Mattress dating at Uratex

(First of three parts)

“Sleep depends on several factors,” says Dindo Medina, business unit head for monoblock and home accessories at Uratex Philippines, the leading foam manufacturer in the country.

“Physical health—for example, if you have apnea, see a doctor. Psychological health—if you are worrying a lot, seek help. Environmental—the room may be too noisy or messy.

“The mattress,” he adds, “is just one element.”

But an essential one, I speak from experience, and ask Dindo for his suggestions.

“If it is always true that the firmer the mattress, the better for everyone’s sleep,” says Dindo, “then we know that the floor is the firmest [surface there is]. How come it is very hard to sleep on the floor? The body has to conform to the floor, and where joints come in contact, there is pressure, bones hurt, blood flow is affected, which may result in numbness, aches.

“But if the mattress is too soft, we sink into it, causing discomfort, too. Think of Goldilocks. She lies on Papa Bear’s bed and finds it too hard. She lies on Mama Bear’s bed and finds it too soft. She lies on Baby Bear’s bed and finds it just right. And what is just right is different for every person.

“Many people spend more time choosing phones, bags, shoes than their mattress,” continues Dindo. “But we spend a lot of time in bed, where we destress. In times of COVID, we need good sleep to build body resistance.”How do we best choose a mattress? I ask.

“We see people often just squeezing the foam, or placing one knee to test it,” says Dindo. “[That’s understandable, since] in many stores, bawal humiga, bawal umupo (you are not allowed to lie down, you are not allowed to sit on it). But it is best for consumers to try mattresses using the sleeping posture, where they lie on them for a while. I call this mattress dating.”

Dindo gives the analogy of dating in the traditional sense, where a lady makes a checklist of traits she wants in a future spouse—“good-looking, God-fearing, ambitious, etc.”—and then goes on dates with several potential partners. Only afterward does she choose the one she considers the best fit. Just like with a human partner, we spend years with our mattress. For the best fit, we have to choose with care. For decades, I slept on our old firm mattress, which now has unexpected lumps in various places. Recent health problems made sleep painful, so I approached Dindo and his wife Peachy Cheng-Medina, my friends since college. Peachy’s parents are the Uratex founders, the late Robert G. Cheng and his wife, current CEO Natividad “Naty” Y. Cheng.

Dindo and Peachy are my sister Portia’s classmates in Management Engineering, and the two women were in the founding Lady Eagles’ basketball team, which garnered second place in the school’s first UAAP foray.

Mattress dating, Uratex-style, is a dream. Other stores are noisy and bright, conveying a retail atmosphere. But the showrooms of Uratex and sister company Ronac follow the sleep hygiene advocated by doctors.

As I lay on their sample mattresses, the lights were dimmed, the temperature cool (but not too cold), the music soft, with the sound of water gently running in the background.

“We seek to understand the needs of customers,” says Dindo, who adds that beds can even be custom-made to satisfy customer requirements, in line with Robert’s promise that “we will not stop until we give every Filipino a comfortable and affordable mattress to lie on.” Last week, in partnership with Bloga Creator Hub, Uratex opened its first Sleep Studio, where curated content can be created to provide immersive experiences promoting sleep health and well-being.

The Uratex origin story is now legend. Robert and Naty started Polyfoam Chemical Corp in 1968 with just P4,000 and 10 employees. Through perseverance, innovation and savvy, the company grew into the RGC/Uratex Group of Companies, which turned 55 this August, providing livelihood for thousands of employees across the nation as it diversifies into textile, automotive, food packaging and furniture, even as it remains true to its core mattress enterprise.

(Next week: Positive family dynamics)