Smart Suggestions for Selecting Your Mattress Topper Thickness
When it comes to purchasing a new mattress topper, two questions often arise: what material should I pick, and how thick should it be? To select the topper that gives you the perfect night’s sleep, it’s important that you answer the first question before approaching the second. Today, there are many different materials used to make mattress toppers, and knowing how they act and function has a major bearing on the respective thickness for each material type.
The most popular style of bed pads are memory foam toppers. The unique, temperature-sensitive formulation of memory foam gives it the ability to alleviate pressure, creating a cloud-like cushion. However, temperature-sensitivity can pose a problem in mattresses once they reach a certain thickness. Typically, the thicker the layer of memory foam, the softer it gets. As you sink more deeply into the material, your body continues to soften deeper areas of the mattress, keeping you sinking deeper while reducing support. This is what makes seven inches of memory foam softer than three inches of memory foam placed upon a base that isn’t temperature sensitive.
Conventional materials behave in a more predictable fashion due to their non-reactive structure. At a certain point however, depending on the quality and firmness of the foam, maximum softness is reached and going any thicker doesn’t add anything but physical height to the bed. Because of the different densities and firmness values of conventional foams that are made into beds and toppers, it’s best to discuss potential performance with your retailer to give you insight before your purchase.
No matter what type of foam you select, there are still a couple rules that apply universally. Toppers that are less than two inches thick will not be strong enough to support an adult’s weight and will bottom out to the base they are placed on, providing no real benefit. Body weight also plays a role, in a common-sense fashion; heavier individuals will sink deeper into a topper. Because of this, larger people are typically suggested to use thicker and firm foam, like high-quality 4 inch foam toppers. Lighter people are able to get away with using thinner materials and should generally use softer foam to prevent a topper that is too firm, as their weight doesn’t bring them into the body of the foam like happens to heavier individuals.