Without enough weight, the durability won’t be great.
All cushioning products, including foam and fiber, will soften and lose overall height with us. It’s unavoidable. However, with the proper awareness of foam properties, softening and height loss can be greatly minimized, maximizing customer comfort, experience, and satisfaction.
In short, cushion failure can be easily avoided.
THE PROBLEM
Before we get into how cushion failure happens, let’s explore whether or not people are actually happy with what they have in their RV units. We surveyed RV owners, 66% of which owned Travel Trailers, 18% owned Fifth Wheels, and 16% owned Motorhomes. We were looking for an answer to a simple question:
How satisfied were you with the comfort and durability of the cushions and mattresses that originally came with your RV?
Over 75% of RV Owners Are Unsatisfied!
Not good. Perhaps even worse is how many customers took it upon themselves to replace the cushions and mattresses - without alerting the RV manufacturer. As a result, manufacturers continue along the current path, while customers continue to seek other options.
52% Replaced Cushions or Mattresses
Less than 1% filed Warranty
THE SOLUTION
DENSITY
This is the starting point for any evaluation of the quality of foam. In order to prevent cushion failure, the cushioning product must maintain adequate weight density to support normal use.
DENSITY = lbs./bu.ft.
Lower density foam will always be at risk of cushion failure. Simply put, without enough weight, the durability won’t be great.
FATIGUE LOSS BY DENSITY
The chart above illustrates what happens to foams of different densities over time. The Y Axis represents the % of IFD (firmness) that will be lost after a simulated 10 years of normal use. The X Axis represents the given foam densities. What shows is that after 10 years of use, a foam with 1.0 lb density and 30 IFD (the most widely used foam type in the RV industry) will actually only have a firmness of 16 after 10 years.
In Foamcraft’s experience, any foam with a Fatigue Loss of over 30% carries a much higher potential of a return or failure in the field.
OUR COMMITMENT
Foamcraft is committed to providing quality materials that feel great at the point of purchase and maintain consistency over time. We stand behind what we provide and continually test our foams to ensure their physical properties are within the specifications that we set.