How Do I Choose A New Mattress

How Much Should You Spend On Your Mattress

While its very important not to exceed your budget and put stress on your finances by buying a bed, you do need to consider a mattress as a significant investment in your physical and mental health. Expensive does not always mean better, so you may look for brands who endeavor to keep costs low by cutting costs in the supply chain or by selling exclusively online.

Interested in reading more? View our guide for best budget mattresses here.

Other Important Considerations When Choosing A Mattress

A mattress is often a significant investment. Once you find the mattress of your dreams, you might hesitate before committing to the purchase. What if it doesnt quite measure up to the description, feels uncomfortable, or doesnt stay cool?

The good news is, most mattress brands understand your dilemma and offer some options to help give you peace of mind.

Whenever possible, consider the following before you click the Complete Order button:

Which Firmness Is Right For Me

When it comes to firmness, your weight is the main thing to consider.However, firmness is subjective.

We’ve found that the majority of people get a good night’s sleep on ‘medium’ or ‘medium-firm’ pocket sprung mattresses.

Children and those who weigh less than 10 stone should consider a ‘medium-soft’ mattress.

Those who weigh more than 15 stone may find their best support in a ‘medium-firm’ or ‘firm’ mattress. Just bear in mind that a firm mattress does not always mean better support.

Don’t Miss: How Much Is The My Pillow Mattress Topper King Size

Be Aware That Firm Mattresses Arent Always Best

Think twice before buying a hard or firm mattress. Some research has shown that the best mattress for low back pain is a medium firm mattress rather than a firm mattress.1 There is a difference between firm support and firm feel. You want firm support with a comfortable feel. Comfort will be determined by your personal preference.

See Selecting the Best Mattress

Body Pains Are Regular Morning Companions

Waking up with pains and body aches is the biggest telltale factor that it may be time to change your mattress. Focus on the regions where it hurts most often be it your neck, your shoulder or lower back and look for a mattress that can support your sensitive regions. A mattress buying guide available with the seller can also help.

Recommended Reading: Is It Better To Sleep On Hard Or Soft Mattress

How To Choose A Mattress In 5 Easy Steps

We are owned and operated by GoodMorning.com. We hire 3rd-party engineers and use public data to rate mattresses on over 25 criteria we believe important. Brands we ownApollo, Cherry, Brunswick, Douglas, Juno, Logan & Cove, Novosbed, Podium, and Recoreare reviewed and advertised where indicated. Views expressed here are our opinions only. Full details.

Can we be perfectly frank? Choosing the right mattress can be confusing, expensive, and time consuming. Its a decision that requires careful consideration and research, especially when you consider that a new mattress is a long-term investment in something incredibly important: your sleep.

New mattress shoppers are in for a bit of a shock. If you didnt already know that there are hundreds of mattress brands to choose from, chances are it didnt take long for this overwhelming fact to become apparent. You have probably also seen at least three mattress ads today on Facebook or Google, on top of all the banner ads following you around on your favourite news, entertainment, or sports websites.

The ability to choose between hundreds of mattresses from the comfort of your own home is great however, you should always ask yourself the following questions before pulling out your credit card in store, or clicking Add to Cart on your computer.

What About Platform Beds Or Adjustable Beds

A platform bed is a piece of furniture that contains a frame, headboard, and footboard with a layer of wooden slats running across the bottom. This can be a good option for some mattresses as it provides a sturdy, flat surface to rest the mattress on.

When it comes to larger or heavier mattresses, a platform bed may not be enough to support the mattress. It may also void the warranty, so it is best to check before purchasing a platform bed .

An adjustable bed also called an adjustable base or foundation is a flat and supportive type of bed that has hinges and allows one to change positions. Think of a hospital-grade bed, where the head and feet raise and lower , but made for use at home.

Not all mattresses work with adjustable beds. Make sure you pair an adjustable frame with a quality adjustable mattress because the flexing motion causes extra wear, says The Better Sleep Council. Mattresses and foundations not built for adjustable beds should not be used on an adjustable bed frame. Adjustable mattresses can be innerspring, foam or a combination of the two.

RELATED: Adjustable Bases Skyrocket In Popularity Among American Mattress Shoppers

Also Check: What Size Is A Queen Sofa Bed Mattress

Why A Pillow Matters

Purchasing a new mattress may require investing in a new pillow as well.

Heres why: The ideal sleeping position is one that puts the head, neck, shoulders, and spine in neural alignment, so that theres minimal stress on any part of the body. If youve been sleeping with a specific pillow on an old and sagging mattress, it may feel different on the head and neck if you move to a firmer or more supportive option.

If you wake up with neck pain after sleeping on your new mattress, thats a sign you may need to adjust the loft and firmness of your pillow to accommodate your new sleeping position.

RELATED: Best Reviewed Pillows 2021

How To Choose A Mattress For A Child

Good sleep is vital for children. Kids need more hours of sleep than adults, and sleeping well is important during all stages of childhood development. Outfitting their bed with a quality mattress is a central part of making sure that children get the sleep that they need.

Knowing how to choose a mattress for a child has quite a bit of overlap with choosing a mattress for an adult, but there are meaningful differences to take into account.

One key difference is that safety is a greater concern when shopping for beds for children, especially infants who sleep in cribs. Assuring that the mattress meets safety guidelines is of the utmost importance.

