Many people are buying memory foam mattresses online these days and it can either be the best thing you've ever done, or the worst possible decision you've ever made.
It all depends on you knowing what to look for when you buy.
There are 4 major things you'll need to ask in order not to be disappointed with your purchase:
What country did the memory foam come from?
What is the density of the foam?
How thick is the top layer of memory foam?
Is there a low risk sleep test period that's guaranteed by a reputable company?
1. What Country Did the Foam Come From?
This is actually the most crucial of the four questions because it will determine your whole experience.
You may have heard that memory foam sleeps hot or that it stinks. These are real concerns if you buy memory foam that's made from outside the U.S.
In foreign countries, there are very few regulations about what chemicals can go into products.
You may end up with a mattress that contains PBDEs, CFCs, formaldehyde and who knows what else.
This could make your experience equivalent to sleeping on a toxic waste dump.
Mattresses made from foam produced in the U.S. are free from these toxic chemicals and no evidence exists that sleeping on these mattresses cause any health issues.
Another drawback of foreign foam is that it can have a pungent odor that will never go away.
So again, the most important question when you want to know how to buy a memory foam mattress online is going to be what country was the foam made in.
2. What is the Density of the Foam?
Foam density is directly related to two very important things
Density determines how much support the foam will furnish to your sleeping body as well as how long your memory foam mattress will last.
The ideal densities are in the 5 lb. range.
If you're on a budget, don't be afraid to try a 4 lb. mattress but realize you won't get as good support and it won't last as long as a denser product.
3. How Thick is the Top Layer of the Memory Foam?
These types of mattresses are made up of layers of differing kinds of foam.
The top layer is made of memory foam and the other layers can be a mixture of various foams that are put together to support the top layer(s).
That's one of the big reasons you never flip this kind of mattress. You'd be sleeping on the base foam instead of the temperature-sensitive foam you're supposed to be sleeping on.
If you're under 200 lbs., you can probably consider a mattress that has only a 3 to 3-1/2 inch layer of memory foam on top.
If you're over 200 lbs., you want 4 inches or more of memory foam to keep you from bottoming out onto the base foam.
4. Is There a Low Risk Way to Try the Mattress?
When you buy, you should only buy from a reputable company that offers a test period where you can return the mattress with little to no expense to you.
If a company isn't willing to offer this type of guarantee, you don't want to buy from them no matter how much you think it's okay to do so.
There is a reason why they're not willing to let you return your mattress for a refund, and you probably won't know until you try it out.
A reasonable amount of time would be a minimum of 30 days. Most people will know within that time if they want to keep the mattress or not.
There are many more consideration that you may want to know before buying a
memory foam mattress online, but these 4 questions are the most important.
