I know it's sometimes tempting to say, "Look, I just want a comfy night's sleep, thanks. If the mattress delivers that, I'm not bothered about its royal associations or that Stacey from Love Island loves it." In a world overloaded with content, you might be happy knowing a little bit less about a thing as long as it works.
Well, you’ve come to the right place. You won’t be overwhelmed with backstory - just enough to wow you. Because we’re talking here about one of the comfiest mattress materials money can buy - Tempur, the wonder substance that will leave you feeling refreshed and energised. Not to be confused with tempura. This will leave you feeling battered.
Yes, there may be more of this kind of thing too. But don’t get into a Tempur tantrum. Right, let’s get to bed.
What is a Tempur mattress?
Many mattresses, whether foam or sprung, expect you to conform to them. They have a shape, and you can jolly well deal with it. OK, there may be some give, but as soon as you move, the mattress resumes its previous profile, taking absolutely no long-term notice of you or your needs. Selfish. That's mattresses for you.
But then there's Tempur, which is a whole different mattress. It caters to your shape and adapts to suit you, whatever your sleeping position. It's called memory foam because it doesn't just spring back immediately. When you roll back, it'll remember you like a fantastic concierge.
Out of this world
Even more impressive is that this technology is associated with NASA, like the Papermate pen and the MoonalikeTM Fibre Glass Lunar Boulder that formed the backdrop to so many of those photos.
US space boffins developed this material into the beds used by astronauts on the space shuttle. They recognised the pressure-relieving value of Tempur material, ensuring that astronauts were all ready for action the following day. They bounced out of bed!
What’s not so widely known is that those shuttles were chock full of enormous super king-size beds, with some astronauts favouring a four-poster and others like a sleigh bed. One space jockey insisted on the Saturn Wooden Midsleeper Set and refused to lift off until Bensons for Beds had been contacted and the kit installed.
Top secret
Just like with Coke and KFC, there's a secret formula behind all that Tempur-Pedic terrificness. Only ten people in the world (at the time of writing) know this formula, and they all work for Tempur. Not sure what happens to people when they leave the company. You best leave that there.
However, we are allowed to know that the mattresses are constructed around billions of viscoelastic cells, which respond to heat. As your body temperature warms up a section of the mattress, it softens. Those portions of the mattress that are less in contact with your body stay firm.
The result is that the mattress moulds around your body, allowing you to adopt a natural position and not be coaxed into one that the mattress favours.
Wherever you put the most weight on it, the mattress softens more, which relieves pressure on those parts of the body. The result is less strain and better blood flow. These are two of the secrets to a good night’s sleep. You can have those secrets. It’s just the formula that’s verboten. Actually, Forbudt.
The company’s Danish, you see. And, in common with a lot of Scandinavian enterprises, it’s a real environmental champion, with carbon-neutral credentials coming out of its ears.
OK, that’s enough background. With a Tempur mattress, you don’t need any extra padding. So let’s get on with what’s available.
Tempur ONE Mattress
The ONE Mattress offers all the comfort and support of other Tempur mattresses at a slightly lower price. Why's it in capitals? Not sure. OverNight Ecstasy? Overwhelming Nodding-off Experience? Feel free to submit your ideas in the comments section.
White in colour (the astronauts insisted on a shade to match their spacesuits), the ONE is available in soft, medium and firm. It also comes in double, king, and, for those who like a stretch, the 180cm wide super king. With all options, you get a ten-year guarantee.
Also good to know that all Tempur mattresses come with a zip-off Tempur-fit mattress protector. This removable cover is machine washable, so your mattress need never be anything other than as fresh as a particularly frisky daisy.
One key advantage of all Tempur mattresses is that you'll never need to flip them over, which can be a chore with regular mattresses unless you enjoy this kind of activity. Caber-tossers will probably love it.
Tempur Sensation Supreme Mattress
When The Sensations met The Supremes in Philadelphia in 1962, little did they know that the encounter would be immortalised in the shape of this mattress. What we have here is a mattress with real soul, and the comfort it delivers will be music to anybody’s ears.
The Sensation Supreme Mattress is all about the firmness. You won't find any soft or medium options here; thanks very much. Using dynamic support technology, the mattress delivers the bounce you'd typically only get with springs. But, crucially, there's no coiled length of metal pronging up at you in a stiletto sharp micro point.
This firm support makes this option terrific for people suffering from back pain or who get a lot of stiffness in their joints. The firmness is derived from a four-layer construction, giving a depth of 21cm, a little thicker than most.
