A Tempur mattress may be one of the most important purchases you’ll ever make. So would any other brand. It’s difficult parting with all that money without trying it first. So what options have you got? Home-trials and in-store trials.
The most obvious way to try a Tempur foam mattress — apart from paying a visit to unsuspecting friends who own one — is to find a local store stocking Tempurpedic and other brands. But in-store trials of visco memory mattresses are only half relevant and here’s why.
In-Store Tempur Tryouts
These next two factors explain how Tempur mattresses behave when you try them in store:
- First of all, all Tempur matresses use heat-responsive viscoelastic foam which softens in warmer environments and gets firmer when cooler.
- A brand new Tempur bed or mattress also has a ‘breakin’ period. Until it ‘gives in’ a bit, the visco mattress may feel harder than you may like.
First thing to do during in-store tryouts is to gently lie down on the viscoelastic mattress. Don’t throw yourself onto it as you would with a spring bed.
In order for memoryfoam mattresses to absorb shock like they do, the open cells within respond with stiffness at the time of impact. It’s how the technology was designed. Basically, the harder you throw yourself onto the Tempur mattress, the stiffer it may feel. It also takes a few minutes for the memory mattress to soften and ‘settle’ so don’t stand up right away. Relax and let your body heat soften and flow around you.
What May Go Wrong When Trying Tempur Mattresses In Store
Many people make their mind up the moment they lie down on the visco mattress. Sadly, in-store tryouts are not the most relevant test for Tempur-style mattresses and here’s why:
- The showroom may be cooler than your bedroom which makes the Tempur bed feel firmer than it would in your own home.
- The store may be warmer than your normal sleeping environment which makes visco mattresses feel too soft and squishy.
- You cannot tell how many people tried the mattress or bed before you did. Months worth of tryouts make memory mattresss feel too soft for comfort (one thing to remember is that all visco elastic foam mattresses soften in time. The best memory mattresses, however, soften without losing support).
Visco foam like that used in Tempur beds is unlike any other sleeping surface. Unless you’re already sleeping on one, sleeping on a viscoelastic mattress for the first time will feel very different, even weird to some people.
Tempur foam and all other memory foams responsive to body heat require an adjustment period. They were designed to give a feeling of melting weightlessness and very few people can successfully adjust to it during an in-store trial.
In-store trials are useful in as much as they make the Tempur technology familiar to you. Only several nights’ sleep on visco foam mattresses, however, will tell you if they are the right sleeping surface for you. Some people take as much as 2-4 weeks to adjust and of course, some people never do.
To sum up, you may not like the feeling of memory foam mattresses when trying them in store. Unless the reason is sound (not suitable for a medical condition that you may have or lack of proper support), in-store trials are usually not the best way to test a Tempur mattress or bed. The best way to try a mattress is during a home trial.