Bean Bag Vs. Memory Foam Furniture
This article will explain the differences between bean bags and furniture made with memory foam.
When manufacturing different furniture, manufacturers use different raw materials, including fabrics, fillers, wood, steel, and plastic. And according to the people’s preferences, they suit the best furniture that perfectly fits the relevant purpose.
People used memory foam-filled coaches and sofas as their interiors in the past. However, after the ’70s, bean bags get huge public attention due to their incredible features and hit the top rank. A Bean bag is a sac filled with tiny beads such as EPS balls, cotton, shredded memory foam, or beans.
You may understand memory foam is a raw material used to make many furniture types. Also, fabric is the other raw material used to make both pieces of furniture. Their properties change whether bean bags and memory foam-filled furniture are made with the same materials.
I know, now you are curious about this. So, let’s check the difference between bean bags and memory foam-filled furniture!
Table of Contents
- Memory Doam vs. Shredded Memory Foam
- Differences Between Bean Bags and Other Memory Foam Furniture
- Final Thoughts
Memory Doam vs. Shredded Memory Foam
Memory foam is a material created by adding various kinds of additives to polyurethane. So, it is a low-resistance polyurethane foam (LRPu) type. However, according to the concentrations of these additives, memory foam’s properties are changed.
So, memory foam types have different elasticity, viscosity, firmness, structure, color, and weight.
That’s why you feel different textures when buying a sofa, couch, or other memory foam-filled furniture.
This shredded memory foam’s chemical structure is similar to memory foam. However, manufacturers use foam sheets to prepare sofas and couches. But to fill bean bags, the manufacturer uses small pieces of memory foam. That’s why they called it shredded memory foam.
The adjustability is higher in shredded memory foam than in memory foam sheets. Due to that, people feel a different seating experience by using bean bags.
Differences Between Bean Bags and Other Memory Foam Furniture
Flexibility vs. Firmness
However, as you already know bean bag is a sac filled with tiny beans or fillers. And also, they do not have rigid shapes. Bean bags are available in various shapes. However, most of these shapes are not 100% confirm. According to the user’s size and weight, they can adjust.
However, if you use memory foam-filled furniture, most of them have confirmed structure. It may include specific diameter, height, armrest, etc. So, to make them, the manufacturer uses memory foam seats.
Whether both pieces of furniture are filled with the same material, their physical properties change. The bean bag has the highest flexibility and softness because of the shredded memory foam. It allows it to adjust to the user’s body shape perfectly.
Moreover, the memory foam-filled furniture also adjusts to the user’s body. However, it will not wholly mold around the user’s body, like bean bags.
Used Materials
There are few materials used to make bean bags. It may include suitable fabric, filler type (shredded memory foam), and zipper. However, all other memory foam-filled chairs are made with different materials, including steel legs, wooden hand rest, plastic decorations, and many more.
So, now you may understand memory foam-filled bean bags are a straightforward furniture type, and others have some complex structures.
Inexpensive Vs. Expensive
Generally, most sofas, couches, and other memory foam-filled furniture are costly. They include some luxury wooden designs, fabrics, and paints. Also, sofas and couches are relatively big and made for several people. Due to these things, their prices are too high compared to the bean bags.
That’s why most people go for bean bags rather than typical furniture. They are affordable!
Fire Retardant
The bean bags should manufacture according to the US bean bag regulations. So, according to them, manufacturers must use fire retardant filler types to fill their bean bags. So, if you buy quality bean bags, you are safe from flames.
However, some sofas, couches, and other memory foam-filled furniture do not include fire retardant properties which is a kind of drawback. However, if you are buying them, make sure to check these factors first.
Heating
Whether you use a bean bag or memory foam-filled furniture, you feel hot after sitting on it for a certain period. How does it happen?
Generally, all memory foam types include air pores inside the foam structure. So, when people sit there, human heat transfers into these pores, and they get heat. As a result, users may feel the heat when seated on any memory foam-filled furniture, including bean bags.
Ergonomics
Generally, bean bags are 100% molded around the user’s body. The shredded memory foam can disperse, spread and perfectly adjust to people’s body shapes. So, here it offers complete relief to every muscle of the body. It includes a headrest, armrest, and proper back support. This is a unique feature of the bean bag because it can adjust to any person’s body shape.
However, other memory foam-filled furniture has some specific shapes. Thus, their adjustability is limited. On the other hand, different people will feel this chair differently.
If talking ergonomics features, most furniture has an armrest and firm back support. But they lack a headrest. Most of their height is enough to give support to our shoulders. So, you may feel uncomfortable when you sit there for a long time.
So, here, we can say bean bags are richer in ergonomic features than other ordinary foam-filled furniture.
Maintain
Every piece of furniture needs some care to refresh and keep its look. You can clean both pieces of furniture using the spot-cleaning technique. However, if your furniture is dirt with pee or other disgusting dirt, how to clean it entirely?
As you already know, bean bags have an outer and inner cover. So, if this dirt does not penetrate the middle, you can remove the outer cover and put it into the washing machine. The mild detergent works better with most bean bag covers.
However, if this pee or any other dirt penetrates the middle, you can clean a whole bean bag. Here, you want some simple tools to do this task, which will only take 20-30 minutes. If you cannot believe this, click here to read the complete guide on washing bean bags.
However, when the couch or sofa is dirty with pee or something, it is not easy to clean them thoroughly. That’s why most people use spot cleaning for them. Further, if you need to clean your sofa, you may have to get support from expert agents. Or else you have to spend hours on this.
Easiness of Transport
Bean bags do not have any rigid structures. So they are easy to transport.
Do you believe I said you could put your bean bag in a bag?
Yes, it is. Air spores of the memory foam acquire ample space. You can remove and subject them to shrink using a vacuum cleaner. In the end, you can easily pack your bean bag in a duffle bag and carry it with you. The best thing is it is possible to take your bean bag on a plane, bus, cycle, or any other vehicle.
However, memory foam-filled piece of furniture has some confirmed structures. So they cannot shrink and pack in a duffel bag. You may require a lorry or any other large vehicle to transport them to another location. So, it is costly.
Required Space
Generally, bean bags take up relatively little space when comparing the area acquired from other foam-filled furniture. So you can easily use them in dorm rooms and a small annex.
Weight
The weight of bean bags is relatively low than memory foam-filled furniture. These sofas and couches are made with high-density memory foam. Plus, sofas consist of other weighted parts such as wooded legs and armrests.
Final Thoughts
Memory foam is a widely used furniture filling material worldwide. Shredded memory foam is one type of them. However, the properties of the exact material change with size, density, and texture. The small memory foam pieces can adjust more flexibly than memory foam sheets.
Moreover, bean bags and other foam-filled furniture are prepared to satisfy different seating preferences of users. So, both of them are doing an excellent job. After reading this comparison, I hope you may have good knowledge to make a correct decision!
