Why we are not big fans of “Memory Foam”

The latest big thing in the mattress industry is “Visco Elastic Memory Foam”.  A synthetic, oil based foam, it is available from most all manufacturers. To hear their advertisements,  you would think there is no other material that should go in a mattress. But, like air mattresses, you either love them or you hate them!

There is a lot to love. 

1. They form exactly to your body.

2. They last longer than an inner spring mattress made with poly foam.

3. They don’t transmit motion from one occupant to the other. 

4. They don’t have to be turned.

We feel that there is a lot more not to love in them. 

1. Probably one of the biggest draw backs about them is that they are petroleum based. 

2. They also can be hot. (One of our favorite phrases we have heard about them is “It’s like cooking in your own juices.”) 

3. They are temperature sensitive. The warmer the room is the softer they get and the slower they respond. The colder the room is the harder they get and the less they will form to your body. 

4. They don’t provide lift. Unless your are very agile, they can be hard to get out of. That’s because when your body has warmed the foam all night, its response time is slower, so you have to climb up out of a hole to get out of bed. This same principle also makes it harder to roll over if you need to.

Tempur-Pedic is probably the most well know brand of memory foam mattresses. Like the Select Comfort air bed, when they first came out,  they had a limited number of models and they claimed that one of these models was going to be the perfect bed for everyone in the world. Now, at last count, they have 8 or nine models. If those original beds were the perfect beds, why did they have to come out with more models. Big “AHA” moment here -  there is no one mattress that is perfect for everyone!  

So what is the answer if memory foam mattresses and inner spring mattresses have so many negatives? 

Two words- natural latex. 

1. Its made from a natural materials - latex rubber from the rubber tree.

2. Its is also a renewable resource.

3. It is the coolest type of mattress you can sleep on because it is made with an open cell structure. It breathes. In our store we demonstrate this by blowing into a piece of latex. The air passes right through it. You can’t do that with most memory foams and poly foam.

4. It is not temperature sensitive. It feels the same no matter what temperature the room or your body is.

5. It forms to your body like memory foam but it has lift - you don’t have to climb out of a hole to get out of bed. 

6. A quality latex mattress will last 20 to 30 years.

7. They don’t transmit motion from one occupant to the other.

8. Because it only looses 1 to 3 % of its height over 20 years, it can be built as a true “no turn” mattress and you won’t end up with the deep body impressions you find in “no turn” innerspring mattresses made with poly foams.

9. Its hypoallergenic.

10. Its dust mite resistant.

Make your next mattress a Natural Latex mattress. Remember - Love your mattress, love yourself!

UNDERSTANDING BODY IMPRESSONS

One of the biggest misunderstandings about mattresses is body impressions. What is normal and what is a defect?

Let me start with a paragraph taken from the Better Sleep Council Web Site:

Many of today's top-quality mattresses use technologically advanced foams and fibers that are designed to be softer and more comfortable while ensuring your body has the support you need for good health. By cradling your body, these materials relieve pressure and are so comfortable that you'll probably toss and turn less in the night. For that reason, in the first few weeks you sleep on a new mattress that offers these extra comfort layers, you will likely notice some body impressions (comfort dimples) on the mattress surface. These impressions are normal and shouldn't be considered a sign that something is wrong with your new mattress. Unless your mattress care instructions indicate otherwise, you may want to rotate your mattress from end-to-end and from top-to-bottom. After a few weeks, the impressions will begin to smooth out and, over time, disappear.

A solid core latex mattress is least likely to show body impressions of any type of mattress. While poly foams can lose up to 30% of their height over time, Latex only loses 1% to 3 % of their height. A defect in latex is usually caused by a defect in the core during the poring process. Basically, there would be a big bubble of air in the core.  If a latex mattress is defective, you will know within the first year. If it doesn’t present a defect within one year, chances are there isn’t a defect in it.  A defect would appear as a substantial depression, not just a few inches. The quilting on top of the latex is most likely to show body impressioning. The thicker the quilting on top of the latex, the more apt you are to see an impression. 

Although a latex core does not have to be rotated top to bottom, Adjustable Bed Mart makes all of their latex mattresses as double sided mattresses. This is to not only to help reduce the appearance of impressions in the quilting layers on top of the latex but also to reduce the stress on the top layer of quilting from being bent in the same direction all of the time.

It is also important to remember that mattress warranties cover defects in the mattress. They are not comfort warranties! Body impressions less than 1.5 inches are not defects.  An inner spring mattress generally will only last 7 to 10 years before the comfort is completely gone. A latex mattress will last 20 to 30 years and feel comfortable the whole time!

SUMMARY

It is important that a mattress salesperson educates the customer that all mattresses will show body impressions, latex less than others. If the customer doesn’t want to see body impressions then their options are:

     1. Buy a latex mattress for the least impressions.

     2. Buy a two sided mattresses and be prepared to turn it often.

     3. If you are unable to turn a mattress, then try to stay away from thick pillow tops.  The more padding on

         top of a mattress the more you will see impressions. You can get plush comfort without buying a real

         thick mattress and it will be easier to turn. 

So remember, you are going to see some body impressionson all mattresses when new. Turn them frequently for the first six months will reduce the appearance of body impressions. 

