Memory Foam Mattress Complaints

January 29, 2021

Memory foam, like countless other products on the market, has a variety of pros and cons to keep in mind before buying one of these mattresses. For some, the list of complaints is impossible to overlook. The better you understand the common complaints about memory foam mattresses, the better informed decision you can make when shopping for your next mattress. These are a few of the most common memory foam complaints you need to know about.

Keeps You Hot and Bothered

One of the selling points for memory foam mattresses is their capacity to cradle every curve of your body. This is a comfort mechanism of the foam. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of this cradling is that it comes into close contact with more of your body’s surface area, trapping the heat of your body in, and allowing little, if any, airflow through to cool you off. This means that you are likely to wake during the night overheated, hot, sweaty, and unable to get back to sleep in a timely manner.

Smells Badly – Off-Gassing

Off-gassing occurs when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) come into contact with oxygenated air. The smell associated with off-gassing can be noxious. This is why manufacturers recommend opening memory foam mattresses in well-ventilated rooms, and allowing plenty of time for the odors to dissipate before sleeping on your mattress. Most odors will go away within a couple of days.

Unfortunately, while the smell is off putting, and can lead to painful headaches and immediate respiratory reactions (especially among those who have allergies or asthma), the negative health impacts of these VOCs being released into the air inside your home can last months and even years after the odor diminishes.

Unsupportive – Especially Around the Edges

Another common complaint about memory foam mattresses is that they lack support in general. This can cause excessive back pain among people who sleep on the mattresses. That isn’t the only problem, though, when it comes to support. Some users complain that the edges, especially, lack support. This makes people feel as if they are going to roll off the edge of the bed, if they aren’t careful.

That fear can make it difficult for people to fall or remain asleep. Additionally, it can make getting into and out of bed more difficult for people who have mobility challenges, or are just beginning to experience these types of challenges.

It’s a Trap! Quicksand Experiences

A common complaint among memory foam users is the feeling of being trapped by the bed, or sinking into quicksand. If you don’t know about quicksand, the more you struggle, the harder it is to get out. It seems to be the case with memory foam mattresses as well. Struggling only makes it harder.

The trapped feeling is especially difficult for people who suffer from claustrophobia to deal with. It makes sense when you think about how memory foam works. It softens to the warmth of your body, allowing you to sink into the mattress with the mattress literally “hugging” your curves. From a comfort perspective, it is quite comfortable, unless you are someone who tosses and turns throughout the night, makes frequent nightly trips to the bathroom, or simply suffers from routine cases of insomnia. These are things you’ll certainly want to consider before purchasing a memory foam mattress, and something you might not be able to experience after trying one out in a store for a matter of minutes.

Romance Interrupter

Believe it or not, there are common complaints that memory foam can interfere with intimate relations between partners. While the mattresses may get you all hot and bothered in a negative way, they are not always conducive to more pleasurable nocturnal pursuits. In fact, memory foam mattresses can be an absolute hindrance. Here’s why.

First, one of the biggest benefits of memory foam mattresses is the ability to isolate motion, so that your partner’s nighttime movements do not disturb your sleep. However, this same benefit can become an obstacle when attempting to move with your partner “during the act.”

Then, there is the lack of rebound required to help you establish any sort of rhythm in your efforts. On the plus side, you don’t have to worry about squeaky springs waking up the neighborhood with memory foam.

Temperature Sensitivity

While the problems associated with sleeping hot on memory foam mattresses are well documented, there is a lesser-known issue related to temperature with these mattresses. That issue involves temperature sensitivity, and it’s related to the temperature in the room where the mattress is located.

You see, when the room is cooler, often in the winter months, the mattress is more likely to feel cold and stiff when you first climb into bed. It also means that it can take longer for the mattress to soften around your body, so that you can get comfortable, and enjoy a good night’s sleep.

Additionally, when the temperature inside the room is hot, such as during summer months, the mattress becomes softer, and even less supportive than normal. For people who need support or who sleep hotter than others in general, this can be a problem that makes sleep difficult.

Questionable Durability

There are also complaints that memory foam mattresses are not as durable as their warranties imply, and rarely live up to consumer expectations. This is especially true in relation to their prices. Because memory foam mattresses do not last as long as other types of mattresses, it is essential to consider their longevity when deciding whether or not to purchase a memory foam mattress for your home.

Dirty Business – Memory Foam is Difficult to Clean

While more cosmetic in nature, the fact is that it is difficult to clean a memory foam mattress. If you spill liquids on the mattress, they can leave stains that ultimately void the mattress warranty. And, steam cleaning isn’t typically recommended for a memory foam mattress.

One consideration is to always use a removable, washable, and waterproof mattress cover to reduce the risks of staining your mattress. This adds to the costs of purchasing your mattress considerably, but is what many would consider an essential expense for keeping the warranty of your mattress in place.

The Simple Solution

The simplest solution is to choose a mattress that isn’t a memory foam mattress. We believe the best option is the Eco Terra Hybrid Latex Mattress. With this mattress, you'll enjoy superb comfort and support, without the negative experiences memory foam provides.

These are just some of the benefits natural latex hybrid mattresses offer over memory foam mattress:

• Cooler sleep experience. The open-cell construction of natural latex allows air to flow freely through, and doesn’t hold heat and moisture in. This means you sleep cooler.
• No noxious off-gassing. Eco Terra mattresses are made with natural latex foam, and without petrochemicals and VOCs that cause off-gassing and the associated odors.
• Unsurpassed support. While memory foam is known for its lack of support, natural latex delivers edge-to-edge support, so you need not fear falling over the edge, or wake with aches and pains associated with memory foam.
• Extreme durability. Natural latex is made of denser material, and known for supreme durability. In fact, Eco Terra hybrid latex mattresses come with a 15-year warranty, which is much longer than the average memory foam mattress.
• No temperature sensitivity. While memory foam mattresses are sensitive to the temperature of the room, this isn’t the case with latex mattresses that offer the same degree of comfort and support, regardless of the room’s temperature.
• Plenty of bounce. The materials used in natural latex means that it delivers the just right amount of bounce to encourage your romantic endeavors, and provide exceptional pressure point relief throughout the night. It is also the reason for the incredible resilience of latex that helps it avoid sagging, lumping, and bumping along the way.

As you can see, there is a lot to love about the Eco Terra Hybrid Latex Mattress today. Top it off with a 90-night risk-free, in-home sleep trial, and there is no reason not to experience the difference for yourself. Try our mattress today, and see what you’ve been missing all this time.

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