Emma Hybrid Mattress is making me sweat - what's a cooler alternative?

Hi Lyndsi,

Thanks for your question about the Emma Hybrid mattress. We're sorry to hear you're one of the people struggling with the heat from your Emma memory foam mattress. Sadly there are many people who find these boxed memory foam mattresses turn their bedrooms into an inferno! Just googling memory foam heat issues and you'll see thousands of complaints.

The reason for this is the fact that all synthetic foams, in particular vasco elastic like the Emma mattress, retain and require heat to work. This makes them the warmest mattress upholstery fibre so if you're a warmer sleeper they can create a rather uncomfortable nights sleep.

Even when you add a more breathable topper such as wool it has little cooling effect. This is because the foam makes up the lion's share of the mattress so a thinner topper has no chance in trying to dissipate the excess heat caused. It may be helpful to have a deeper look inside the Emma hybrid mattress to see why this may be.

Image from: www.emma-mattress.co.uk/emma-hybrid-mattress-1

Emma Mattress Foam Specifications:

The Emma hybrid mattress uses a mix of proprietary memory style foams, support foams and some micro springs along with a polyester cover.

The issue we have with all mattress manufacturers is they don't provide the density or depth of their memory foams in mattresses. This makes it really difficult for you the consumer to both compare and work out the suitability of each mattress. The density of foams helps you assess the firmness of foam so without knowing whether this is 60kg or 80kg you can't really tell how the mattress is going to feel. Likewise, if you don't know how deep each layer is it's tricky to work out the robustness or feel of this foam. A 7.5cm layer will have more benefit than a 2cm layer for the example given compression rates.

Emma Hybrid One Sided Mattress:

The Emma Hybrid is also one sided meaning you cannot turn over the mattress. This leads to issues of faster settlement in a one sided mattress as one side is getting all the wear and tear. Memory foam is notorious at compressing and settling really quickly which is why rotating it monthly is key. Ideally, a two-sided mattress should always be chosen to avoid this drawback. This affects 99% of all boxed and rolled mattresses.

High end pocket springs cannot be crushed and rolled meaning these boxed mattresses are all reliant on foams and micro springs, which in turn leads them to be a one sided mattress. So whilst they're really convenient it does limit your mattress choices and quality options significantly.

Emma Micro Springs: 
That brings us onto Micro or HD springs found in the Emma Hybrid mattress. There's a current fad to add layers of micro springs to mattresses. Mainly to increase the spring count which a number of retailers are using to compete for customer attention. However, there is really no benefit to these springs. The reason being is that they fully compress so quickly which renders them uselsss. They are too small a spring to really hold any value in comparison to a full size pocket spring. They do allow a mattress to be rolled up though which is maybe why they are used.

Alternatives to the Emma Mattress:

If you're looking for a softer feel yet supportive mattress model without the heat or one sided issues then take a look at our Origins Comfort 1000 mattress. This is a 2 sided hand made pocket spring mattress. It has a softer feel in the top upholstery layers and features 1000 medium 1.4 gauge steel pocket springs in a spunbond case. It has 1250GSM of fibres such as polyester and soft white fibre.

A secondary benefit is also the depth of our mattress. The Origins Comfort mattress is 30cm deep that's 5cm deeper than the Emma mattress. Meaning there's significantly more bang for your buck which helps reduce settlement. You can and should turn the Origins Comfort each month to help far extend its life when compared to a memory foam one sided mattress.

Origins Comfort 1000

1:750GSM VERY SOFT POLYESTER

2:500GSM POLYESTER PAD

3:ONE INCH FOAM INSULATOR LAYER

4:1000 SPUN BOND POCKET SPRINGS

TOTAL:1250GSM

DEPTH: 30-33CM

If you need any more help please let us know for more tailored guidance.

You can contact us on 0161 437 4419 or info@localhost

Sleep well!
John & Ryan