MATTRESS TRIAL PERIODS

Many people ask me about 30 to 90 day trial periods for their mattress purchases. Can they try it and return it later if they don’t like it? 

Adjustable Bed Mart does not have a trial period for our mattresses. Why not? 

Mattress factories do not take back mattresses for comfort reasons, only for defects. Just like when you buy a new car, when the mattresses is delivered to your house, it is considered “used”.  Anything returned to a retailer would have to be  sanitized to meet the legal standards for used mattress sales and it must be sold as “used” and not as “new”.  

Most mattress retailers cannot afford to throw away a returned mattress.  They also don’t have the facilities to sterilize a mattress properly so it can be resold as used. Chances are they are just going to put it back in stock and resell it as new.  When you buy a bed at one of these stores, you don’t know if you are getting a new mattress or one that someone returned.

Adjustable Bed Mart prefers to fit the customer to the correct bed in the first place. We stress how important it is to actually lie on a bed in our showroom for at least 15 minutes. Most people know what they like or don’t like in a bed and the proper questions from a salesperson will help assure that the customer gets the correct mattress in the first place. These questions include the following:

1. What type of mattress are you currently on?

2. Are you comfortable on it? 

3. If not, why? Is it too hard? Too soft? Sagging?

4. Is there a mattress you have slept well on (In a hotel, at a friends?)

5. What do you expect in the appearance of a mattress after 5 years?

We would rather not make a sale than sell a bed that is not right for the customer.  If a customer is adamant that they want a mattress that we think is not right for them, we are not afraid to let them know what we think and make sure that they are aware of our return policy.  If they still want the mattress, then we will sell it to them. Some people are set in their ways and there is nothing you can do to change it when they have made up their minds.

So, try out a lot of mattresses and spend some time on the ones you like. Don’t rush your purchase. You are going to have your new mattress for at least ten years and you want to be sure you get the one that is right for you.

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to the Adjustable Bed Mart blog. The purpose of this blog is educate the consumer about the benefits of adjustable beds and keep you all informed about the latest in sleep technologies.

Let me start by telling you something about ourselves and our store.

My name is Jeff Alley. My wife, Malka, and I own and operate Adjustable Bed Mart. 

Malka opened Adjustable Bed Mart in 1990. She had been working at several local furniture and bedding stores and was upset about the low quality of customer service. She took her savings and opened Adjustable Bed Mart in a 600 square foot store on Sunny Dunes Road in Palm Springs. She carried Adjust-A-Bed, the original adjustable bed manufacturer and Spring Air. At that time, an adjustable beds started at $ 699. Latex  adjustable bed sold for $ 999.

I joined her  in the latter part of 1990. I started out delivering her beds for her but couldn’t help but fall in love with her. We married in 1991 and I began working full time at the store.

After several years at our original location we decided to expand our inventory and start making our own line of mattresses, so we moved several doors down the street to a larger location. This is where we first started carrying our private line of adjustable bed mattresses.

As the population started to grow down valley, we decided to open a second store in Palm Desert on Larkspur Lane. Malka ran that store by herself.

In 1999, our lease at the Sunny Dunes store ran out and was not available for renewal. We moved to Cathedral City and became one of the anchor stores in the Canyon Plaza South shopping center. With this larger, more central location, we no longer needed the store in palm Desert and closed it after seven years.  

We moved into our present location on El Paseo in March of 2009. It is our most beautiful store yet. 

We are proud of our reputation as the “Adjustable Bed Specialist”! Adjustable bed sales and service are what we do. Other stores may carry one or two, we have fifteen. In addition to all of the standard sizes, we can make most any custom size. While we carry both inner spring mattresses and latex mattresses, the latex ones are our best sellers.

We only carry bases from Leggett and Platt, an American manufacturer. No Chinese bases in our store. Leggett and Platt has the widest variety of adjustable bed bases in the world and we carry all of them, form the Pro-Motion to the state of the art element®, the bed that watches you and automatically adjust to your position.

We also carry linens made just for adjustable beds in all sizes. We have two companies making sheets, dust ruffles and other bedding for us. We carry permanent press sheets, 100% cotton sheets, organic cotton and bamboo/cotton blend sheets. My favorite is the organic cotton. It is super soft and super cozy.

Most of our service is on older adjustable beds. An adjustable bed can last for 25 to 30 years.  There are not many mechanical things that can make that claim in these days of planned obsolescence. Because you are only  moving the bed for a few seconds at a time when you first go to bed and then again in the morning when you put the bed flat, you might only put two or three actual hours of use on the components.

The other reason that adjustable beds last so long is the small number of parts that actually make up an adjustable bed. Older beds had an average of 6 parts: the hand control, the two lift motors, the frame and sometimes two massage motors. The really old beds had rubber drive belts. These belts have to be changed on a regular basis, just like the fan belt in your car. (Sidenote: As far as I can tell, Adjustable Bed Mart is the only source for these belts. When the original source quit making them in 2008, we had to go to Japan to have them custom made) New beds can have as little as just three parts: The hand control, the motor assembly and the frame.

I think this is enough information for this posting. My future post will cover the benefits of adjustable beds, specific  information about different types of adjustable bed bases and mattresses and general information to help you get a good night’s rest.

Good night, sleep tight and may all of your dreams be sweet!