70 Years of Sleep Innovations
For the past 70 years Her Majesty the Queen has been in charge of our nation for 70 years. The longest-serving monarch of our country and the longest-serving monarch of all time, Queen Elizabeth II has seen the onset of war, riots and international catastrophes, and the rise and decline of the Spice Girls, and has witnessed 14 Prime Ministers arrive and depart.
Since her reign started in 1952 The Queen, as many of us, has experienced technological advancements (some positive and some bad! ) However, all for the sake of progress. It also includes sleeping.
With the advancements in mattresses and beds that allow us to rest better then ever before. We’re looking back over the past 70 years to recollect the extent to which sleep has evolved…
50’s – The Foam Mattress
The development of latex foam was initiated by Dunlop in 1929. It’s the same Dunlop that is synonymous with tires. One of the major developments for the industry of mattresses was the invention of polyurethane. In World War II, rubber was costly and hard to come by and required an alternative. While it was more affordable however, it was also considered to be poisonous and emitting an offensive smell that made sleeping on it difficult, as I imagine.
In the 1950s the foam mattresses were thought to have been invented by Firestone (another famous tire manufacturer) through their polyurethane mattress. This was then followed with foam rubber (now known as latex foam ) mattresses.
They made only a tiny difference in the market for innerspring mattresses, which were used for quite a while and was at the time was the most well-liked kind of mattress.
60s – Waterbeds
Science Fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein described therapeutic waterbeds in his works in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Even though He did not attempt to develop his invention, but when American Charles Hall did, Hall was not granted the patent claim on the basis of his “prior works”. Hall received a patent in the 60s, after he had modified and described his invention in time for his novel “Summer of Love”.
He was the first to start an industry worth $2 billion and waterbeds became famous in the 70s and 80s to make sleep less about sleeping but more of …fun.
In 2013, waterbeds were responsible just 5% less of the new mattress selling… that’s the memory foam.
70’s – Memory Foam is Invented
The increasing use of polyurethane quickly resulted in memory foam (a kind of polyurethane foam) which was first developed by a man named Charles Yost for NASA in the 1970s. Charles Yost was contracted to solve NASA’s issue of supporting astronauts on flights, which was achieved by creating an open-cell material was dubbed ‘temper foam’.
For many years Yost tried to find different ways to use his new foam, which ranges from military to medical applications however, in 1974 Yost sold his formula to an organization that needed an entirely new liner to be used on football helmets… It was a huge error we claim!
80’s – The Airbed Goes Mainstream
The first patent that is linked with the mattress dates from 1853. The inventor John Scott discovered the benefits from combining a mattress together with the great firmness and comfort of a huge air balloon… and ta-da it was the birth of the airbed!
Air mattresses of the past were constructed from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), a material which has become an increasingly commonly used plastics. But, due to the use in the production of vinyl chloride (a known carcinogen that causes harm) in the manufacturing process the manufacturers of air mattresses have decided to stay away from PVC to provide a more safe environmentally friendly alternative.
90’s – Memory Foam is Sold to the Public
In the year 1991 in 1991, the Swedish company popped up on the scene of sleep with a the perfected model of memory foam. The company was called Fagerdala World Foams and they’d spent the prior decade perfecting the formula before they made it available in the Tempur-Pedic Swedish Mattress.
From that point on it was utilized in medical situations. In the event that patients were forced to remain in a fixed position on the firm mattress for a long period duration, stress on their bodies caused a decrease in blood flow, which led to swelling or pressure sores. Then came memory foam, which had pressure relieving properties as well as the ability to retain heat, which was believed for its ability to ease pain and discomfort. felt the warmth was as a relief from pain. Memory foam was at first too expensive to be used in a wide range of applications, but when it became more popular, the science behind it developed, making it much cheaper.
The most frequent household uses include cushions, mattresses, shoes and blankets.
We’ve informed you Charles Yost was making a major error…
00’s – The Hybrid Mattress is Invented
After a long period of dominance by pocket springs the pocket-spring market has seen a new challenger emerge.
Hybrid mattresses that are made of memory foam were made available to the market in the year 2008. They were designed in response to complaints from consumers who felt that foam and coil systems by themselves didn’t offer the comfort required to rest soundly and uninterruptedly.
Hybrid mattresses blend the top features of two different types of mattresses to provide the sleepers a mattress that has an incredibly comfortable and personalized experience. The combination and configurations of the materials that are used in hybrid mattresses vary from one manufacturer to another. They generally contain metal coils that are that are similar to those on traditional innerspring mattresses. The coils themselves provide support and are enclosed in pockets made of fabric, which help to minimize the noise from the springs’ squeaky noise and the motion transfer that is caused by agitated sleeping companions.
Hybrid mattresses are so great in the sense that we have chose to include them in our selection of mattresses. Take a look at our range to see what exactly we can provide you!
