Marten: Hey guys, Marten here from Mattress Clarity. It's time for the main event. In
one corner, we have the old guard, the innerspring mattress. In the other corner we have the
new challenger, the memory foam mattress.
Now which one should you get? Well, I want to talk about just that today. I want to talk
about what an innerspring mattress is, what a memory foam mattress is, the differences,
the pros and cons of each, and who should get one over the other. Let's get started.
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Marten: Let's start off with talking about what innerspring mattresses are. As I said
before, they're one of the oldest types of mattresses. They date back as far as 1871
and I like to think that my great-grandparents, my great-great-grandparents, were sleeping
on an innerspring mattress, maybe even Jesse James the famed outlaw.
People even sleep on them today. It's still a very popular type of mattress. What exactly
is an innerspring mattress? Well, I cut open the side here. No, the mattress did not come
like this. We cut it open to show you exactly what's inside an innerspring mattress. That
is going to be a coil system.
There's many different types of coil systems like pocketed coils, individually wrapped
coils, other types, but overall it's the same idea. That is, when you press into the mattress,
like a spring, it compresses and then it bounces back. They're known for being very supportive
and also very bouncy as well.
What exactly is memory foam? I'm resting on a memory foam mattress as we speak. Memory
foam was created in 1966 by Charles Yost as a NASA project. It was used in spacecrafts.
During takeoff, you see in old movies like "Moonraker," one of my favorite James Bond
movies, people's faces shake like that, right. To help comfort astronauts during that process,
they used memory foam.
Since then it has also been used for pillows, for car seats, and last but not least, memory
foam mattresses. With the mattress here, this top layer is going to be classic memory foam.
I'm going to get into the specific feel in a little bit, but for now you can see it has
that slow moving feel, slow to respond. It's very good with pressure relief, very comfortable,
and also very good with contouring as well.
What are the differences between innerspring and memory foam? First off, there are feel
differences. With innerspring you sleep more on top of the mattress, it's very responsive,
and has a little bit of bounce as well. However, with memory foam you slowly sink into the
mattress. It's going to have more of that quicksand feel.
You're going to sleep in the mattress versus sleeping on top of the innerspring mattress.
As I mentioned, it's going to be some difference in bounce. With the innerspring mattress,
very bouncy, very responsive. Memory foam though has very little bounce. You drop a
ball on memory foam, it kind of dies there.
Now I was going to speak to the ease of movement on each type of mattress. With the innerspring
mattress, again, you're sleeping on top. If you switch positions at night it's very, very
easy. However, on memory foam, especially with a thicker memory foam layer on top, you're
going to slowly sink in. It's not quite so easy to move around.
There are going to be some major support and comfort differences. With an innerspring mattress
in general, it's going to be more supportive than a memory foam mattress. On the other
hand, memory foam is known for being very, very comfortable. Better with pressure relief
than innerspring, in general.
And then last but not least, just speaking about sleep temperature, innerspring mattresses
in general are going to sleep cooler than memory foam mattresses. That is because with
an innerspring mattress you have a lot more room for air flow with those coils. They're
not going to trap quite as much heat.
Memory foam, on the other hand, is known for trapping heat. It's going to actually direct
that heat back at you and make you sleep hotter. There are some infusions that memory foam
is going to have, like gel, graphite, and copper that's going to help with heat dissipation,
so you don't sleep quite so hot on a memory foam mattress.
All that being said, it's a lot to think about when you're looking for a mattress. I want
to know what most important to you in a mattress. Is it comfort, is it support, is it cooling?
Just leave your answer in the comment section below. I want to see what everyone has to
say.
Let's talk about the benefits and the drawbacks of innerspring mattresses. First off, in regard
to benefits, there are going to be very, very supportive. Again, with those coils, they
compress under weight, they're able to handle much heavier weights. It's going to be very,
very supportive material.
Also, they're going to be more breathable, so again, a lot of room for air flow with
innerspring mattresses. They're not going to trap quite so much heat. At the same time,
there are some drawbacks to innerspring mattresses. First off, while they offer a lot of support,
they're not going to offer quite so much pressure relief.
