Foam and Its Many Uses

When I talk about foam, I usually refer to beds and pillows, but these are not the only useful things that polyurethane foam can serve as. Polyurethane is a kind of plastic that can be made into different shapes and can be formulated to different types of rigidity, flexibility, and elasticity – these characteristics enable it to have many uses. In fact, 3/4 of the whole world’s consumption of polyurethane is in the form of foam, and it’s not just all beds and pillows.

The Flexible Kind. Starting with the flexible kind of foam and the more familiar one, you have pillows, beds, the insides of upholstery, and even different parts of clothing. Foam is used as padding in brassieres and shoulder pads. In other uses, especially in cleaning, most of the modern sponges are artificially made of polyurethane foam because of the foam’s characteristic of being able to hold water. I’m sure there’s a big chance that the kind of sponge you have is one made polyfoam.

The Semi-Rigid Kind. This kind is commonly used for load bearing and for applications dealing with impact resistance. So it’s not surprising to find that this kind has been used as the mid-soles of footwear as a kind of shock absorber to make walking or running on such footwear comfortable. It’s also very common to find them as packaging foam used to keep fragile objects from damage during transport or storage. This kind is also used in some forms of acoustic foams – those that are shaped into cones and wedges, and are used to line walls of studios and movie theaters to prevent noise from going outside the room and cancels out any echo.

The Rigid Kind. Most of the uses of this kind of foam is for rough, long-lasting purposes. Since it’s hard and rigid, it’s ideal to be a sort of structural material. It’s also used as insulation linings for walls, roofs, and weather balloons. Aircraft and spacecraft also use foam for insulation, but it’s different from polyurethane foam. Rigid polyurethane foam is also used in watercrafts, like in surfboards and in rigid-hull boats. Since they’re firm, strong and lightweight, it’s very buoyant – ideal for boats. It’s also used as a flooring material for houses. Since it’s seamless because it’s laid out as one whole piece, it looks good and is ideal for modern-looking designer homes. It’s also common that sculptor artists use this material as a medium for their works. Amazing, right?

From dishwashing sponges to packaging and to sculptures, polyurethane foam is used for plenty of purposes. Be it cleaning, transporting, display, structural support, insulating, or even cancelling sound, polyurethane is fit for the job.

So how does this apply to your foam bed? After knowing all this, you might be thinking how it applies to the bed you sleep on. Well, I have one conclusion for you. If the material you sleep on is the same material that keeps theaters silent from the outside, keeps the temperature stable for the delicate devices on a weather balloon, and keeps thousands of fragile packages safe and undamaged during shipment everyday, do you not think that you’re in good hands? Well, It’s quite obvious, my friend. You should get yourself a polyfoam bed!