Dow, one of the world’s leading materials science companies, announced the creation of a mattress testing program in partnership with GoodBed, a mattress information resource for consumers.
According to a press release, this partnership is designed to quantify comfort and is create a new industry standard for scientific mattress tests, creating actionable insights for consumers, bedding manufacturers, retailers and suppliers. Earlier this year, Dow and GoodBed published their first paper which detailed the initial phase of collaborative research between the two companies, covering mattress microclimates, temperature, humidity and airflow. The paper was also presented at the 2024 Center for Polyurethanes (CPI) Polyurethanes Technical Conference.
“Dow is a well-established global leader in materials science and testing,” said Michael Magnuson, founder and CEO of GoodBed. “Over the last three years, we’ve worked hand-in-hand to develop scientific tests that can accurately measure the attributes we know to be most important in determining the performance and suitability of a given mattress for different sleepers. Together, we’re excited by the unprecedented quality of mattress information that we can now provide, and our ability to give consumers confidence in choosing the best possible mattress.”
The same release also states that combining the expertise of both companies will create a solution to the historically difficult problem of quantifying comfort, something it describes as “a fusion of perceptions that can be easy to experience, but difficult to describe and measure.”
The program will use GoodBed’s mattress evaluation framework, Mattress DNA, with Dow’s lab testing capabilities through its ComfortScience Studio. “Our ComfortScience Studio was established to study the different properties of bedding products and their contribution to comfort,” said Kevin Meyer, Associate Technical Service and Development Director at Dow. “By joining forces with GoodBed, the most knowledgeable and trustworthy source of mattress information in the market today, we’re transforming the mattress industry with a first-of-its-kind standard of testing. This will offer numerous benefits for key audiences, from consumers all the way to raw material suppliers.”
