Memory Foam and why it gets hot

We have been discussing on the group the various types of memory foam that is available on the market today, many people were concerned about memory foam getting too hot for them and this was putting them off some of the products, another regular complaint was the lack of ability to turn over - the memory foam being too soft.

The memory foam that I have keeps me warm - yes, but I would not say that I ever get hot and start to sweat, causing me uncomfort or the inability to turn over.

The company that I deal with for all my sleeping issues is OroMed HealthCare and i posed this same question to them this week in an attempt to find out why these problems arise with memory foam, if in doubt ask the experts!

OroMed HealthCare's Response
There is no single answer to this. By its nature, memory foam can get hot. Many companies who sell memory foam are misleading the public with their statements that in their memory foam there are billions of air bubbles inside the foam for aeration.

We have established that this does not work and what we have done is place big slabs of foam (2 x 2 x 1 m) into a mechanical press and squeeze it down to one tenth of the thickness thus bursting all the air bubbles so improving the air flow through the foam.

We have found that this improves aeration but does not entirely remove heat. To improve on this, we use 10oz of polyester fiber when we quilt the mattress cover, so that you are not laying directly on top of the foam. If you put too much polyester fiber or any other material on top of the foam, you lose the benefits of memory foam. We aim to achieve the right balance.

As far as the problem with turning over is concerned, we have identified this from the very beginning and created the mattress foam core of sandwich configuration – the top part is made of high density visco-elastic slow recovery foam, which is sensitive to body weight and temperature. This foam slowly adjusts and distributes the body weight of the user evenly which simulates a flotation effect and provides the sleeper with the ultimate comfort.

The bottom layer is made of polyurethane foam which is of different hardness for different weights, which provides the correct support. This is the reason that we recommend a demonstration when we can establish the height and the weight of the customer and then produce the mattress and bed to their specification. Therefore, on our mattresses, they will not have problems with heat and difficulty with turning over. The reason that many people have problems with turning over is that the bottom layer is too soft.

OroMed are developing a new mattress, which will have physical holes going through the memory foam for improved aeration, keeping the mattress dry and cool.

If you have any qiuestions to pose to OroMedHealthCare about memory foam - please email your question to me and we will make sure that the answers are provided.