3 things to do to alleviate the problems of a warm mattress?

“i love this mattress leh, but i heard that memory foam and latex very warm leh, so how???”

All the different materials will have their pros and cons, and not all are made the same. So we must take note of certain things during our search for the ideal mattress, else we can only use “add-ons” to improve the conditions.

After more or less decided on the type of mattress you like, you might want to note the materials that are used to wrap the mattress. Some materials are better is dissipating heat and some are not as efficient. Most commonly used materials are as follows:-

1) Polyester

2) Bamboo fibre

3) Cotton (different variation of cotton)

Careful choice of material of the mattress fabric

Polyester are usually used in the lower end mattress, as they tend to give a less natural feel thus not as comfy as cotton. It’s a less breathable product, when not allowed to breath; your body will feel the heat faster.

Bamboo fibre, the fabric is made from the fibre of bamboo, (yeah i know its obvious), this material is more organic and are eco friendly. To some extent its antibacterial, the fabric is very soft and can be worn directly next to the skin. Bamboo also has many antibacterial qualities, which bamboo fabric is apparently able to retain, even through multiple washings. This helps to reduce bacteria that thrive on clothing and cause unpleasant odours. More importantly, it has insulating properties and will keep the wearer cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

Cotton is one of the most popular and commonly found material, be it in bed sheets or clothing. There are also numerous variation to cotton. Such as combed cotton, egyptian cotton, sateen etc. Combed cotton is an extremely soft version of cotton made by specially treating the cotton fibres before they are spun into yarn thus softer to the feel. Egyptian cotton are the standard in high quality bedding. It is considered the “king of all cottons” due to its luxurious feel and its durability. Egyptian cotton is a very breathable fabric. It also resists piling, as the cotton plants used to make it don’t produce a lot of lint. Even though new sheets may start out a little coarse, they will become softer with each washing. Thus its also one of the not so warm fabric around.

Adding a mattress protector

By adding a layer of mattress protector, it has a few advantages,

1) It will add a layer between your body and the mattress thus cushioning out some heat generated from the mattress materials.

2) At the same time it could also add the soft and comfy feel to your mattress

3) It protects your mattress from stains such as sweat, children peeing, etc.

Bed sheets

Bed sheets are one of the most important and final touch to your prized trophy after that long search for the mattress. Its the one that is in direct contact to your body and by choosing the right fabric material, it could dissipate the heat and make your sleep more comfortable. Most people talk about thread count, but most people ignore or neglect the measurement unit. Thread count refers to the number of tread running vertically and horizontally within per square unit. Most people only look at the number thinking the larger the number the better, WRONG!! Or you can say half correct.

Most importantly you must look at the unit of measurement, is it per 10cm square or per square inch (both unit are pretty common in the market). For example if the number is 300 it could measure better than one that indicates 450. Cos per square inch is about 6.45 square cm, thus having 300 per square inch is better than having 450 per 10cm square which is a larger area. Its like saying having 10 players on a basketball court is being more spacious than having 22 players on a football field?

Tread count also determine how durable the fabric, the softness and how it feels when touched.

The type of commonly found material is as per the mattress, polyester, bamboo fibre, satin, combed cotton, Egyptian cotton, etc.

Different type of mattress in singapore

There are a large number of brands of mattresses in Singapore. From the cheap sponge mattress costing less than $20 to mattresses costing more than $20,000. So one may ask what constitute to the difference and why the huge difference?

Most of the brands have different spring systems, different specs and different materials involves. Thus with all these permutations, there are more than a few hundred or even up to thousands of brands and series.

With all these different mattresses it is not hard to imagine the confusion 1 would encounter when he or she start on the journey of hunting for the best mattress for themselves. It does not help with the fact that every sales person would boast that they have the best system in the market, all these will only add to the confusion.

I always tell my customer, do not take what I say as the gospel truth, but try the mattress yourself, does it feel comfortable?

So what are some of the most common things found in the mattress? In this entry I will just cover the property of the different material, do note that every material will have different “grades”. Just like different grape from different regions will result in different grade of wine?

Foam:

Most of the people would be familiar with how foam look like, from those that we saw we open a new laptop box or a new handphone box, we would see the foam padding which is in the box to protect the phone/laptop from damage in the course of transportation.

Foam is produced in a process similar to cake baking, replacing the flour, baking powder, flavouring etc with all the chemicals. After the chemicals are added, the process is like the cake expanding (what’s the term call?) and eventually you have a big block of foam. After that is the process of cutting it to size.

Quality of foam is determined by the density (weight per cubic vol), which continues to be one of the most misunderstood properties of foams. Some people relate density to the firmness of foams, and that relationship is totally incorrect. Foams with an extremely wide range of hardness can be made at an extremely wide range of densities.

It simply means that a dense mattress may not mean it is firm and it does not mean a firm mattress would be lasting. Cos the firmness is predetermined by the quantity of a chemical A, and density is by the amount of substance B is added. Quality of foam is more about the density and not the firmness. The higher the density would mean that it is less probable to sinking and a permanent depression. A rule of thumb is how fast or how bouncy the foam bounces back upon applying pressure.

Foam basically is the fundamental to most of the mattresses, be it in the usage within mattress or the process of manufacturing, as the process is similar to a certain extent for synthetic latex and memory foam.

Rebonded foam:

It’s basically a by product of foam mattress. After foam is cut to shape and size of the required mattress, there will be excess foam from the edges which are too small for mattress or pillow, which are being crushed to pieces and compressed together to form the rebond mattresses. Thus the quality of rebond mattress tend to vary from mattress to mattress. But they are generally cheaper than similar quality foam mattress.

