Which mattress is better: cotton or foam?
Knowing which mattress is better - cotton or foam - is very important. To do this, it is necessary to compare the service life and other characteristics. And also it is worth paying attention to which type is pressed through faster.
Which one will last longer?
Cotton and foam mattresses belong to the same budget category. However, they still have to serve people for a long time, and it is necessary to find out which option best meets this requirement. The cotton wool in mattresses is the same as used for making clothes. Therefore, it is hardly worth counting on long-term operation. The worst models will not last even six months if you use them constantly.
Only a very careful selection of cotton wool in production can slightly compensate for its negative properties. As for the foam rubber, its modern samples are much more perfect than the material of the 1970s, familiar to many. Manufacturing technologies have gone far ahead. But all the same, one cannot count on long-term use.
Under the influence of even a small amount of moisture, the foam rubber breaks down even faster, therefore, for mattresses, not simple, but specialized foam rubber should be used.
Which ones push through faster?
With wadded models, everything is more or less clear. They will wear out in 2 or 3 months of constant use. Foam rubber can have different hardness. This indicator depends on the quality of processing of raw materials in production. But all the same, foam rubber products win (sometimes) in terms of the shelf life of geometric properties only from those filled with cotton wool, and invariably lose to other materials.
Comparison of other characteristics
But the operating time is not all that you need to know in order to say - a wadded mattress or a foam rubber copy is better. High quality wadding means a fairly high total weight. So, with a size of 1600x1900 mm, it cannot be less than 13 kg. If we are talking about a 700x1900 mm model, then the weight is about 5 kg. Lighter samples are deliberately unreliable and released in violation of technological standards.
An argument often made in favor of cotton wool is naturalness... However, everything is not so simple here. No matter how clean the cotton pad is in production, it does not fully meet the hygienic requirements. Any moisture, including sweat, will be abundantly absorbed into it. This often causes serious inconvenience, the appearance of foreign odors and bacterial, fungal colonies.
Weathering is impossible or very difficult due to the structure of the material itself, its physicochemical properties... In addition, the cotton wool rolls into lumps pretty soon. No tricks of the manufacturers can avoid this for any long time. The formal operating time of up to 5 years, mentioned by a number of manufacturers, does not refer to the "filling" of the mattress, but rather to its shell. Taking into account the likelihood of a violation of posture, we can say that the real advantage of cotton wool will only be an affordable cost.
Foam products are easier to carry and transport than cotton models. They are simply lighter and more compact. This solution is also praised for its softness and elasticity. Punching also occurs quickly, as mentioned earlier. But at the same time, you can not be afraid that the filler will go astray.
Foam rubber, even of the best grades, is highly flammable. It is classified as a fire hazardous material.
The foam mattress is easy to clean and dry.
This circumstance has long made it an almost irreplaceable solution in medical and tourism practice. Wadded models have to be ventilated in the open air for several hours.
In a hike and in other situations requiring fast movement, this is no longer acceptable. In addition, even the most unassuming tourists are unlikely to like the impossibility of cleaning the product completely. In the original factory form, cotton wool and foam rubber approximately coincide in softness and elasticity. You won't have to fall into them or feel some kind of rigidity. Both materials have good thermal insulation properties.
That is, for most of the year, you can even put them on the ground and not worry. Important: This level of thermal protection is maintained as long as the base filler is in good condition.
The appearance of the product can be equally varied. You just have to choose a model with a visually suitable mattress cover. The material of the mattress topper does not depend on the filling.
It is worth considering that wadded mattresses can be produced in different ways. Large manufacturers actively use automatic industrial lines. But completely manual production is much better in quality. Their products allow us to guarantee the longest possible operation as possible. And also it is worth considering the difference between the types of cotton wool in terms of the ratio of short and long fibers.
