Do you wish to purchase a new mattress from reputable mattress brand like sleepwell, wakefit, springtek or any other brand in order to alleviate your back pain?
If you answered yes, you should opt for mattresses made primarily of HR foam. However, PU foam as the core layer should be considered if you want the softest mattress possible.
Despite the fact that both foam varieties are made of polyurethane, their characteristics are vastly different. As a result, we will compare HR foam and PU foam in depth in this article.
With this comparison, ‘HR Foam vs PU foam’, you’ll be able to choose which foam material is best for you and your body’s demands.
What is HR Foam?
High resilience (HR) foam is a type of polyurethane(PU) foam that is far more responsive than memory foam, which is slower. As a result, folks who prefer a higher level of bounce in their mattress will choose this type of foam.
High-resilience foams aren’t as well-known as memory foam, yet they’re a crucial component in many popular mattresses. The transitional layer or base layer of memory foam mattresses frequently contains high-density, high-resilience foam.
This results in a more consistent sensation across the mattress and less sinking than memory foam alone. HR foam’s uneven structure and porosity make the beds light and incredibly comfortable while also providing excellent ventilation to keep mold and fungi at bay for better cleanliness.
For allergy sufferers, HR foam mattresses are ideal. HR foam recovers its original shape twice as quickly as conventional mattress foam following compression, ensuring optimal and healthy spine support while you sleep.
Choosing a sleeping mattress with HR foam adds a touch of luxury to your home decor as well as to the lives of people who use it.
Like other polyurethane foam, high resilience foam is made up of a polyurethane blend and tends to off-gas. If you have a history of lung problems, you should conduct further research on the quality of foams before purchasing.
Advantages of HR Foam
High-resilience foam has a number of advantages that make it ideal for a variety of applications. I’ve listed a few advantages here.
1. Comfort
High resilience foams are a wonderful choice for clients who want a firm and long-lasting mattress.
The open cell structure of these foams, rather than the closed-cell structure of closed-cell foams, allows the mattress to maintain a bouncy feel, and while it spreads and distributes weight well, it doesn’t allow much motion transmission from one side to the other.
2. Durability
High-resilience foams are frequently utilized in furniture that gets a lot of use. Particularly in public settings like bus sitting and public building benches.
This is because high resilience foams endure significantly longer than standard foams due to their high flexibility and durability.
3. Cost
Include cost as an advantage because all mattresses are expensive, but high resiliency foam is a worthy investment in the right conditions. High resilience foams are more expensive, which is why consumers looking for a long-term item with high durability choose them.
Customers believe that high resilience mattresses are worth investing in because of their durability and ability to retain performance for up to 10 years or more.
4. Firmness and density
Any foam’s density and stiffness are critical characteristics. In a nutshell, firmness refers to how “soft” the foam is, whereas density refers to how weighty the foam is and is a sign of quality and durability.
5. Maintains its shape and form
High-resilient foam furniture, such as couches and beds, is an excellent example. High-resilience foams offer a lot of flexibility and reactivity. This implies that, even after a lot of use, you won’t have body imprints, damaged springs, or flattened-out furniture for a long time.
6. Orthopedic benefits
High-resilience mattresses are exceptionally pleasant, but do they offer any other advantages besides comfort and durability?
High resilience foams provide proper weight distribution and support due to their greater rate of flexibility. As a result, they can be employed for a variety of orthopedic applications.
In the bedding industry, orthopedic mattresses (check which mattress is good for health) refer to mattresses that assist proper sleeping posture, joints, and pain treatment.
Reasons to Avoid HR Foam
High-resilience foam has some disadvantages, which I will list and discuss here.
1. Off-gassing
Off-gassing is a typical concern with polyurethane-based foams. The breakdown of volatile organic chemicals in mattresses is referred to as off-gassing (VOCs). The mattress may emit foul odors as a result of this breakdown.
This is one of the most significant disadvantages of high-resilient foams, and it may be a cause for concern for persons with a sensitive sense of smell or those who have recurrent respiratory difficulties.
