Foam Mattresses

A polyurethane foam mattress (or PU) is also known as polyfoam. This is the most common type of mattress foam. It is often used as an upper comfort layer in innerspring mattresses. However, a big block of the foam can be used by itself as a polyurethane foam mattress. 

 

At this point you may be wondering if polyurethane foam is similar to memory foam. In terms of its feel then no it is quite different. Both have polyurethane in them though. The main difference between polyurethane foam and memory foam is that memory foam contains additional chemicals which increase its density and viscosity. So they are chemically related, but feel vastly different to each other. PU foam is a lot more 'bouncy' or springy than memory foam.

 

Polyurethane foam is made entirely synthetically. There is no such thing as a natural PU mattress, in contrast to latex which can be 100% natural.

 

There are three main grades of polyurethane foam. These are regular grade, high density, and high resiliency. Regular grade and high density are not suitable for an entire mattress. Instead they are often used as layers in the construction of other mattresses. 

 

The high resiliency grade of PU foam is of much higher quality. It is processed slightly differently from other two grades and comes which a much higher support factor. In fact, a truly outstanding high resiliency PU mattress can nearly begin to approach latex in terms of its comfort.

 

However, it's important to note that high resiliency PU is quite expensive and therefore not readily used. If you are looking at a polyurethane foam mattress, it is wise to assume that it is one of the lower grades unless it is specifically labelled as high resiliency PU.