Choosing the right mattress type:
• Innerspring -- This type of mattress uses a steel coil support system. Variations range from springs wired together into a single unit to individual, fabric-wrapped pocketed coils. In other options, the springs' shapes, design, wire gauge and total number of coils vary. The innerspring is covered by padding or upholstery material, which may include various foams, fiber and additional layers of smaller steel springs. Coil count can vary greatly, but the belief is the more coils a mattress has, the greater the support.
• Foam -- Foam mattresses use one or more types of foam as the support system. The foam may be polyurethane memory foam, which contours closely to the sleeper's shape (think of sinking into the foam), or latex, which pushes upward, keeping the sleeper above the foam. Latex is made from plant or petroleum-based materials and can contain gel. The foams used in such mattresses are manufactured in a variety of shapes and densities to offer consumers a mattress that has different comfort, feel and heat dissipation features.
• Gel -- Gel mattresses use a type of foam that contains gel in its support system, upholstery layers or both. The gel is added to the foam using various types of technology. The gel foam offers consumers different comfort, feel and heat dissipation features.
• Pillow top -- Pillow top mattresses provide an additional upholstery layer sewn into the top of the mattress. This layer can be made from a variety of fiber and foam materials.
• Hybrid -- Features a combination of a steel coil support system as well as one or more types of foam, such as polyurethane memory or latex, as well as foams that contain gel or other materials.
• Water beds -- Designed to look like a conventional bed, these usually rest on top of a platform. They use a water chamber (covered by padding or upholstered material which can include various foams and fiber) as the support system inside of frames that are either hard-sided (wooden) or soft-sided (rigid foam zippered inside a fabric casing). Waterbeds can be free flow (where nothing obstructs the water within) or wave-less (where the motion of the water is limited by internal baffles).
• Air beds -- Designed to look like conventional beds, these use an adjustable air chamber as the support system. Unlike the type of air mattresses used for camping, the air chamber of a residential air bed is covered by padding or upholstery materials, which can include various foams and fiber. These beds allow the firmness to be adjusted and usually allow each side of the bed to be controlled separately in order to meet a couple's individual and changing needs.
• Adjustable foundations -- Unlike a stationary foundation or box-spring, an adjustable foundation allows various sections of the sleep surface to be bent, elevated or lowered. Many have dual controls, allowing each partner to adjust his sleep surface elevation. Designed to look like a conventional foundation when in the fully horizontal position, most adjustable foundations are powered by an electric motor, but some are manually adjusted. For best results, this type of bed should be used with a mattress specifically designed for it.
Source: Better Sleep Council (bettersleep.org)
HomeStyle on 04/04/2015