Why Latex is not the new Memory Foam ? It’s even better.

I’m sure you have seen the adverts on TV and you might have flirted with the idea of buying one, but are memory foam mattresses all they’re cracked up to be? In comparison to traditional coil sprung mattresses, undoubtedly. Compared to pocket sprung mattresses, probably. But compared to latex? Definitely not.

Most of you probably haven’t noticed latex mattresses. They seem to have snuck in through the back door of the mattress industry while everyone was craning their neck for a glimpse of memory foam as it waltzed in to a fanfare at the front door. This is a real shame, as latex is a much more impressive and responsive material that does everything memory foam does and more. I’m not trying to disparage memory foam, it’s a fantastic product and one which many people swear by for good reason. But I can assure you that those singing the praises of memory foam have yet to try a latex mattress.

Let’s start with what memory foam and latex have in common. Both of these materials mould to your body’s natural shape, which allows your spine to become aligned and also helps to relieve pressure on the joints and other areas that are susceptible to this. This makes them both ideal for people who suffer from back pain, or anyone who just wants a more comfortable sleeping experience. Both materials are also hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant, although latex naturally so and memory foam due to treatments. Latex, like memory foam, will also prevent roll-together when sleeping with a partner.

But the differences are what I want to draw your attention to as these are the reasons why latex is a much better choice for most people over memory foam.

While memory foam is a manmade product latex is completely natural*, is biodegradable and will cause no damage to the environment - either in its production or when you come to dispose of it. This will allow those of you with a social conscience to sleep even sounder at night, knowing that even your mattress is helping to save the world (or at least not kill it any quicker).

Latex proves to be more durable than memory foam, which is partly due to its natural open cell structure. Aside from durability this also accounts for one of the main differences between latex and memory foam and one which, to my mind, gives it an almost insurmountable lead over memory foam in the comfort stakes. This is that when you move in the night the latex moves with you. Memory foam will contour to your body’s shape but it won’t move with you in the night, meaning it can become quite uncomfortable if you tend to toss and turn through the night.

One of the main complaints that people have of memory foam mattresses is that they can retain too much heat and this causes them to become very uncomfortable, especially in the summer months. This is because they react to your body heat to contour to your body and unavoidably retain this heat. Most companies now supply their memory foam mattresses with a cooling cover to get around this problem. But latex mattresses don’t need this as they don’t react to your body heat so don’t retain the heat in the first place.

* This is in reference to natural latex, you can buy mattresses made from synthetic latex but these should be clearly marked by the manufacturer. They are as good as natural latex mattresses in every respect but aren’t biodegradable. You will find most latex mattresses are made from a mixture of the two but are predominantly natural latex.

This is a massive step forward and along with the other reasons above show just why latex should not be seen as the new memory foam but a better more advanced mattress material that people need to look at as a revolution in its own right.

Now if you are still not convinced about the respective benefits of memory foam and latex foam mattresses, here are two tables that will help you decide which type of foam you would prefer sleeping on.