Latex vs. Memory Foam: How to Choose?
Do you want to have a good sleep? Or do you want to have a pleasant mood following a night’s sleep? I guess the answer must be a “Yes”. So, what concerns me most for good sleep, must be a good pillow. A comfortable pillow is indispensable, which is beneficial to our health. Nowadays, there are various kinds of pillows on the market, especially those made of latex and memory foam. In terms of latex vs memory foam, latex is natural while memory foam is synthetic, how to choose a better one for yourself? Therefore, it is extremely important for us to learn some skills in differentiating them. They both have their own merits.
This article mainly introduces latex pillow and memory foam pillow, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, including similarities and differences between the two, namely, latex vs memory foam.
What Is Latex?
Latex refers to a colloidal emulsion formed by polymer particles dispersed in water. Latex juice can give off a fragrance that can keep many mosquitoes from approaching. When sleeping, you don’t need to worry about bitten by mosquitoes anymore. Products made with latex as raw materials become latex products, such as gloves, hoses, sponges, and toys which are common in our lives.
Natural Latex
It refers to a colloidal emulsion formed by polymer particles dispersed in water in a general sense and is also known as latex. Natural latex is a kind of raw material that grows naturally from rubber trees and relies on manual rubber tapping, collection, and processing. If you are looking for a pillow harmless to the body, this one may be a better option.
Synthetic Latex
It is generally polymerized by emulsion, such as polybutadiene latex, styrene-butadiene latex, and so on. But this kind of material may contain some hazardous substances such as PBDEs, TDCPP, or TCEP. You have to, therefore, check out its elements before buying.
Artificial Latex
It is a non-emulsion polymerized rubber latex, which is not good for people’s health.
What Is Latex Pillow?
Latex pillow is made of pure natural latex which is made from the juice extracted from natural oak and foamed at high temperature. It is breathable, hygroscopic, natural, environmentally friendly, pollution-free, non-toxic, anti-allergic, naturally antibacterial, and anti-mite. Due to its pure natural material, its service life is relatively long. Therefore, it is highly cost-effective for someone nostalgic.
Besides, the latex pillow is of such features as soft, comfortable, flexible, not easily deformed, and relatively strong. The surface of the latex pillow has more than 3000 pores and looks like a sponge cake, with which the pillow is not easily deformed or difficult to clean. Latex pillow contains nothing about infectious substances. Its gel is mild and skin-friendly.
What Is Memory Foam?
Memory foam is made from polyether polyurethane which is an open cell structure and has the characteristics of temperature-sensitive and decompression. This material itself is not good for sleep for it keeps heat. To solve this problem, some cooling gel or swirled gel are infused in the memory foam by manufacturers, which are used specifically to keep the sleeper from overheating. Later, memory foam is gradually applied to various medical and civilian products, especially those pillows filled with shredded memory foam or bamboo memory foam. So, if you sleep on a memory foam pillow, you will feel infinitely cooler.
Imported Memory Foam Material
It is made of top-grade polyurethane materials, all of which need to be imported. It is characterized by a better sense of temperature and a smooth hand feel. But it may touch wet if is not handled well by some factories. Its rebound speed is relatively slow, about 3-5 seconds so that you can sink into the pillow.
Air Inflation Memory Foam Material
It touches good and there seems to be room for gas to be squeezed inside. This kind of material adopts new technology, namely using specially imported auxiliaries to eject air so that it overcomes the defect of the previous sponge process-easy to collapse. It now belongs to a common product.
Ordinary Memory Foam Material
Its practice, feel, and rebound speed can be adjusted due to its long-term foam process.
Differences between Latex And Memory Foam
If you know the differences between latex and memory foam, you will know how to choose the best pillow for yourself or your family.
Material
Latex pillow is made from natural rubber juice. It is of ability to prevent the growth of bacteria and environmental friendly. Memory foam pillow is chemical synthesis rather than materials made of natural. Precisely, it is a kind of synthetic material, the main content of which is polyurethane. In the market, no matter it is a latex pillow or a memory foam one, it is popular.
