Have you ever wondered how some of your most comfortable pieces of furniture were made? Some things like a foam mattress or cushioning foam pad with clean, sharp angles would seem fairly simple to make with a straightforward cutting machine. But what about that ergonomically shaped office seat you sit in, or the custom foam packaging you ordered for your company’s promotional products? These have smooth, clean curves that would be impossible to cut with a straight blade. So what’s the secret? In many cases, these special forms are made with compression cutting technology.

The process of creating a smooth, custom piece of contoured foam is done with molds that capitalize on foam’s compressibility. Templates are made that reflect what the ultimate product is intended to look like. The material is passed through the machine under compression over these templates, and a blade passes through the foam directly above the template. This creates two interlocking forms; the interior piece that was “inside” of the template during compression, and the piece trimmed off the top above the blade. High points in the template create areas of greater compression, meaning more foam is squeezed into a smaller area. When released after cutting, this creates high points or peaks in the outer section that was cut above the blade, and lower valleys in the section that was under the blade, within the template under compression.

These templates can be made in virtually any pattern or design, with contours, curves and smooth tapers. The only thing that separates these forms from complete molding is the single flat side where the blade cut. The inside pieces are often used in cushioning foam for seat cushions and the like, while the outer sections of foam are used to create zoned mattresses for foam bedding.