"MEMORY FOAM VS GEL FOAM"- The innovation in
sleeping well
‘This comparative review is based upon thorough
research and experience. We do not tend to impose or sell any of the following
products. It’s only an informative article to show you the differences’.
From the very start of our human race, we have always struggle to
achieve peace and it seems like running away from us. Not to talk about the
wars happened and happening. Normally the governments and militaries are
responsible for the peace within the country, the NGOs within communities, the
UN tends to keep international peace and grandfathers (I love mine) keep the
home-peace alive and so on.
Where in our life cycle we try to seek peace in our relationship, our
families, our spirituality, the nature, mountains, in our life goals and our
success. Seems like everybody is working for that one word. Sometime we get
what we want but are not really satisfied with it and it demolishes our peace
within. This leads to anxieties and depression. Gosh! I am talking
psychologist.
Now if we break this cycle formulae to our 24/7 system,
"Sleep" is what we relate to peace. Yes! It’s a universal truth that
your sleep defines your peace and moreover how healthy you are. For the very
purpose the sleep related industries are constantly working to make an impact
on our 24 hours daily routine. Be this the sleep doctors, the wood workers, the
pharmaceutical companies and last but not the least the “Mattress industry”.
We are already familiar with the types of foams and mattresses
available in the market. Now which one to choose when you go out for to buy
your sleep? Here we have the comparative discussion between two specific
important names in the foams industry and as mentioned in the topic it is “MEMORY
FOAM VS GEL FOAM”.
MEMORY FOAM
Memory foam was initially designed by NASA for cushioning astronomers
when they leave or fall into the earth’s gravitational field. The spacecraft
had several memory foams within to save the astronomers from getting injured.
This concept was evenly applied to the planes where the pilots and passengers
used to feel the jerk in landing. This helped preventing that jerk and made
life easy there as well.
In 1970s memory foam became a commercial hit as a part of the Memory
foam mattresses. Unlike common polyurethane foam, Memory foam has chemicals
induced into polyurethane to increase its density and viscosity. That’s why its
termed as “viscoelastic”. The viscoelasticity would make it dip down and form
according to your body position. This means your partner would never know if
you went out of the bed for a night out, unless she has tied you up to the bed.
Jeez!
BENEFITS OF MEMORY FOAM
1. Say
bye to pain!!!
Before memory foams, spring mattresses were in use of the norms. We
won’t talk about how bad they were but yes memory foam rescued us from the
aches and pains the spring mattresses carried. As I mentioned above about the
comfort design of memory foam, it actually imposes no or minimal pressure on
your back. Investing in memory foam at that time was helpful in saving your
doctor’s fees for those pains and aches.
According to Jeffrey N. Katz, M.D., Professor of Medicine and
Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, “The percentage of people
suffering from back using medium firm mattresses was very low”. Memory foam
gave this innovation of dense firm mattresses.
1. Ideal
Density
Density was one of the major factors in the success of memory foam
because density of the mattress had it comfortable yet very durable compared
with spring mattresses.
For a normal weight person the density of memory foam should be around
4 lbs per cubic foot. The heavier you get the denser it should go but up to 6
lbs per cubic foot. This is because everything has durability if you want your
mattress to stay long keep these mathematics in your mind. Around 5 lbs per
cubic foot is the best average density for all.
2. No
bounce no party
I remember when I used to jump on my spring bed in my childhood and I
am sure you guys have done the same if you had spring beds but what that did to
the bed was it shortened its life. Due to the above point of density, the kids
or adults (Mr. Bean’s fans) can no longer damage the bed by their jumps.
In other words memory foams eliminated that awkward bounce when you
sit on the bed and the impact of the other person moving in the bed. With
Memory foam it all went firm and the motion impact was minimized.
3. Cost
Effective
Since we are comparing Memory foam to Gel
foam, this is probably the most important point. The memory foams are cheaper
than gel foams. This is the only reason someone would still want to stick to
memory foams despite the differences you’ll see below. Well no complain if you
are short on cash for your mattress but I believe peace comes first.
I know these pros about memory foams are all good and sound but there
are certain cons which I would like to mention.
DISADVANTAGES
4. Wrestle
the density
As the density of the foam makes it all beautiful to get in, it’s
evenly difficult to get out of it. You would actually need to wrestle with the
density and get out of the well. It also imposes some obstacles while turning
in your sleep, and that is again because of the density due to the chemical.
