Tempur-Pedic mattress pads can be a good solution for people with mattresses that don’t have quite the feel they want that memory foam will give them atop their mattress. My biggest concern about any of the memory foams is the off-gassing that can occur, especially when the mattress or mattress pad is new. Another issue can be for those who keep their homes cool — memory foam conforms to your body shape after it gets warm, so you’ll have a longer adjustment period before the mattress or pad is comfortable. But Tempur-Pedic is the gold standard for memory foam mattress pads.
Tempur-Pedic is the company that popularized memory foam mattresses and other sleep products, such as Tempur-Pedic mattress pads. Actually, the company calls them overlays, but they serve the same purpose as mattress pads, and more.
Their mattress pads are three inches thick. They are useful not only as an overlay mattress pad on a conventional bed but also for campers, RVs, overnight guests, or other situations where a spare bed is temporarily needed.
Tempur-Pedic mattress pads make conventional beds almost as comfortable as the complete Tempur-Pedic Swedish Sleep System, for significantly less money. A twin size costs $532 while a king costs $948. The company cautions, though, that the mattress pads will conform to the shape of the underlying mattress. Therefore, they should not be used on mattresses with deep sags or body impressions.
These mattress pads come with a five year limited warranty, but there is no return period for “try-outs”, so once you buy, it’s yours — you can’t return it if you don’t like it and have it replaced with another one.
The memory foam used in Tempur-Pedic mattress pads and other products was developed by NASA for use in astronauts’ couches to ease the pressure of extreme G-forces. The foam is made of polyurethane that has had various thickening agents added to it to increase the foam’s viscosity. The critical feature of memory foam is that, under warmer temperatures, it softens and conforms exactly to the shape of the body pressing upon it.
High-density memory foam takes longer to conform to a shape, while low-density memory foam is softer and more pliable. Tempur-Pedic mattress pads are a good compromise between the comfort of a soft bed and the support of a firm one. The firmness of memory foam is measured by the Indentation Force Deflection (IFD), which is the force in pounds required to make a 1-inch indentation in the foam with an 8-inch diameter steel disk. IFD ratings for memory foam mattresses typically range between 12 and 16 pounds.
Memory foam was too expensive for commercial use when it first came out. Eventually, prices came down to the point that memory foam became commercially viable in hospitals and nursing homes, where memory foam mattresses are used to relieve pressure points on burns or wounds and for the prevention of bedsores.
Tempur-Pedic International, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is located in Lexington, Kentucky. Tempur-Pedic brings memory foam mattresses, pillows, and mattress pads to the general public. The company has become known as the “gold standard” of memory foam mattresses and pads; the one to whom all others are compared.
Tempur-Pedic mattress pads may seem pretty expensive for a guest bed or in a vacation camper or RV, but what value can you put on quality sleep? They are best used as overlays on relatively new, firm mattresses that will be used regularly. In truth, the Tempur-Pedic mattress pads seem to be the company’s attempt to push into the conventional mattress market. The reality is that few people are going to junk a brand-new mattress for a Tempur-Pedic mattress costing thousands of dollars, but they just might spend a few hundred more to see if their mattress pads will provide a different and higher level of comfort than their conventional mattress alone.