A short history of Memory Foam

People are now regularly discovering the benefits of a memory foam mattress all the time, but the material originated right back in 1966 as a development by NASA. Not necassarily as part of the Space Progam though, it was developed to help improve the safety of cushions on aircraft. The foam, which was temperature sensitive, was initially referred to as ‘slow spring back foam’ and was created pumping gas into a polymer matrix. That sounds tremendously scientific, but essentially means that the pressure in the cells in the foam made it spring slowly back to its original shape!

Like many NASA developments, saw the potential to commercialise memory foam wasn’t missed. The material was initially considered far too expensive for general public use and was used in hospitals – for both people and animals! Supporting injured race horses was an surprising early use.

NASA launched memory foam on the world in the 1980’s, but there were few companies willing to work with the material initially. One was Fagerdala World Foams, which developed the Tempura product. Memory foam continued to be used in the medical world, particularly with immobile bed-ridden patients who were at risk of developing pressure sores. Memory foam was extremely effective in preventing this problem.

As the cost of memory foam dropped, its popularity and use increased and it found its way into wheelchair seats, pillows, and mattress toppers, even as a memory foam pillow for people with chronic neck problems. A relatively simple concept, the benefits of memory foam make it one of the most welcome additions to our world, courtesy of the scientific development at NASA.