Memory Foam vs Normal Foam: Difference and Comparison

After a long tiring day, the one common thing that everyone does is to lay on the bed and relax their body. It is very important to choose an appropriate foam for our bed according to our body requirements.

There are various types of foam available in the market. But the commonly used foams are memory and normal foam which varies in many parameters.

Key Takeaways

1. Memory foam contours to the body’s shape, providing better pressure relief and support than normal foam.
2. Normal foam is more affordable and responds faster when pressure is applied or removed, making it feel bouncier.
3. Memory foam retains more heat than normal foam, affecting sleep quality for some individuals.

Memory Foam vs Normal Foam

Memory foam is a type of foam, that is made from elastic material. IT responds to pressure and heat, contouring to the shape of the body and providing excellent support. Normal foam is a traditional foam which is lightweight and durable. It can sometimes cause discomfort due to pressure points.

Memory foam is mainly made of polyurethane material but however to increase the density and viscosity, some other chemicals are added.

As it has a high density, these foams react easily and quickly to the body heat resulting in the change of shape whenever there is some human touch. However, the memory foam eventually regains its original structure.

Normal foam is the mattresses that are used in numerous places like houses and hotels for sleeping. It is also made of standard polyurethane and no additional chemicals are added to this.

Normal foam is recognized as foam mattresses all over the world. It is comparatively less expensive in comparison to all the other foams in the market.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Memory Foam	Normal Foam
Materials used	Memory foam is made of polyurethane material and some other chemicals.	It is only made of polyurethane material.
Cost	Memory foam is more expensive in comparison to normal foam.	Normal foam is cheaper than memory foam.
Density	Memory foam has a high density than normal foam.	Normal foam has less density than memory foam.
Quality	The quality of memory foam is comparatively lesser than normal foam.	The quality of normal foam is comparatively higher than memory foam.
Durability	Memory foam has high durability.	Normal foam comparatively has less durability.

What is Memory Foam?

Memory foam is primarily made of polyurethane material and is commonly used as mattresses or sofa cushions in many hotels and houses.

The material of polyurethane gives a soft layer and low density to the mattresses. Hence, to increase the density of the mattresses, additional chemicals are added to memory foam and commonly known as viscoelastic.

The cells inside the foam are quite open and whenever there is pressure on them, the cells open up and absorb the heat due to which the shape of the foam may change at the place where the pressure is applied.

This happens due to the high density and hence, it reacts easily to the body heat of humans. Eventually, they regain their original foam.

Memory foam is considered as expensive in comparison to any other foams in the market as they have high durability and good quality.

The material of memory foam was developed in 1966 and primarily used only to improve the safety standards and quality of the aircraft cushions. Memory foam has high demand all over the world especially for making cushions and sofas.

Hence, memory foam is helpful and highly demanded making comfortable mattresses and cushions for the sofas.

What is Normal Foam?

Normal foam is only made of polyurethane material and is commonly used for manufacturing mattresses and sofa cushions in numerous hotels and houses.

The material of polyurethane has a soft layer and less density. However, there are various varieties of foams in this and differ on the basis of density. Usually, these types of foams have a spring layer on the top.

Due to the low density of the mattresses, normal foam can be compressed very easily and the durability of these mattresses also depends on the density.

As it can be compressed easily, the mattresses had to be transported safely with extra caution and hence, increasing the shipping cost. When there is a high density in the foam, the durability of the mattresses will also be high and vice versa.

However, normal foam is really soft and the spring layer on the top adds to the comfortability of the mattresses. Even with all these outstanding features, the normal foam is cheaper in comparison to any other foams in the market.

Also, the quality of these mattresses is high. Hence, it has high demand all over the world and numerous uses. Normal foam is considered one of the best foams for manufacturing mattresses.

Main Differences Between Memory Foam and Normal Foam

1. Memory foam contains additional chemicals other than polyurethane material while normal foam does not contain any chemicals and is made of only polyurethane.
2. Memory foam has higher durability while the normal foam’s durability depends on the types of density that each variety of normal foam has.
3. Memory foam is considered expensive in comparison to normal foam as they have high durability and required other expensive chemicals for manufacturing.
4. Memory foam has a high density in comparison to normal foam.
5. Normal foam has a better quality in comparison to memory foam as they are purely made of polyurethane which is very soft.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742706116305268
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1243/095440602321029382
3. http://web.usm.my/jes/8_2012/jes-art2-15-27.pdf

Last Updated : 15 July, 2023