Memory Foam Mattress or Mattress Pad?
If you have been wishing that you had a memory foam mattress, but you simply cannot afford one right now, then the memory foam mattress pad is a great alternative. However, before investing any money in a memory foam mattress topper instead of a memory foam mattress, there are a few things that you should consider.
While it may seem like a memory foam mattress topper should last every bit as long as a full memory foam mattress, it generally does not. Not even the top of the line Tempur-Pedic toppers last as long as their memory foam mattresses, and there are several reasons why. Memory foam mattresses are normally only a couple of inches thick, which is much thinner than what you will find in a mattress. As the foam cells at the top of the foam crumble, there are no additional layers of foam to take their place and maintain support.
Depending on the condition of your current mattress, your memory foam mattress topper may be doomed from the start. If your current mattress is already sagging and worn, your mattress topper will adopt this same condition, and soon enough it will become permanent. The topper will also wear out more quickly for heavy people than for average weight people. While a memory mattress has a highly resilient core, the topper rests on an existing mattress allowing the cells to be more easily crushed.
And finally most memory foam toppers are not made of the same quality grade viscoelastic material as mattresses. If they were manufactured with the same level of foam that the bed uses, they would be almost the same cost as a bed. And then there are times when it really is just time for a new bed. When your current mattress has lumps or sags, is overly hard or soft, or is simply worn out, then putting a memory foam topper on top of a spent mattress is just throwing money out of the window. At this point it is time to invest in a new mattress.
So whether it makes more sense for you to a get a new memory foam mattress or simply a mattress pad completely depends on what you have and what you are looking for.