatever benefits you hoped to gain from your foam mattress topper, you may need to evaluate whether it’s a good idea to go that route. If it’s going to cost extra to make sure your underlying mattress provides the support needed to make the topper effective, then perhaps it would be wiser to accept the extra expense and buy a complete memory foam bed instead.
Beth Kaminski is the leading expert in the field of end panic attacks and cure for anxiety disorders. For more information on tips to stop these attacks as well as anxiety treatment center, visit her site today.
When you think of a latex mattress, you might assume you’re getting something completely natural. After all, latex is made from the sap of rubber trees, so if you’re looking at latex foam mattresses you may think they’re all natural and organic. But this is not in fact the case. Latex has also been synthesized using petrochemicals, so as you go shopping, you could end up with something that’s not an organic mattress at all. This means you’ll have to pay attention and do some research.
There are two processes used to create latex mattresses. With the Standard method, the liquid (whether it’s the rubber sap or the petrochemical substance) is whipped into a froth, which creates the millions of air bubbles that are responsible for the special properties of a foam mattress. Then the liquid is poured into a mold, which is sealed and heated until it cures into its finished mattress form. In the Talalay method, the mold contains countless tiny pinprick spikes that make extra little channels for air to move through. This method creates a latex foam mattress that’s somewhat more resilient and buoyant.
Natural latex apparently works fine with either the Standard or the Talalay method of creating a latex mattress. So the question then is why anyone would need to use the synthetic version of the material at all. One of the reasons is that natural latex isn’t always as comfortable as the kind made from petrochemicals. Thus you find so many foam mattresses made entirely with synthetic latex.
This demonstrates why you need to do your homework before you buy. A latex mattress can be made softer and more comfortable with the infusion of natural oils, so it’s not true that you can’t go all-natural. But even a mattress given a “green” label might contain synthetic latex. As you go mattress shopping, keep all these things in mind. Investigate the manufacturers and different brands if you can, to discover the process and the materials used. You want to be sure what you’re getting when you buy a foam bed.
Beth Kaminski is a leading expert in the panic attacks help and has been publishing lots of information on the best medications for panic disorder for years now.