While the off-gassing impact is most noticeable at first and is usually only transitory, it is something to keep in mind.
2. Offers Give and Bounce
High-resilience mattresses can be a pain for light sleepers, especially if they share a bed with a partner. This is because these forms, with their close cell structures, can be more bouncy than, say, a memory foam mattress.
While bounce is a plus for some, it might interrupt sleeping patterns for others until they become accustomed to it.
While weight distribution is beneficial, it can also make the mattress susceptible to motion transfer, which is present even if it isn’t excessive. High resilience foams may not be right for you if you’re a light sleeper with a companion that moves about a lot.
3. Cost
Yes, I’ve included this as an advantage because high resilience foams, while not overly expensive and well worth it for their durability, are still on the pricey side of the foam spectrum.
Despite the fact that being slightly more expensive is a drawback, the foam proves its worth over time by delivering incredible comfort, support, and product longevity.
So, if you’re unsure or afraid to buy a high resilient product because of the price, whether it’s a sofa or a mattress, keep the highlighted benefits in mind, and consider buying things with high resilience foam as an investment, as you won’t have to replace them anytime soon.
What is PU Foam
Polyurethane Foam (also known as poly-foam) is the cheapest and poorest-quality foam found in mattresses and mattress toppers. Polyurethane foam is most commonly associated with sofa cushions and low-cost “egg crate” mattress toppers.
Petrochemical-derived compounds make up the majority of polyurethane foam. The most basic type of foam material utilized in mattress manufacture is PU foam. When compared to other types of foam material, they are usually thinner.
Furthermore, the bounce factor is quite low because the foam has very no resilience. On the other hand, PU, or ordinary polyurethane foam is noted for its suppleness.
The top layer of many spring mattresses is polyurethane foam. This is done mostly due to the low cost of polyurethane rather than its superior quality.
Many online mattress retailers like Duroflex, sleepycat, Kurlon have lately switched from employing spring coils to using polyurethane foam as a base layer. Due to its low density, polyurethane foam is extremely easy to compress.
This saves money on shipping for many online mattress vendors, but it also means that many of these mattresses last only a few months.
Polyurethane foam comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and densities. Higher-density polyurethane foam is more durable in general, but low-density polyurethane foam degrades quickly (sometimes within a year).
Latex foam and memory foam are denser than high-density polyurethane foam. Any polyurethane foam, regardless of density, will decay more quickly than any decent latex foam.
Advantages of PU Foam
1. Abrasion Resistance
Wear and tear are not a problem with PU foam because it is an abrasion-resistant substance. As a result, it’s a great choice for support and sandwiching between layers of hybrid mattresses. When the foam layers rub against each other due to movement, thin layers of PU Foam in between protect them from wearing out.
Because of its abrasion resistance, PU foam is an excellent sandwich layer between different foam layers, allowing the mattress to function at its best for a long time.
PU Foam works as an abrasion-resistant layer between the innerspring and other foam layers in ultra-luxury or hospitality mattresses, and it also aids in heat regulation.
2. Temperature Regulation
PU foam can help with temperature regulation with the right density and cell size. When it stays hotter in general, you can count on PU Foam to keep you warm while you sleep, and higher density contributes to this.
Despite its small cell size, PU foam is less effective at air control and retains moisture and body heat. So, depending on its density and production, PU foam is only effective for temperature regulation and insulation.
3. Comfort Enhancement
Although the density of PU Foam as a mattress varies, it is soft by nature. It makes a fantastic comfort layer in most mattresses because of its suppleness.
In mattresses, PU Foam layers (both thick and thin) are used to provide comfort and decrease the impact of more stiff layers. PU Foam and memory foam mattresses are ideal choices for quilting and comfort layers in orthopedic and even high-end mattresses.
4. Density And Variety
PU foam is typically soft, although its density varies due to its nature as a foam. Larger pores are also available in high-density PU foam, which may provide a harder feel, and smaller pores are also available.
