Grading Memory Foam

Memory foam has become a popular component of many different items. These can include pillows, mattress toppers and of course, toppers. Many consumers long used to traditional coil spring mattresses are finding the need to learn a new lingo when making the transition to a memory foam mattress. The primary material of memory foam mattress is memory foam which is graded on several different properties. These scores can vary from brand and model of memory foam mattress. Also, the scores can vary from the same model as the memory foam used to construct the model may have come from a different batch.

Density is one quality for which a rating is provided. Memory foam is made from polyurethane foam. Additional chemicals are added to the polyurethane foam to increase its viscosity. The more chemicals that are added also lead to a greater density. The density is an important part of selecting a mattress. The higher the number the slower that the memory foam mattress will retake its original shape. As a result, these mattresses are much firmer. The small the density, well, the more it will feel like a traditional coil spring mattress.

Memory foam mattresses also come with an ILD rating. ILD stands for Indention Load Deflection, which will indicate the hardness or softness of the material. The rating will appear as a percentage. As a rule, the higher the ILD rating, the firmer the memory foam used in the mattress.

Another quality that memory foam mattresses are rated on is resilience. Basically, resilience is a measure of the amount of spring in the memory foam mattress. When determining the resiliency of memory foam, a steel ball is dropped from the standard height of one yard. Then the rebound of the steel ball is measured to calculate the resiliency. When perusing mattresses, the higher the resiliency rating, the longer lasting the memory foam.

A fourth measurement of memory foam is called tensile. Tensility is the property of being stretched before breaking. While this measurement may or may not be provided, you can typically ignore this. Memory foam mattresses are not stretched.

Now you know how to judge memory foam mattresses, why not get your new mattress from Memory Foam Mattress Direct!