To Gel, or Not to Gel

That is the question.  Gels have been with us for years, but Serta was the first major company to sell mattresses infused with gel.  Is it all hype?  Or does it really work?  Today we would like to explore this question.

The short answer is yes it does seem to work.  When you add gel to memory foam as Serta does, the gel does two things.  First it does help make the sleep surface cooler, and second the gel does enhance the support in the memory foam.

Memory foam is too soft to be the support of a mattress.  Without the proper support underneath the memory foam you would not like it.  All memory foam makers put memory foam over the top of other substances.  We typically see it over other foam.  But some have installed it on top of Innerspring, while others have used it over an air technology. 

All foam has received bad marks for the temperature control for the sleeper.  In an original Innerspring, there was just a thin layer of comfort materials above the springs.  This allowed a lot of air to move past the surface, and that air would take the heat with it.  Tempurpedic is probably the most successful of the memory foam makers, but if you search for what people say about it, heat is always close to the top.  Keep in mind that even they have recognized the heat issue, and have made good strides to make it better.  The memory foams of today are significantly better than the earlier versions. 

So when Serta was launching their gel memory foam, we were interested, and as a mattress retailer we were invited to a show.  We were amazed with the feel and the coolness of the bed.  Apparently so where customers.  Anytime there is a successful product, others will join the market.  Our vendor, Comfortaire released their version about a year ago and more recently expanded the line.  The gel in these beds remains cool, and we have heard that it can affect the temperature by three or more degrees. 

But is gel all you should consider?  No, the entire bed can make your experience better.  For instance, what is over the top of the bed will affect temperature.  There are Tencil fabrics, bamboo fabrics and even engineered products like Outlast or Cool Max.  All of these will enhance the performance of the bed.  Another consideration is whether or not the top is quilted.  Quilted tops do allow air to move right at the surface and that can keep you cooler as well.  Quilted tops also help with your movement on top of the bed.  The trade off is that it changes the feel of the bed, but not necessarily in a bad way.



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But what of the base foam that the gel is infused in?  Most makers of fine mattresses are using memory foam.  Memory foams popularity began when Tempurpedic introduced their beds in the late 1980s.  It was a mistake in the research arm of NASA, and while it never went to space, it has made things better for us earthlings.  As with all things, as time goes by, the substance is improved.  But there are other gel infused foams.  Recently we found gel latex.  This is remarkable stuff, and could be the next big thing in mattresses.  Latex is not as soft as memory foam.  Latex is more resilient than memory foam.  And it has a firmer feel than memory foam.  The bed we found has infused gel in talalay latex.  Talalay is a process for making foam that actually leaves holes in the finished product.  It looks a lot like a sheet of peg board, with holes every inch or so.  These holes generally go through the foam.  So what is the point of these holes? 

The holes are part of the manufacturing process.  But these holes do allow massive amounts of air to filter through the material.  And remember the Innerspring example?  More air makes for a cooler sleep.  Our newest vendor has infused gel in to the talalay to make it even better.  As we searched for "Better Beds" we are liking this new technology. 

We hope to bring these beds into our store very soon.  Our requirements are for the bed to be long lasting, which this product is, the expectations are that they will out last similar memory foam beds.  That the bed perform better than other models, this one is too new to tell, but early tests suggest it will.  And that the bed is affordable, and that is absolutely true in the case of this bed, our Queen size is set to retail at a sale price of under $1300, for the medium firm version!  And the bed must be attractive.  If you would like updates on when they will be available to test drive, 'Follow Us' on Twitter.  'Like Us" on Face Book, or 'Join our Circle" on Google+, or just watch our web site for updates.  And as always...

Sleep Well!