Tempur® hate it when you refer to their products as Memory Foam. .. Oh no, no, no. It’s NOT memory foam – It is a temperature sensitive pressure relieving material. And because of this they come down on you like a ton of bricks if you dare to compare their product against something similar… as we have personally found out in the past!!
So who and what is Tempur?
Tempur-Pedic International Inc is credited to be the company who trialled and developed so called memory foam and through extensive advertising and promotion brought the worlds attention to the benefits of this ‘pressure relieving material’. Although the material was developed in the 1970s by NASA, it wasn’t until the early 90s, before Tempur launched this Space Foam Technlogy for the domestic market.
Note: I acknowledge that the original companies involved – Dan Foam and Fagerdala World Foams contribution resulted in what is now known to be Tempur World Inc. I use Tempur as a reference to their mattress range and product.
How Much?
Tempur have several different models with the 20cm ‘Original’ retailing at over £1500 (double) or 22cm Deluxe retailing at over £1700 (Double). High end stores will have other models such as The Celebrity and The Sensation with an equally offensive retail price.
Bloomin eck!
“Perceived Quality” is a sales technique whereby a purchasing decision is made purely based on price. You are going to assume that the higher priced item is going to be a better quality product. If a shop has two mattresses side by side – say for example a Tempur mattress and an Ergo-Flex mattress that can be compared as a like for like option – the price asked then becomes the final decisive factor…
If a retailer or manufacturer has the balls to ask over £1500 for a product when there are equivalents available for roughly a third of the price, you are going to assume that the quality must be two thirds better – But Is it?
Is Tempur any ‘better‘ than the other manufacturers?
Better Quality? A Tempur mattress is recognised to be the market leader, no doubt about it. but this does not mean it will suit everybody. Their ‘material’ has a general density of 85kg/m3 whereas in comparison British Vita Vasco foams have a general density of around 55-60. But .. British Vita (and other foam converting companies) do have comparable products with densities in excess of 80kg/m3
Better Value? It is understood that in (their words) a standard test (draw your own conclusions as to what this means) the thickness loss of Tempur after 80,000 compressions is less than 5 percent compared to approximately 10-15 percent for a highly elastic polyurethane foam.
Personally I would want to know if a like for like ‘foam’ was used in the test – say a close matched 80 – 85kg/m3 – but cannot find this essential piece of info.
I do draw your attention to a clause in Tempur’s guarantee that states any indentation of less than 2cm will NOT be considered a reason for claim. Be aware that as a general rule from ALL manufacturers, visible and permanent indentations in memory foam of less than 2 – 2.5cm will not be seen as a defect in the mattress. A quick search on the internet will throw up many consumers complaints that it is this very visible indentation that causes them most concern.
During the summer / autumn 2011 Tempur plan to do a massive advertising campaign with the intention of increasing floor models in all the showrooms that stock their products. There are currently in excess of 700 outlets in the UK that do so.
Read our other related articles:
All About Memory Foam
Fabrics used on Memory Foam
Latex as a comfort layer
