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Good Question: Build Your Own Memory Foam Mattress?

Gregory Han
Gregory Han
A Los Angeles native, Gregory’s interests fall upon the relationship between design, nature, and technology. His resume includes art director, toy designer, and design writer. Co-author of Poketo's "Creative Spaces: People, Homes, and Studios to Inspire", you can find him regularly at Design Milk and the New York Times Wirecutter. Gregory lives with his wife Emily and their two cats—Eames and Eero—in Mt. Washington, California, curiously investigating the entomological and mycological.
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updated Jul 23, 2020
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We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

AT reader Rich wrote us asking: “Can you tell me how to make my own memory foam mattress?”.

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Constructing a DIY memory foam mattress requires a high resiliency foam (known as HR foam) with a density rating of 2.5 – 3lb/ft³ with an indentation load deflection of 26lbs or 31lbs according to Healthy Foundations, a memory foam specialist.

You can follow the materials formula and resources under the cut to create your own budget Tempur-pedic memory foam mattress…

The Nobot made his own memory foam mattress using the following materials from wholesale memory foam dealers:
From top to the bottom layer:

  • $95 MF4Q62 Memory Foam 4.3LB – Queen – 60″x80″x 2″

  • $182 MF5Q63 Memory Foam 5.3LB – Queen – 60″x80″x 3″

  • $34 LRFE82 Lux Regular Foam – Eggcrate – 82″x76″x 2-1/2″

  • $114 LHQFFS84 Lux High Qual. Foam – Full Sheet – 82″x76″x 4″

    •

Total price, shipped, was less than $450.

As you can see, memory foam density is a highly subjective choice, as some may prefer a higher density, while another may prefer a cushier ride. Your best bet is to contact a foam dealer for small square samples to get an idea of each density rating and create a mattress accordingly. And if you don’t like it, you can always use the memory foam for other projects.

*we’d like to note we dropped by our local Target and noticed starting Monday all the way through Saturday, Target is having a sale on all their memory foam products.

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