Foam Mattress History and Buyers Guide

Foam Mattress History

During the late 60’s we all know that the youth of America, including myself, erupted with displeasure on how things were done. The Vietnam war fueled this fire. There was much unrest as to why we were involved in the first place. Yesterday I had a Vietnam war veteran in my showroom and I asked him if he even knew why he had fought? His answer was "they gave us a lot of reasons but none of them made any sense". I then asked him if he would like to know real reason. He immediately answered "YES".

Here’s the common answer you will find on Wiki Answers.

France controlled Vietnam up until WWII when Japan took it over. After WWII Japan was forced to give up the area. Vietnam began a strong Nationalist movement in the time that followed when France began to regain control of Vietnam. They fought up to where the line between North and South Vietnam used to exist. They later gave up after a bloody battle at Dienbenphu. Up until this point The US had merely been funding the war. The US was funding it for two reasons: one, to improve relations with France, and two, to stop the spread of communism. However after the French lost the US sent troops in (in smaller amounts at first) to keep North Vietnam from taking over South Vietnam thus making it communist. That’s pretty much how it started.

As Paul Harvey would say " and now for the rest of the story". During the early 50’s and all the way through the mid 70’s, Sears was famous for their "rubber mattresses". They were comfortable, durable and very heavy. Why not, they were made of latex rubber. Another product made with latex rubber are tires. Vietnam has some of the best rubber tree plantations in the world and French companies like Michelin laid claim to them. At the time Vietnam was considered a French Territory. But when the Vietnam government tried to nationalize the rubber tree plantations the first country the French called for help was, but of course, the good ol US of A. They wanted us to protect their investment under the disguise of thwarting communism. Once we got involved the French pretty much ran for the hills and left us holding the bag. The rest as they say is history.

The war disrupted greatly the flow of latex into the U.S. and eventually latex mattresses completely disappeared from the American marketplace around 1975. It was about that time that waterbeds became the new rage. I remember traveling from furniture show to furniture show setting up our waterbeds in hopes of attracting new store buyers. At that time the polyfoams also started to get a foothold on the bedding market. The company I worked for put the two ideas together as one. Foam edges, water in the middle. It was called a hybrid because it was a waterbed that looked just like a regular spring mattress. These beds took over the specialty bedding market from the late 70’s into the mid 80’s.

We baby boomers just did not want to settle for the traditional rock hard mattresses that the doctors and chiropractors recommended. From the mid 80’s came the "pillow top" mattress. New manufacturing techniques enabled us to make bigger, thicker mattresses. This became the newest rage plus the added bonus for manufacturers was they could now sell comfort, not durability. More frequent turnover was the name of the game. With this new found comfort came decreased durability. All that fluff will only hold up for a short period of time before it flattens out causing deep body impressions. We didn’t seem to care because sleeping on a cloud was worth the price we had to pay every couple of years to change it out for new one.

Let’s get back now to Vietnam. Natural rubber has a long history in Vietnam. The first plantation was founded in 1897, during the era of French colonialism. With the end of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese government set out to once again establish Vietnam as a major exporter of Natural Rubber.

The industry was reinvigorated by a US$ 32 million loan from the World Bank in 1996 to improve rubber latex processing technology to international standards. Rubber tree plantations are located in the tropical South of the country. The total rubber tree plantation area in Vietnam is 360,000 hectares (900,000 acres) and the average annual output of Natural Rubber is 250,000 metric tons. Vietnam’s output of Natural Rubber is growing at a rate 15% per year as additional hectares are planted and young trees reach maturity and are put into rubber latex production.

These developments helped to bring back latex mattresses to the U.S. marketplace. Latex International was the first to bring back these wonderful mattresses. I noticed an ad in our industy publication and immediately called to get my first sample. Since 1997 my company Arizona Premium Mattress Co. has specialized in these types of mattresses with no regrets.

About this same time another foam mattress started to make it’s mark in the specialty bedding.

Memory foam is a truly space age material. The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration developed the first generation of memory foam in the 1970s. Memory foam behaved like a liquid and a solid at the same time. You could press your hand into the surface of the material, and when you lifted it away, you could see your handprint lingering in the material for a short while as the material slowly resumed its original flat state. The "memory" of your hand was strong at first, and then faded with time. Realizing the ability of this new material to both cushion and support, NASA intended to use it in the space shuttle, as a way to take the edge off the G-force impact on astronauts’ bodies during lift-off.

The first generation of memory foam never got off the ground. It was too brittle and tended to break down after a year or two. NASA forgot about it.

A Swedish company closely associated with the NASA memory foam project continued tinkering around with the polyurethane compound on their own and, after ten years of further research, produced a version that wouldn’t break down over time. It was a spongy, gel-like plastic, whose composite open cells could deform under pressure, redistribute the air pockets to neighboring cells, and return. The next generation of memory foam had arrived.

