So this will be it, my epic post on everything I figured out while shopping for the perfect memory foam mattress topper for my home. If you’re looking for a quick summary, here are some numbers to get you started: look for a 2″ topper at the minimum. I suggest looking for something around 4 lb. density, any lighter and you’ll sink right into it and wake up with a sore back in the morning. If these numbers leave you wanting something firmer, then either increase the density or reduce the thickness. But starting there is a good idea – it shouldn’t be far from what you’re looking for.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the details. And I’ll just admit my bias from the start – I’m a huge fan of memory foam, I’ve never slept better than I do now, and so read this article assuming that I think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Or smartphones. Because it is, and if you disagree with me, then you’re wrong.
How Do Memory Foam Mattresses Work?
Here’s my favorite moment with my memory foam mattress. When I first fall onto it, it’s more resistant, and it feels almost hard. Then almost immediately I start sinking into it. I sink until the mattress is perfectly supporting every nook and cranny of my arms, legs, neck, and shoulders. And then I fall asleep soon after. If you’ve never felt it before, it’s a weird sensation.
How does all that happen? The foam is chemically produced to have holes in it, and when you lay on it, the pressure simply flattens those holes. That’s why you start to sink down. It gives a feeling of ‘melting’ away in a sense, like your body is just sinking right into the foam itself. You continue to sink until the pressure of your weight is equal to the resistance of the foam. Unlike regular mattresses, this leaves you a little hole that has conformed completely to your body, and will not be trying to push back at you the way wire springs do. This makes it more comfortable than any other mattress.
Best Memory Foam Mattress Topper
This is a point of contention between my wife and me. We ended up getting a mattress from Tempur-Pedic. I went with them because they have a stiffer mattress. The foam itself measures at a 5 pound per cubic foot density, which is actually firmer than what a lot of people like. But that’s me, I like firm mattresses. My wife wanted something a bit softer than that, but ultimately agreed to try this one when the salesman gave us two months to try it out and see what we thought of it. She was won over relatively quickly.
You might want to start with a 4 pound density though, because I really do like firm mattresses. When you get softer than that you end up with a memory foam topper that is so soft it may as well not be there. If a pad is only a few inches thick, and you sink down two inches, your butt hits the mattress underneath and you’re losing the benefit of the pad itself. That’s not what I wanted.
You will also probably want to start right around 2 inches thick, and determine where you want to go from there. If you go thicker than that, you run into two problems. The first is that thinner pads than that won’t do much for you – you’ll sink through them like I just described. If you go thicker, though, and you don’t get a very dense pad, you won’t get much support and can end up feeling stiffer in the morning than when you went to sleep. Both of these are bad news bears. Also, from 3 inches on up the pads grow in price as well as thickness, so try the 2 inch version first.
Oh, and if you’re on the heavy side you’ll want to go with the thicker pad. Sorry, that’s nature’s fault.
What Can I Expect to Pay?
Well, now that depends. None of us are made of money, but if you buy a cheap memory foam mattress topper that is low quality, you won’t get any benefit out of it. Here’s my take on it – if it seems ridiculously cheap, it’s probably not very dense. Anything under 4 pounds may not do anything for you either.
If you can, you should absolutely try and get to a store where you can try out these pads and see what density feels best to you. If you can get away with a 3 pound pad, then you’re in a great spot – those are going to be quite a bit cheaper than anything thicker. Problem is, for most of us 4 pounds or more is probably going to be what we need. Pay careful attention to density before you put money down on anything, and remember that you usually get what you pay for. If the topper you pick is a lot cheaper than everything else, it’s probably cheap material.
Whew!
I’m spent. I need to go lay down on my memory foam topper and take a nap. Does that sound good to you? Well, go get your own mattress topper then, this is my bed. That’s weird.