Odor
Latex pillow emits latex fragrance when first opening it. While memory foam pillow also emits some chemical odor that will disappear after ventilating two or three days.
If you are looking for a pillow without odor, I suggest you pick a latex one, because, relatively speaking, this kind of odor does no harm to human body.
Anti-bacterial, anti-mite performance
Latex pillow and memory foam pillow have a common feature that is the ability to anti-mite and anti-bacterial, with which, you don’t need to put a pillow under the sun frequently, living a life in fear there are bacteria.
Allergy
Latex proteins can guide to establish a mites defense system after inhaled into human body through a variety of ways such as skin mucous membranes, improving immunity. Moreover, no allergic users have been reported among millions of memory foam users over the past three decades. Therefore, when you are choosing a latex pillow or a memory foam pillow, you don’t need to worry about being allergic.
Comfort level
Latex pillow is more comfortable when sleeping because of its soft texture, easing the discomfort of those elderly and bones vulnerable.
Durability
Compared to a memory foam pillow, the latex pillow is more durable due to its so good stretch that the pillow is not easily torn or deformed. Therefore, Latex owners can change their sleep positions at any time. Some with high quality can be used for more than ten years. However, memory foam pillow can easily be torn because of its slow elasticity, making its service life period shortened to five years at most.
Elasticity
Latex is immediate rebound while memory foam is slow to rebound. That means you can sink into the pillow.
Shock absorption
Latex pillow has no shock absorption and is vulnerable to external shocks such as turning around on the bed. However, a memory foam pillow is able to absorb external shocks to achieve comfortable sleep. So, if you don’t want to be bothered by others sleeping next to you, a memory foam pillow is a fine choice.
Air permeability
Memory foam has the ability to keep warm but has poor air permeability. It is hotter in summer, which is one of the disadvantages of memory foam. But, with the use of cooling gel or swirled gel, its heat dissipation ability is improved greatly so that it can cool your temperature. In summer, you can feel cooler by using this.
Supporting power
Memory foam is a heat-sensitive material. Under the effect of human body temperature and body pressure, the memory foam will dent to fit the human body, evenly distributing the body weight to all parts of the pillow, thereby reducing the pressure on the muscles of various parts of the body.
Latex also has better supporting power and allows the spine to relax naturally, and can correct poor sleep posture.
Therefore, if you want to speed up sleep, protect your spine, and relieving pressure on your body, you can consider both.
Pillow shape
Both latex and memory foam can shape into any shape through molds.
In the market, latex pillow uses more traditional shapes, while memory foam pillow uses more ergonomic shapes for neck protection, most of which are weird.
Who Is Memory Foam Pillow Good For?
People who are back-sleepers
The memory foam pillow could be the best pillow for back sleepers. This kind of pillow could maintain the original physiological curve of the spine and neck of back-sleepers, who tend to be more comfortable on memory foam pillows due to their plasticity. So the adjustable filler can help the back sleeper find the most suitable height.
People who are side sleepers and stomach sleepers
A memory foam pillow filled with shredded memory foam can offer personalized support to your head, neck, and shoulders. This kind of pillow uses its slow-rebound sponge to realize its close connection with human body. If you are side sleeper and stomach sleeper, it is the best choice for you.
People who cannot stand the heat
If you sweat a lot, have poor energy, or have poor skin, then you’d better choose a memory foam pillow. The heat dissipation function of memory foam will help you cool down and feel cooler. And its anti-mite and anti-bacteria functions will keep the pillow clean for a long time so that it can save you time.
Who Is Latex Pillow Good For?
People who are allergic
If your body is an allergic constitution, or suffer from rhinitis, the natural material of latex pillow will help you solve these problems.
Conclusion
Some people prefer to buy a memory pillow for they can adjust the height of the pillow, while others may choose latex because they have an allergic constitution body. Therefore, when purchasing a pillow, you’d better choose it according to its material, odor comfort level, and so on, or depending on your physical condition.
