Would you spend a thousand dollars on a new mattress if you didn’t have to? Purchasing a memory foam mattress topper can be a perfect way to extend the life of your mattress while saving money to buy a new mattress in one, two, or five years.

Nuts and bolts

How does memory foam work and why should you bother? This amazing foam was developed by NASA in the 1960s. They wanted better cushions for astronaut seats. Twenty years later, Tempur-Pedic began manufacturing memory foam. These days there are tons of companies to think about. Foam works like this: the little cells in the foam compress when you press on them. And unlike regular foam, they “remember” to stay compressed. Regular foam is springy and dry. It tugs at you, if you sit on it with bare skin. It’s not stretchy and feels wet, somehow. It also feels a bit sticky, but the texture is different, not abrasive like regular foam is.

Memory foam cells flatten in response to your body’s weight and heat. But they work independently of each other. For example, if you place your hand on it, fingers open, the foam compresses only where it’s actually making contact. This is amazing news for people with back pain. The foam relieves pressure points by supporting only those areas in contact with the bed.

dollars and sense

Now that you know how it works, here’s why it’s an inexpensive option, too. You could spend anywhere from $500 to a thousand dollars on a new mattress. What if I told you that you could spend $200 and have a better sleeping experience? That is the miracle of viscoelastic. A topper is a great choice. He fits over his existing bed and essentially has a new mattress.

There are even cheaper toppers on the market. You could walk into a Target right now and walk out with a $50 foam cover. It will last a while, probably a year, and you will notice a difference in your sleep. The reason I say it will last a year is that an inexpensive cover like that is probably only an inch or so thick and the foam itself will be lightweight. The thicker the topper and heavier the memory foam, the better. It is as you would expect: it will cost you more money. The thicker and heavier, the more expensive because the company had to use more materials to create the foam.