You can choose single, double, king or super king and get a 10-year guarantee with each one. This warranty doesn't just cover the overall functioning of the mattress for that period. It also gives assurance that it will retain at least 95% of its thickness and remain as bump-free and smooth as a Detroit melody.
Tempur Original Supreme Mattress
Motown aficionados may choose to rename this one the Florence Ballard. The rest of us will be well-advised to call it the Original Supreme Mattress or face some pretty blank looks from the showroom staff or some big robo-shrugs from the chatbots.
This one is medium firmness, so it is perfect for those who adopt a Goldilocks approach to their sleeping requirements. It's available in a wide range of sizes, from single, through small double, double mattress, king and super king. That's everyone in the rocket catered for.
Just the three layers, as it doesn’t have the fourth layer giving extra firmness. But it still has the 21cm depth that the Supreme Sensation boasts, so it still has that solid quality, as attested by the 10-year guarantee.
Tempur Cloud Supreme
For those who like things as soft as Diana Ross’s vocal stylings, the Cloud Supreme won’t disappoint. It’s a great combination of super-soft at the top, backed up with a firm layer down below. This means that two sleepers who like a little softness can enjoy a fabulous night’s rest, both gently supported in their own Tempur dips of delight.
Again, it’s an impressive 21cm deep and is available in five mattress sizes, from the 90cm wide single to the 180cm super king, for those who don’t like to be kept hanging on (to the edge of the bed).
As with all the other Tempur mattresses, the Cloud Supreme gives you that thumping great 10-year guarantee, so you can feel safe knowing that it may be the softest, but it's super-strong.
Tempur Hybrid Supreme
What’s the Hybrid Supreme all about? This is for those who want to benefit from the wonderful properties of Tempur, but another part of them still hankers for what they know. Well, thought Dr Tempur, just because they can't shake their spring fever doesn't mean that they can't also benefit from my lovely foam.
Hence, the Hybrid mattress combines the benefits of both types, giving the warm welcome that a memory foam bed provides, as well as the bouncy responsivity that comes with a layer of micro-coils to give that cushioning a little added juice.
Available in five sizes and just in medium firmness rating. Aside from that, it’s got all the features of the other mattresses, like a 10-year guarantee, washable cover etc.
Tempur Elite Mattresses
The Elite range is an upgrade on the Original, the Sensation and the Cloud. The Tempur Original Elite, Tempur Sensation Elite, and Tempur Cloud Elite mattresses are as above, except with a fabulous extra: they are 25cm deep. The experience of sleeping on this much depth is akin to drifting weightlessly in space. With added oxygen and a viable route back home, of course.
Tempur Luxe Mattresses
There are those from whom the elite just isn’t good enough. For these exacting souls, there is the ultimate in Tempur mattresses - the Luxe range. Consisting of the Tempur Original Luxe, the Sensation Luxe and the Tempur Cloud Luxe mattress, these are mattresses for people who mean business in the bedroom.
What’s so special about these babies? They are deep. Really deep. Deep pan deep. Jean-Paul Sartre deep. Deeply Dippy deep. How deep, exactly? 30cm.
For those unused to sleeping on a mattress of such a thickness, it's difficult to get across just how wondrously luxurious the experience is. Suffice to say - you might need to invest in a louder alarm clock. One with hydraulic arms to extract you from your cocoon of cushioned comfort.
Tempur Pillows
It’s not just about mattresses. Oh no. You can get Tempur pillows too. They give your head some of what the rest of your body’s being treated to. They’re available in medium firmness Original and, if you like softness up top, you can put your head among the Clouds.
They fit a standard pillowcase size (74cm x 50cm) and come with a three-year guarantee, which is whopping for a pillow.
Have an even-tempured sleep
The range of enhancements that Scandinavia has brought to the home is a source of wonder. Right at the top of such domestic delights is the Tempur mattress. The build quality is exemplary, the environmental credentials impeccable, and the end result is sleep beyond your wildest dreams.
What's more, the range of mattresses available means that you'll be able to find one to fit pretty much any bed frame, from small single to divans to ottomans. And the unique pressure relief design means that any body shape will be at home on a Tempur.
Other memory foam mattresses struggle to give anything like the same comfort, even with a mattress topper chucked into the deal. They can’t compete. Tempur is quite simply like nothing on Earth.
Image Credit: vladislav-muslakov-CwIU33KGToc-unsplash on unsplash