All that softness and density but getting difficulties in turning and twisting
while sleeping.
1. Smell
of the chemicals
The most horrific part of the foam was that most providers used cheap
chemicals for the density and it contained a very bad odor. Not just that, the
chemical inside used to gas out or termed as “offgassing”. Ultimately this
exhaustion of the chemical inside reduced down the durability life. This
eventually had a negative impact on the commercial success of the memory foams.
Coming to the horrific part, the smell was constant and not bearable for too
long. The peace was disturbed anyways. Then
there was ways to get rid of the stinks but that lessen the firmness and
durability. You couldn’t go either ways.
2. Price for
your Belly
The prices were based on the density of the foam so if you weigh more
and that you need a denser quality memory foam mattress then you needs to pay
more than the normal person would. So you would need around 5 lbs to 5.5 lbs
per cubic foot mattress for lasting long in bed, wait no! I mean your bed would
last long.
3. Sweating
This was one of the modern-age problems as everything around had an
exhaust system for the excessive heat to throw out. Where with memory foam it
wasn’t really possible. Especially in summers there is always an itchy sweat
pool under you. This was the point where they thought for the solution and
introduced Open cell foams and gel foams. Open cell had the solution for
letting the air though but it wasn’t a perfect replacement. Gel-Infused foams
or just Gel Foams will be our thing.
GEL INFUSED MEMORY FOAM
The name itself describes that the foam is a kind of memory foam with
the addition of Gel infused into it. This is introduced by Serta in 2010 and
the initial model name was iComfort Gel memory foam mattresses. This was indeed
a wonderful solution to the issues recurred in the previous forms of foams. “Sleep
cooler” became the slogan for Gel foams as they were being marketed and sold
for being cool.
There are two types of Gels used in the foams varying with their heat
capacity. The first one is thermally conducted and can be felt marginally cool
if you touch it. The other type is called phase-changing gel. This pretty much
adjusts the body heat on its own. It actually holds and releases heat when it’s
required. Pretty much like an AC on auto. So with both the gel forms you would
be having a good cold sleep.
The process works as there are gel Microbeads infused which carries
out the heat by giving open space for the heat to pass. Pretty much like open
cell but here the gel also helps with absorbing the heat. Its not that you
would see Gel popping up when you sit on it, no! the gel particles are infused
or stirred with the foam material with a specific percentage. And the spacing
that gives allows the heat to flow is actually between the material of the
foam.
Though the quality of heat retention varies from brand to brand. One
should always look for the best amongst these cool sleeping grounds. Here I am
going to show you how different is this Gel foam than the memory foam. So let’s
begin with the;
BENEFITS OF GEL FOAM
4. No motion whatsoever
Same as memory
foam due to the higher density and the gel infused you barely feel the other
person moving in your bed. You can go out of the bed to pee in the middle and
expect your partner not to know about it. The Gel makes it even better to make
it cool and that your partner would sleep deep. It is important that your spin
is rested for 1/3 of each day for a better performance; otherwise you’ll start
losing your own durability.
1.
FREEZING MATTRESS
Kidding! Its not freezing
but yeah it is cooler than the foams you had in the past. The spring had no
colling system and the memoery foam was sort of the same. Where Gel foam
mattresses are designed with spacing for the heat to flow. Also the Gel inhances
the coolng quality by sucking the heat or holding the heat.
Since lack of sleep is
considered to be the reason for many mental and physcial issues, so it is
suggested that you sleep for atleast 6 hours continues without waking up in the
middle. A conventional memory foams can’t give the additional solace and
coolness that your body requires for getting settled rest. That is the reason
it is suggested by numerous that you ought to supplant your old sleeping pad
with a fresh out of the plastic new gel froth bedding. The gel froth sleeping
cushion is initiated with gel that keeps the bedding cool notwithstanding amid
sweltering summer evenings. This will enable you to rest without awakening
amidst the night.
2.
Nature Friendly
These days every product
seems to be getting on eco friendly mood to make the enviroment safe from the
effects as well as sell their product more with this addition. As the previous
versions had toxic chemical in them and they had that odd smell all night long,
it was considered that those toxic chemicals were not ideal for your health and
the nature around. Thankfuly! The Gel foams are safe from those toxics. The Gel
itself is eco family and does not cause any problems to your health. With time
they have introduced some flavours like green tea and soya induced into your
Gel foams to make it more eco-friendly.
3.
