Olga

Memory Foam is a heat sensitive, visco-elastic polyurethane foam originally developed in the 1970's by a Swedish company (Tempur-Pedic®) for NASA. NASA was interested in this "memory foam" because of its ability to distribute pressure across an entire surface.

This eases the extreme G-forces that astronauts experience during take-off and landing. Memory foam was later repurposed to be used in medical applications, especially in cases where patients suffered from pressure bed sores or had to be confined to a bed for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, it was too expensive for use by the general public.

Within the last 10 years, visco-elastic memory foam has become much cheaper to produce and is now freely available to consumers for home use. Currently, the most popular products that use memory foam are mattresses, pillows and mattress toppers, however many other applications are being developed.


At room temperature, memory foam is harder than at skin/body temperature, which causes it to soften on contact and mold itself to the shape of a warm body within a few minutes. The foam also holds its shape temporarily - a hand pressed into memory foam will leave a clear impression when removed. A memory foam mattress is much denser than an inner-spring mattress, so it is much more supportive, but also much heavier.


The two main brands of memory foam readily available are Isotonic® and Tempur-Pedic®.

However there are many other quality alternatives on the market at a better price. These alternatives often meet or exceed the quality standards of Isotonic® and Tempur-Pedic®.