Memory foam mattresses provide comfort and body support to people who have sleep problems. Memory foam mattresses come with the right level of firmness and comfort. They conform to your body shape and distribute your body weight evenly throughout, thus relieving pressure points and ensuring neutral spine alignment. Some of the latest memory foam mattresses come with extra features like motion isolation. Some even allow for temperature regulation.
However, sometimes memory foam mattresses take some time to expand fully. They might be compressed in a box for a long which results in improper expansion. Is your memory foam mattress not fully expanded? If yes, then you have come to the right place. This guide would help you understand why it is so and what can you do about it. So, continue reading this post to know how you can fix the issue.
Reasons that cause improper expansion of your memory foam mattress
People must give about 72 hours to a memory foam mattress and let it expand naturally.
If you are willing to make it expand faster, few things facilitate the process of expansion. We have discussed each of them in detail below.
If you are wondering why is your memory foam mattress not expanding, there can be innumerable reasons for it. The room might be too cold, the topper might have been compressed for too long or the topper is too thick and dense. The topper can also be simply faulty. We have discussed the major causes of improper mattress expansion below. Go through them and you would have half of your questions answered.
The mattress was left packed inside the box for too long
People are usually advised by manufacturers to unpack their new mattresses within the first 72 hours. If you leave your mattress packed inside a box for more than that, it’s expected to have expansion issues.
- It needs more time
Typically, memory foam takes about 72 hours to expand completely. Now, if you have just opened the packaging and you expect it to expand in no time, that wouldn’t be possible. Leave it for about 72 hours, don’t rush. It might expand later.
- It’s too dense (or too thick)
Thick foam mattresses obviously would take longer than other mattresses to expand. Also if the foam is denser, the full expansion would be delayed.
- Your room is too cold
Memory foam mattresses have viscoelastic chemicals. These chemicals are temperature sensitive. They become fluid when the temperature rises. This implies that when you keep your memory foam mattress in cold temperature, these chemicals don’t expand and hence slow down the expansion rate.
- Your mattress is defective
Unfortunately, some mattresses are defective. They might have flat edges or lumps or faulty corners that don’t expand at all. In such a case, contact the dealer immediately and ask for its replacement or repair.
What to Do When Your Mattress Corners Don’t Expand
If you notice your memory foam mattress corners not expanding, there are a few things that you can do to fix the issue. Some of them have been mentioned below:
- Make sure the bed frame is suitable for the memory foam mattress
If you see that the bed frame is smaller or not suitable for the size of the mattress, take it out and place it on the floor. Give it some more time to expand. However, before placing it on the floor, check if the floor is clean. This is important because memory foam mattresses contain fibreglass that can escape if the cover gets punctured. This can be dangerous and affect the quality of the memory foam. Hence, vacuum the floor beforehand. In this regard, it must be mentioned that not all foam mattress contains fiberglass. You can even consider buying some other varieties of memory foam that do not include fiberglass.
Your mattress is expected to expand within the first week of its purchase. If it doesn’t, chances are that the mattress is faulty. In that case, contact the seller and claim to return the product. Get a better quality mattress instead. Make sure the memory foam mattress you are buying is worth your money. Check if it uses quality components and offers a universally comfortable medium feel. If you are unable to choose from the variety of memory foam mattresses available, check some of the other types of mattresses that usually don’t create issues regarding the expansion process.
- Warm the room up
High temperature facilitates mattress expansion. If possible, change your thermostat settings to a minimum of 68 degrees Fahrenheit. It would help the corners to expand easily. You can even use steam on mattress corners, as advised by some manufacturers. A lot of people have found steaming to be an effective process in memory foam mattress expansion. However, steaming has certain disadvantages too. If you place a steamer near the corner of your mattress, it can cause miniature accumulation. This can in turn cause serious issues like mold growth and breeding of dust mites.
- Massage the mattress
It might sound hilarious but this is another effective method that can help with the expansion process. To massage the mattress, you simply have to roll the surface of the mattress. You can also walk on the mattress for about 10 to 20 minutes. However, make sure your feet are clean.
- Ensure proper ventilation
Proper air circulation is extremely necessary for foam mattress expansion. To ensure that, keep your windows and doors open and let fresh air come in. You may also create a draft in the room, to help with off-gassing. Another thing to do is placing a fan close to the mattress.
Note that if your memory foam mattress is faulty, none of the above-mentioned methods would be effective. No matter what you do, nothing would work. If the trial period gets over you wouldn’t be able to return it even.
So, don’t keep the mattress packed for too long. As soon as it’s delivered, check whether it’s inflating.
What Happens if You Sleep on a Memory Foam Mattress Too Soon?
A freshly unpacked mattress is supposed to have a slight off-gas odour. Hence, sleeping wouldn’t be a pleasant experience. To allow off-gassing, you have to let the air get out of the mattress. Hence, keep it in fresh air for a few hours before sleeping on it. It is sure to improve the quality of sleep. Sleeping and tossing on the memory foam mattress as soon as it’s delivered will not give you a proper sleeping experience but will surely facilitate the expansion process. Turning around, changing sides, body heat will help to loosen up the foam.
What Other Things You Can Do When Your Mattress Won’t Expand?
Memory foam mattress not inflating even after trying out different methods to fix the issue can be irritating and a serious headache. Still, there are other things you can try out to see if they work. However, the effectiveness of these methods depends on the quality of the foam mattress, how old the mattress is and for how long was it kept inside the packaging box.
If you are willing to know about these methods, continue to read below:
- Does Your Mattress Have Sleep Trial?
Know whether your memory foam mattress comes with a sleep trial. If yes, contact the manufacturer immediately and return the mattress as soon as possible. Complain that the mattress is faulty and not expanding as it should. You aren’t satisfied with the service and hence willing to return it. Your manufacturer would take back the product, giving you a refund of the item. He/ she might also want to swap the mattress with another one that is hopefully in proper condition.
Most professional mattress makers with good reputations offer sleep trials. Cheap mattresses usually don’t offer sleep trials. Hence, while buying a new memory foam mattress, look for top brands. Also if you are buying the memory foam mattress from online sites, make sure they offer a 30 days return policy. If they don’t offer such policies, claim to return the mattress and get it replaced with a better one.
- Have You Considered Mattress Topper?
If you notice that your mattress is expanding but at an extremely slow rate, buy an affordable mattress topper that would soften your mattress and also add thickness to it. Hence, the mattress feels more expanded after you add a topper. Even mattress toppers are made up of memory foam. The only difference is that they are lower in height in comparison to mattresses.
- Consider A New Bed Frame
Mattress can last longer is maintained properly. Some mattresses last as long as the foundations. Hence, besides buying a new mattress, you must also buy a new bed frame.
A fresh, new, and firmer foundation would enable the mattress to expand more. Though buying both of these can be pretty expensive, it would be worth it.
We hope this guide has been useful. Remember that in some cases, returning the mattress is the best option. So, think accordingly and make the best choice.
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