There is a fair amount of hype surrounding the natural memory foam mattress. Of course it raises the question: is it all that it is cracked up to be? Or is it just the mattress industry generating spin and trying to convince consumers to abandon perfectly good products just to take up the latest craze.
Mattress companies are well known for spin and hype. However the reason they do this is because they no longer have a unique product that speaks for itself. The market is saturated with competitors all trying to one up each other. However when a genuinely unique new style comes out it is less prone to traditional spin if it lets its benefits speak for it.
Essentia is the only company to make natural foam. The reason Essentia has garnered so much attention is that it presents a unique product to the market..
There are a number of foam producers in the game. And there are a number of producers offering organic and natural mattresses. But nobody else is offering natural foam.
Natural latex and organic cotton are the big two in the eco-friendly mattress market. Tempurpedic and other copycat manufacturers saturate the foam mattress market.
So is it worth the hype? Unfortunately the answer is yes and no, because it depends what you are looking for. Are you looking for comfort, luxury, eco-friendly or back pain benefits? Whichever is the most important to you will determine whether or not this style of mattress is worth it for you.
Natural memory foam mattresses are expensive. So to justify the price tag they better be good. The problem is foam doesn't suit everyone. For many people no memory foam mattress, made by any producer, regardless of whether it is natural or not will be suitable. The feel of memory foam is not everybodies cup of tea.
If you are after the most eco friendly mattress available then natural memory foam will disappoint. This is because it is not 100% organic. The reason is that it uses natural latex as an ingredient. Natural latex does not have organic certifications available. There simply is not a body that issues the certifications. Even if a product is organic it cannot be marketed as such. That is why Essentia market "natural foam mattresses."
There are a few reasons why natural foam does live up to the hype however. They are just as healthy and eco friendly as any other of the myriad of organic/natural mattress producers. But to be able to deliver this with a memory foam feel is quite an achievement.
Tempurpedic uses a highly toxic chemical concoction to create their product. It is that odor you smell when you open the plastic and the foam reeks of chemicals. This continues to off gas for quite some time and if you are sleeping in it you are inhaling it. The foam is luxurious and comfortable and hard to create. But until Essentia came along people did not have a healthy natural option if they wanted memory foam. You could always choose between a normal and organic cotton innerspring but not with this.
Problems exist with Tempurpedic besides just being toxic. It isn't breathable, it sleeps hot and it has a nasty smell. Natural memory foam has none of these issues.
Basically natural foam is all that it is cracked up to be if you desperately want both memory foam and natural/organic. If you just want memory foam then Essentia is just one of many. Likewise if you just want any kind of natural/organic mattress.
It is the combination of the two that makes a natural foam mattress stand out.
