Hi again,

I'm interested in buying a foam pillowtop for my new mattress.

Through some online reading, I've gathered that the cheap "synthetic"
standard foam used in most mattresses or ordinary pillotwops breaks
down very quickly, and develops indentations (holes) in the shape of
the person's body. These indentations make for very uncomfortable
sleep.

Two "superior" types of foam are visco-elastic and latex foam. Reading
what I could online, all I could gather about visco-elastic foam is
that it was developed by NASA and has been used with a great deal of
success in the medical field.

My question is simple: does visco-elastic foam develop indentations
the way normal foam does? That is, does it develop dips and bumps that
do not go away after the person gets off the mattress? Although I
strongly believe that the answer to this question is "no", I could
only verify this information for latex foam.

If you have personal experience with visco-elastic foam and some sort
of technical document which can convey to me the information I am
looking for, that would qualify as a complete answer.

Thanks!

---

Clarification of Question by blubs_bstr-ga on 27 Aug 2003 02:50 PDT

Oh, and why is memory foam called memory foam? What is it remembering?

visco foam has short-term memory.  you pinch it, release it, and it
stays pinched a few seconds.

i've used to use a generic visco-foam pillowtop.  after three years it
still seemed flat, but I think the foam lost some of it's resilience
over time, like how the passenger seat on your car feels so much
firmer than the drivers seat.

personally the foam was okay for me.  if you sleep on your back,
great.  if you sleep upside down, it doesn't work so well.

Hi snsh, I was just reading your comments about the laser pulse.. seem
like an intelligent guy. Okay, you've made sense of the memory foam
for me: *short-term* memory.. perfect! Those pictures of the hand
imprints scared me (you know the ones?).  Actually, I do sleep on my
stomach... why is this bad for memory foam? Will I be sucked in ?
Also, we're all adults here, so let's get the obvious out of the way:
is having sex on memory foam a problem? I'd appreciate any further
comments.

Thank you very much --

Sleep face down on memory foam and you experience two things: first,
since the foam conforms to your torso, it adds resistance to your
breathing.  second, the foam tends to obstruct your face.

Generally speaking, sometimes you want bouncy, other times you want
buoyancy.  Visco (fluid-like) foam is all about buoyancy.

I never quite suffocated on my stomach -- I just ended up sleeping in
a different position.

One other thing about visco-foam is that the sheets don't fit so well.
 I mean the sheets fit, but once you get on top of them, they tend to
tug and fold since they don't stretch like the foam.  Especially if
you buy bare foam.  Sometimes foam overlays/tops come in more
mattress-like covers, which helps.

The more expensive foams are generally higher weight (they vary from
like 3 to 6 pounds per cubic foot).  You're basically paying for the
foam by the pound.  The extra density definitely makes the foam more
durable, and probably makes the foam stiffer, but I never did a
side-by-side I'd have to ask.

I bought my foam from an internet vendor that's not around anymore,
but they were distributing for some company in Pennsylvania that
actually manufactured or cut it.  If I had to buy again, I'd call the
PA company and ask for their advice in terms of product selection.

hedgie:
no no... face down, head *under* a pillow
but yes, in such a position, having a visco-foam pillow is still of a
problem, because the foam is stiff and tends to see-saw with your head
as the crux.