Dow: Lighter, safer, more comfortable bedding and furniture foams

On 26 April 2021, Dow announced that it has launched low cyclic, low volatile Vorasurf Silicone Surfactants to help its customers address growing market interest in lightweight flexible foams.

“As more and more consumers pivot towards the online mattress-in-a-box ordering experience, which offers more customisable products delivered right to their homes, formulators are looking for more advanced cell control solutions that deliver lightweight, low emissions, and high comfort memory and conventional foams,” said Justin Weare, global marketing manager for Polyurethane Additives at Dow. “Not only is the development of lightweight foams critical to meeting current market needs, but an added benefit of these foams relates to sustainability. Weight reduction indeed allows for reduced carbon emissions associated with transport and delivery to the consumer, improved resource efficiency, and waste reduction. Today’s innovations go the extra mile, helping customers transition to auxiliary blowing agents, address fire safety requirements, and minimize volatile organic compounds emissions.”

Highlighted Vorasurf surfactant products include:

• Vorasurf FF 5955 additive: a polyurethane surfactant enabling higher air flow, better aeration, EO-rich, viscoelastic or hypersoft foams for more lightweight, high-comfort bedding and furniture applications
• Vorasurf DC 5188 additive: a new surfactant compatible with very low to low density (under 15 kg/ m³) continuous slabstock and box foam for furniture applications, particularly suitable for cost-driven markets
• Vorasurf FF 5959 additive: a solution particularly suitable as a co-surfactant to decrease the dosage of cell opener in a formulation, offering finer control over the cell size and foam recovery and pneumaticity properties in viscoelastic foams

According to Dow, Vorasurf FF 5955 additive also offers good performance with auxiliary blowing agents, offering new choices of surfactants to help formulators transition towards low ozone depleting potential (ODP) and low global warming potential (GWP) options, including carbon dioxide. In addition to resource efficiency, transportation cost, and carbon emissions benefits, lower density, high comfort foams also bring tangible productivity benefits to customers by increasing production yield and reducing costs, said the company.

Dow’s technical service and development specialists Sophie Perilleux and Dario Manzini will present the specifics of these innovations and showcase their performance attributes in bedding and furniture foam applications during a webinar on Tuesday, 18 May 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Participants are invited to register online.

www.dow.com/vorasurf