Natural Latex

Latex are produced from the sap of rubber trees, it‘s characteristics are hypoallergic, anti dust mite, and environmental friendly providing natural resistance to dust mites, moulds, and mildew. , The material is processed and then injected into a mould with thousands of small pins, which when withdrawn, will provide ventilation for the mattress. But the size of the holes could also be used to determined the firmness of the mattress, the bigger the more bouncy and less firm. Natural latex comes with various firmness and the good thing about it is that it conforms to the contours of our body better than a normal spring mattress. The good thing is it is not as temperature sensitive as memory foam.

Synthetic latex

One is synthetic one is natural. “wah piang…I also know..” ok ok more details on this, Synthetic latex posses similar qualities to natural latex, except the fact that chemicals are added to create elastic and conforming properties of latex. The fact that it is manmade, its not as environmental friendly and it loses the natural resistance to dust mites, moulds, and mildew. However this is overcome with the treatment of the fabric of the mattress thus adding the anti dust mite property. But the good thing is it is much cheaper than the cost of natural latex mattress. The difference in price between full natural latex and a full synthetic latex mattress could range from a few hundreds to a few thousand dollars.

Memory foam

Meamory foam a.k.a visco-elastic foam, is initially developed by NASA for space programs in the 1970s, in order to reduce pressure points experienced by astronauts. The G-forces generated during lift off caused uncomfortable sensations for astronauts in their flight chairs, and visco elastic foam was able to furnish this needed orthopaedic support. Basic composition is polyurethane with additional chemicals increasing its viscosity and density

Quality of memory foam is also measure by the density of the foam, a higher density mattress will mean it returns to position more slowly and will be firmer and it reacts to body heat, allowing it to mould to a warm human body in a few minutes; a lower density will feel more like a normal foam mattress and is pressure-sensitive and moulds quickly to the shape of the body. In some formulations, it is firmer when cooler. In general memory foam works by conforming to the natural heat and weight of the body. It adjusts itself to accommodate the various pressure points, such as the shoulder and hips, which are body areas that press hardest into the bed. Depending on which position someone sleeps in, pressure points differ.

A word of caution, for those intending to buy full memory foam mattress, do not leave babies on the mattress unattended, as the baby may have difficulty in tossing and turning around which might lead to the danger of babies suffocating.

Bonnell spring (Inner spring)

This is the most basic and common type of spring system available in singapore. The fundamental structure of all spring mattress is the in-between are springs, the top and bottom layers are the outer layers which could be foam, latex, fibre, memory foam and etc. With regards to the springs, inner-spring mattresses vary by the shape and design of the coils, the total number of coils, the gauge of the wire to construct the coils, and how the coils are connected to each other to insure long-term integrity of the mattress. It is also important to understand the composition of the outer layers, which not only could be of different material and with different permutation and combination, it could generate different effect and comfort level.

Pocketed spring

Pocketed spring was created to with fabric pockets to house each spring, rather than connecting each coil with wires. As with open-ended coils, the purpose is the have each coil work independently in responding to weight and pressure. With each spring working individually, the spring could react individually and support more points of contacts of the body. The other benefit which in my view is way overhyped, is it will reduce the disturbance caused by the tossing and turning of the partners. If you realise I highlighted “reduced” not eliminate, as there are bound to be some form of disturbance, as the top layer of the fabric wrapping around the mattress is still one piece thus there still some form of pulling when one sits on it or turn, not to forget the outer layer of the mattress.

Preparations before sourcing for furniture

Being well prepared prior to purchasing furniture could saves you time and money and also giving you more flexibility. I believe in being well prepared not only when purchasing furniture, but it applies to a lot of aspects in life. We can’t plan or be prepared for all possibilities but we can try to minimise the uncertainty.

1) Always measure the area and place where you want to place the furniture

- If possible, mark out the area of the furniture to help you visualise the amount of walking area free space available after placing the furniture

2) Do note if there are beams across the wall.

- Most HDB rooms would have a beam across 1 of the 4 walls in the room.

- It is especially important when you are buying a wardrobe as the beam would determine whether you could get a tall wardrobe or the short one?

- Sometimes for feng shui purpose it might affect whether you want to place a bed there

3) Have your floor plan ready

- The original plan, because any experienced sales person would be able to tell you the recommended size of the furniture which you could get.

- It would be useful when determining the size of the cupboard, tv cabinet or a sofa etc.

4) Things look bigger when place @ your home?

- Usually a piece would look smaller @ the showroom due to the amount of space available in the showroom, coupled with the lighting and the high ceiling, the piece of furniture might look smaller than it really is.

- High chance the furniture would look bigger when place in your house and I have heard of people saying “wah the thing look so small when I saw it at where and where, but come to my house it look so big….”

- Personally I would always ask the customer staying in how many room flats and living in which area to have a rough idea of their layout and floor area. I have seen so many customer who like those big and bulky sofa which no doubt looks good and comfortable, but upon knowing they stay in a smaller floor area house, I would always remind them and recommend them to take a 3 seater sofa only instead of the whole set of 3+1+1 or 3+2.

5) Be realistic

- Plan your budget beforehand

- Are you the type who likes to change furniture or the look of your house every now and then?

- It’s always better to give yourself ample time when purchasing furniture for maximum flexibility. You might extremely like a particular design but due to the fact that there is no stock for it, you might have to change your preference.

- Most important is not to hope for the sky when you are paying peanuts.

One real life eg is I ever encountered a customer coming in saying” I’m looking for a chest of drawers, but I have a budget cant expensive.” Thus I showed them the $100+ range, but the response was “but it look so cheap leh” when presented the more elegant and solid type $200+range, “wah so expensive arr” do you guys thinks this couple is realistic?

Everyone like “nice and cheap” but in this world, its always一分钱一分货, though the correlation may not always be 1:1.If you prefer coffee over kopi-o you also have to add another 10 cents right?