However, this would result in a material that is comparable to memory foam and would fall somewhere in the middle of PU foam and memory foam.
5. Inexpensive
PU foam is a cost-effective material, and PU foam as a mattress layer is no exception. It’s simple to make; however, the density variation could raise the cost component.
Furthermore, PU foam has been used in most mattresses throughout the last century, and as a result, it is widely available. If you’re looking for a low-cost mattress, it’ll almost certainly feature numerous layers of PU foam.
Reasons To Avoid PU Foam
1. Insulation
The temperature regulation and insulation of PU foam mattresses vary depending on the material density. Sleeping on PU foam mattresses or comfort layers, on the other hand, would be slightly hotter. PU foam, unlike memory foam, does not hug your body and hence does not warm you.
This might cause pain, especially for those who favor the opposite environment. On the other hand, PU foam is utilized as a quilting material and as a high-density layer to help with temperature regulation.
PU foam can retain body heat due to poor ventilation despite wider pores, making it an unsuitable choice for persons who want to sleep cool. Low-density or large-pore materials can be found in several cases.
2. Poor Support
The majority of PU foam on the market is designed to provide a more comfortable experience than support. Despite having high density, a mattress made entirely of PU foam would not provide good support.
Yes, it can be utilized in the core layer of some mattresses, but it has to be very high-density to be useful for support and requires special manufacture. Because of its softer nature, PU foam is not suited for body support; instead, high-density memory or latex foam are preferable options.
3. Odors
PU foam is one of the most basic foam materials on the market, and its high price is due in part to some producers’ poor quality or low-density alternatives.
PU foam, regardless of density, is a bad choice for a clean sleeping environment since it has poor ventilation and bigger pores, resulting in an overwhelming stench.
It collects sweat and body fluids and can serve as a breeding ground for bacteria, necessitating frequent vacuuming or expensive upkeep and treatment. Furthermore, PU foam collects allergens, dust, and other particles, adding to the list of off-gassing and odors.
HR Foam Vs PU Foam: The Real Difference
1. Comfort
Because PU foam provides additional comfort, it is used at the top of the mattress layers. It is quite soft and adds to the product’s plushness. HR foam, on the other hand, is denser and has a higher density. It’s for this reason that it’s employed as a support layer.
2. Price
The cost of both of the foams is pretty good and affordable. But HR foams, due to their durability, might be expensive in certain cases. Whereas PU foams are inexpensive and the most used mattress during the last year.
3. Durability
Because the substance is made entirely of polyurethane, soft PU foam is less durable. However, HR foam, which has the highest durability of all-foam kinds, is used to boost the total mattress’s durability.
The PU foam layer has a shorter lifespan because it sags quickly when compression forces from above exceed the threshold limit. On the other hand, if you use the mattress according to the manufacturer’s guidelines, the HR foam will last longer.
4. Firmness Of The Mattress
The PU foam is very soft and has a low firmness. However, because it ranges from 3 to 4.5 on the firmness scale, it’s not suited for persons with orthopedic issues.
Because of its high firmness level, which is usually greater than seven, the HR foam is a good choice if you want a mattress that can support your body posture while also relieving back pain.
5. Sizes Available
Foams come in various sizes such as Queen, King, Twin, Hospital, etc. HR comes in a number of sizes, such as 4-inch foam, 6-inch foam, etc. Whereas PU foams are pretty versatile too. They come in a variety of sizes, such as 4 inches, 6 inches, etc. These foams can be customized as per the customer’s choice as well
Which Is Preferable: HR Foam Vs PU Foam
It’s difficult to say if HR foam or PU foam is preferable. The final decision is based on your body’s needs. Because of its increased firmness, the HR foam is the greatest solution for relieving chronic back pain.
PU foam is preferable for sleepers who want to appreciate the plushness and coziness of the bedding material plushness and coziness. HR foam will endure longer than PU foam in terms of durability. If cost is a consideration, go with the PU foam mattress.