They're going to be on the noisier side, especially as they get older. They can get squeaky, making
more noise when you're moving around at night. Speaking of moving around at night, they're
also not as good with motion transfer.
Motion transfer means if you're lying down on one side of the mattress, your partner
moves around on the other side during the night, you might feel some of that motion
if you're on an innerspring mattress versus with a memory foam mattress you're not going
to feel quite so much.
Let's talk about the benefits and the drawbacks of memory foam. First off, in terms of benefits,
they're very, very good with pressure relief. Especially on your shoulders and your hips
when you're on your side. A lot of times on a mattress you're going to feel more pressure
on your shoulders and your hips when you're in that position.
Memory foam is very, very good at relieving that pressure. It's also very good with contouring.
Especially when you're on your back. It's going to take the shape of your body, contour
the shape of your body, and feel very, very comfortable in that respect. They're also
going to be less noisy than innerspring mattresses in general.
Also, with motion transfer, they handle it much, much better. So if your partner does
move around at night, you're going to feel less of it on a memory foam mattress.
What are the drawbacks of memory foam? First off, they are known for trapping heat. I can
personally say I've slept on a lot of memory foam mattresses and they can sleep quite hot
especially if they don't have a gel infusion, a graphite infusion, or a copper infusion.
I've slept on these memory foam mattresses.
I wake up, I'm sweaty, I'm clammy. Definitely a drawback of memory foam. They're also going
to have some issues with sagging, especially if it's going to be a lower density memory
foam. Keep an eye on the density of the memory foam in your mattress. If it's lower density
it might sag pretty quickly. You're going to see some indentations in your mattress.
Last but not least, there is the issue of mobility with memory foam. Moving around a
memory foam mattress is not quite so easy as it is on an innerspring mattress. You might
feel stuck in memory foam.
I've given you a lot of information about innerspring mattresses, memory foam mattresses,
and the differences. You just want to know which one of these should you get. Well, in
terms of who should get an innerspring mattress, first off, if you are a heavier person like
me, or you want something that's more supportive, innerspring in general is going to be more
supportive than a memory foam mattress.
Also, if you like sleeping on top of your mattress as a preference, again, with a memory
foam mattress you're going to sleep more in the mattress, in the innerspring you're going
to sleep more on top. If you like sleeping on top of the mattress, go with the innerspring.
Also, if you have mobility issues and you want to move around at night, or you switch
positions between back, side, and stomach, innerspring is also going to be a better choice.
It's definitely easier to move around on an innerspring mattress because it's bouncier
and more responsive.
Last but not least, just speaking of sleep temperature, I think innerspring is definitely
the way to go. It's going to sleep cooler than memory foam in general. Again, a lot
more room for air flow, with those coils. so you should sleep cooler on an innerspring
mattress.
Who should get a memory foam mattress? First off, do you like sinking into your mattress?
Sleeping inside your mattress versus on top of it? I would go with memory foam. With memory
foam you slowly sink in, feel the mattress envelope you, contour the curves of your body.
If you like that feel, go with memory foam.
It's also a very, very good choice for side sleepers. Memory foam is very good with pressure
relief. If you're lying on a memory foam mattress, especially with a thick memory foam layer,
you're on your side, you're going to feel very, very little pressure on your shoulders
and your hips. It's also a good option for people who have pain issues.
If you do have pain issues, joint issue, this could be a good option for you as well. Last
but not least, if you sleep with a partner, I would definitely go with memory foam. Memory
foam is very good at handling motion transfer. If you're lying down on one side of the mattress,
your partner moves around on the other side, you should feel fewer of those movements on
a memory foam mattress.
Who do you think won, innerspring or memory foam? It's actually all up to you. At this
point you should know which type of mattress is right for you. If you're still a little
bit confused though, you want a personal recommendation, just leave a comment below.
If you want more information about innerspring mattresses or memory foam mattresses, definitely
check out our full written article on mattressclarity.com. We also do a lot of videos just like this.
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