Everybody can sleep
on it
This is a common benefit in
all memory foams but I’d like to mention this here as well as it is one
important point. There are many kind of sleepers in the world. Some sleep
straight on their back and imagin faces on the sealing, some sleeps side ways,
some sleeps on their stomach (not recommended medically) and some just sleep in
between all of them. Memory foams adjust to all kind of sleepers and comfort
their body parts. Gel foam is being recommended from majority of the physicians
as it is suitable for all age groups and each kind of sleeper.
DISADVANTAGES OF GEL-INFUSED FOAMS
Ah! I have to say this. Despite all the
great things about Gel-Infused foams innovation, there are some disadvantages
of Gel foams as well. I mean c’mon everything has pros and cons. No big deal.
Let’s talk over it.
4.
Beads counts
It is noticed that the durability is greatly
influenced by the beads counts and size in Gel foams. The size of the bead is
inversely proportional to the durability where number of microbeads is
directly. This means the larger the beads quickly it would break down but if we
keep the size low and greater the number of beads it will last longer and
remain firm.
1.
Fading coolness
Over the time the Gel’s
ability to store and retain heat fades away and you start feeling a bit warmer
than before. Not fun right? But don’t worry the changes are not that as of
memory foam.
2.
Cost
Well I have mentioned the
cost effectiveness of memory foam against gel foams. This leads us to see the
cost factor as a con on gel foams. Though the prize difference isn’t that high
but yeah there are people with limited budgets out there, so this may be a
concern.
3.
DURABILITY
This actually related to
the disadavantage no.1. Since the amount gel is really important in for how
long will it be cool? Well! This may not be your headache but to the manufacturer
as the foams they get has very less Gel microbeads, between 2% to 30%. If it is
2% it will only be cool for a couple of weeks and then bang! It will go back to
the memory foam mood. A 30% Gel will make it keep cool for atleast couple year
after that it will start loosing the coolness and you would probably need to
replace or live with it.
The concern rises because
you have paid slightly higher than the memory foam but eventually you are
getting a normal memory foam? Well per my opinion the difference in price and
changes that happens to the coolness are very low to skip gel foams over memory
foams. Furthermore see the conclusion section for ellaboration.
CONCLUSION
Since we had this long
discussion over the comparisons of the two types of foams and we pretty much
are aware of the pros & cons of both the types, now how do we pick the most
appropriate one for you? I think most of you might already have your pick but
in my opinion I would go for Gel foam any day. That is because the two major
disadvantages i.e. Cost and the fading coolness, are so minor that I could
easily choose Gel foam mattress over a regular memory foam mattress. You could
look for the cost difference yourself and find out that there is a very slight
difference but the impact is quite a lot. Coming to the other factor that is
you will lose the coolness of the foam by sometime. Per my experience our body
gets adjusted to the slowly fading coolness that it does not really sweat or
may be does not sweat enough for us to wake up and that is too after a long
period of time. So I would really recommend to Gel foams over regular memory
foams and the open cell foams.
You could still look
around and ask people about their experiences if you haven’t experienced them
yourself. But one thing is for sure both these foams are far better than the
old school spring mattresses, where you would spend most of your day holding
your spine. Even if you go memory foam it’s not really a bad choice.
NOTE: One thing I would want
you guys to know which is really important in terms of picking memory foams.
Since the memory foams are really soft and dense, some proportion of our body
gets sink in and we have to put in a bit of effort to get of the bed but for
infants a normal memory foam or Gel infused memory is not really safe because
the infant body will mostly be dipped and they could have breathing problems
due to the suffocation. This problem is even worse because of the carbon
dioxide trapped in the foam and this can lead sudden infant death (SIDS).
Please make sure not to use normal/adult memory foams, open cell foams or gel
foams. To tackle the issue memory foam providers have made a special infant
memory foam which are not that soft to sink in infants yet they are firm and
dense enough to comfort the child. They are Certi-PUR certified foam mattresses
that are mite-proof, hypoallergenic and anti-microbial. Kindly use those foams
for your infants.
In the end I would want
to thank you all for reading the comprehensive comparative review of both the
foams. You can leave your questions, feedback and also share your experience
you are having/had with memory foams and gel foams. I’ll try to come up with
the best possible answers. Also keep visiting for another article on latex
mattresses review as they are in business these days or may be comparing it
with memory foams and gel infused foam. Something like Memory vs Gel vs Latex,
you never know. Also share this with your friends for them to get something out
of it!
