Here is a typical quote from a mattress website. You’ll see the same thing on almost every mattress website.   “Escape overheating with our next-gen mattress. Enjoy superior airflow, maximum breathability, and the luxurious sensation of weightless relaxation. Our Graphite Memory Foam cradles your body while expertly wicking away heat, ensuring a blissfully relaxed night’s sleep.”   There is zero helpful information here. But I’ll break it down regardless. Enjoy superior airflow – this is nonsense Maximum breathability – They said the same thing twice: nonsense Graphite Memory Foam – Throw some colour in the foam mix and brand it as “graphite”.    I’d rather not analyze this further because it’s clear that all these companies are trying to set themselves apart from the competition by using different terms to describe their foam. Here’s how it works: the factory in China emails their clients and says, “Hey, we have this new material for your mattress. It’s this black-coloured foam, and we call it ‘graphite foam.’ It will look great in the pictures and make you stand out from your competitors.” The mattress company responds, “That sounds great; make me a new version of my mattress, and I’ll increase the price.” It’s just another marketing story to sell cheap plastic foam.     The companies that do this aren’t evil or anything like that. They are the norm. They are just following their peers in the industry. Almost all of them do the same thing.    On this page, I’m only showing you that these marketing stories are distracting you from actually solving your mattress problem.   Here are the three types of foam and their subtypes

Common Mattress Foam Types

• Memory foam: With varying densities/firmnesses
• Polyfoam: With varying densities/firmnesses
• Latex Foam:
  • 95% natural, 3-5% stuff that helps it set
  • 30% natural, 70% plastic (cheap Chinese latex, standard in bed in a box)

Additional Notes: There is other stuff in the world, but these four categories cover what I see when I open mattresses. I sometimes see good latex in some retail models. It usually starts appearing in 5cm thicknesses in models over $3000. It usually has another 5cm of polyfoam underneath it, though. The bed in a box is always Chinese latex, which may be more durable than polyfoam. I’m not sure; I don’t trust it.