Tempur-Pedic now a widely known company, started marketing the material to hospitals for mattress pads to decrease bedsore cases. Patients reported that these mattress pads markedly reduced pressure on joints while lying down, while at the same time providing all the back support they needed. Riding the waves of these rave reviews in the medical world, Tempur-Pedic introduced memory foam to the general populace in the early 1990s. It was very expensive at first, but soon other companies caught wind of memory foam’s potential, and now there are dozens and dozens of companies producing more and more memory foam products for demanding consumers every day. Prices continued to decline with increased competition but as of today, memory foam now costs more than the comparable latex foam. After all, memory foam is an oil-based derivative of polyurethane. For more information on what memory foam customers are saying go to Mattress Reviews. Warning you may be shocked at what you read.
Now for what’s happening today

Is the United States shifting it’s buying habits back to the basics? Years ago folks did not have to worry about what potentially harmful chemicals were inside their mattresses. Today, that’s not true any more. With the passage of federal law CFR 1633 manufacturers are now required to incorporate flame retardant chemicals that may or may not be healthy for consumers. As time passes I’m sure the truth will come out but this law should never have happened in the first place.

The main backers of this law were of course the major mattress manufacturers commonly referred to in my industry as the 4 s’s. They ranted and raved how this would save so many lives, especially those who smoked in bed. I say bulls—. This law had one clear intention, to make it very difficult on the mom and pop mattress shops to keep their doors open. Guess what America, they succeeded.

I have so many friends in this industry and most are like myself, a family owned company who is now struggling to keep it’s very doors open. In a downturn economy with cost of goods soaring, it’s becoming near impossible to turn a profit. Add to it the burden of having to prototype and burn each mattress model at a cost of over $500 ea. plus two confirmation burns equaling over $1500 in testing fees. Most companies offer at least 10 different models so do the math. That’s an average cost of $15,000 for each mom and pop just to comply with the new law and that does not even include the cost of manufacturing each bed for burning or transportation of all those mattresses. The overall costs can equal twice that amount.

Is the real intention of this new law becoming clear now? I just found out the one of the largest fire barrier manufactures has just closed it’s doors. Does that mean that I now have to start all over again? Retest everything since I was using their barriers in my specs? I sincerely hope not or like so many others I might have to re-think if this business is really worth it.

The desire to have a "green" or "organic" mattress is increasing to the point that we are overwhelmed with calls for such an item. We do offer such an item but as I said we are still required to put a fire barrier around our all natural latex mattresses. There is a loophole in this new law and that is with a doctor or chiropractors prescription for a non fire retardant mattress. We are encouraging all of our mattress customers to seek out such a prescription and even have a chiropractor working with us to provide such relief from governmental regulations. Who wants to be told they have to sleep on a chemically treated mattress anyway?

Bottom line is there is a solution to this problem plaguing my industry. We need to use the loopholes just like the major companies do all the time. It’s time to fight back otherwise you can kiss you mom and pop shops goodbye forever and be bound to whims of major corporations. By the way, did anyone notice the price of gas lately?

Foam Mattress Buyers Guide

# Talalay latex is the best whether all natural or blend.

# Watch out for pillow tops! I will never understand why a manufacturer would compromise the integrity of latex or memory foam by layering materials of much lower quality on top. This will cause body impressions. Not in the latex or memory foam itself, but in the pillow top.

# Choose firmness carefully. Many retailers will only offer one firmness. The heavier you are, the firmer you need and visa versa. We offer 4 firmness levels to choose from.

# Foam mattresses do not need to be more than 10″ thick. Anything more is over-kill and unnecessary materials designed for aesthetics, not functionality. Besides, it adds more weight to an already extremely heavy mattress.

# Demand to know what’s inside. Many manufacturers will put poly-foam and other fillers than can be toxic inside the mattress.

# The more expensive the better, right? Wrong. Many latex mattresses that are just now approaching 40 years in service are finally being replaced. Their simple design was what gave them their durability. If someone tries to sell you a 12″ latex mattress ask "how much of that is actual latex"? Most mattress salespersons probably don’t even know, or they will just guess. It is important to have as little other materials on top of the latex as possible. This will give your mattress increased durability. This holds true for memory foam also.

# Buy from someone who knows foam. Terminology, ILD’s, density, processes, etc. This way you know your dealing with someone can help you determine what’s best for your individual sleeping style.

# Shop price. Online will always get you the best deal. You can save hundreds if not thousands by judiciously comparing prices online. If you do buy online, just make sure the company has a money back guarantee and trial period. Foam mattresses may not be for you. The less middlemen between you and the factory, the better the price.

# Don’t buy memory foam! Latex is simply a better material, can be all natural (be sure to ask), and with the high price of oil IT’s CHEAPER!

# Compare by shopping locally first and get an idea of what firmness, style you like. Take notes on pricing, etc. Then compare online. The savings can be significant.