Another difference is the size of the bed. Unlike adults, children can outgrow a bed, so it is necessary to think about the most appropriate size mattress based on a childs age and their expected growth.

Depending on how old a child is, they may be able to use a smaller size of a bed designed for adults. In other cases, parents may prefer a mattress built specifically for children. Choosing from the pool of beds available to adults means a wider selection of mattress types, models, and brands.

The cost of a mattress for kids can be another point of divergence. Many beds for kids are smaller and thinner, and the reduced amount of materials can make them less expensive. However, there are some beds for children that are designed with lots of extra features and can carry a price tag similar to that of an adult mattress.

Don’t Miss: How Much Does The Dump Charge For A Mattress

Best Latex Mattress: Dunlopillo Royal Sovereign

Price: From £1400 | Buy now from MattressOnline

One notable property of latex, when used in mattresses, is its buoyancy. Compared with memory foam, latex mattresses recover their shape quicker when you get up or move to a different part of the mattress.

The Dunlopillo Royal Sovereign is a comfortable and supportive mattress that will suit all types of sleepers, though we , thanks to its postural support. At £2,319 for a double, its not cheap, though theres a good chance youll find it discounted. Its also worth noting that its very heavy, so rotating it is probably a two-person job.

Hybrids

These combos are mix-and-match versions of the mattress types. For example, pocket-sprung core with a foam top layer .

How Much Should My Mattress Budget Be

The sticker price of a mattress often depends on the materials used in its comfort layer and support core. The majority of beds sold today fall into one of five categories based on their construction. Further down, we’ll delve into how to choose a mattress type based on specific materials.

Material construction is not the only factor that affects pricing. Other variables may include:

To give you an idea of how much mattresses cost, the table below lists sticker prices and shipping costs for some of today’s leading mattress models.

Also Check: How To Properly Dispose Of Mattress

Does It Cradle Or Cushion You The Way You Want It To

If you like a mattress top to conform to your body, youll probably prefer a memory-foam mattress or a foam-forward hybrid. If you want to feel more held up by the mattress, go for an innerspring. These can feel quite plush with a pillow top or Euro top and still let you move more freely. Many innerspring mattresses also have just enough foam in the upper layers to provide cushioning without dampening the effect of the coils too much. A mattress made of latexa springier type of foam formulated from the sap of a rubber treecan feel somewhere in between a memory-foam and an innerspring mattress.

Where To Buy A Mattress

When youre ready to buy a mattress, you have a lot of places you can go. You can buy a mattress from big box retailers, department stores, furniture stores, mattress specialty stores, and even online from the comfort of your home. Well give you the pros and cons of each option so you decide what works best for you.

Read Also: Is Casper Mattress Good For Stomach Sleepers

Firm Mattresses Are Always Better For Bad Backs

While it is true that orthopedic mattresses are generally very firm to provide maximum support to those who prefer it, many medium-firm mattresses also do an amazing job of supporting bad backs.

Natural fillings and pocket springs conform to your body and support the natural curves of your spine. Making them a favourite among many chiropractors and osteopaths.

How To Test For Support In A Mattress:

The most important factor in finding the correct mattress is proper support. You need the mattress to push up on your body to counteract your body weight. So that means a hard, firm, stone-like mattress, right? Wrong.

Your body isnt a straight line. Whether you sleep on your back, side, or stomach, your body has curves, and a mattress must come up to support the curves and arches of your body . Consider the image below to illustrate:

Youll notice that the mattress dips down around her shoulders and hips, but her spine is in proper alignment. If the mattress were too hard, her hips would be pushed up and her shoulders would be pushed up, and her spine would not be straight. If youre in this position for too long, you can wake up with a backache.

Additionally, if you keep changing positions to try to keep your back in alignment, youre not getting into the deeper stages of sleep, which causes you to wake up tired. The same exact consequences occur if a mattress is too soft, and youre in it like a hammock. You want a mattress to contour to the shape of your body to hold it in its neutral alignment.

Don’t Miss: How Long Does It Take To Receive Nectar Mattress

Is A Spring Mattress Better Than Foam

Choosing the best mattress is a highly individual endeavor, and it depends on your sleep position and other preferences, so we cant say whether an innerspring mattress is better than a foam mattress. What we can tell you is that because of their coils, innerspring mattresses are naturally more breathable than foam mattresses . They also tend to offer a bouncier feel than all-foam beds, as well as better edge support. Foam beds, meanwhile, tend to hug the bodyparticularly if theyre made from memory foam. And they provide better pressure relief and motion isolation than innerspring mattresses.

If you like the feeling of sinking into a bed, a foam mattress may suit you best. If you want to feel more held up, opt for the innerspring. And if youre aiming for something between the two, try a hybrid mattress.

Buying A Mattress Online

If youre looking for a bargain mattress, one option is to try a few in a shop, before going home to search for the best price online.

Thats what 6% of Which? members did when they bought their last mattress, according to our recent October 2020 quick poll.

Unsurprisingly, given the events of 2020, around 76% responded to say they’d bought online .

Meanwhile, 16% tried a mattress in store before having it delivered to their house.

If you can’t get to the shops at the moment, here are our top tips for buying online:

Recommended Reading: Does Mattress Firm Take Old Mattress

How To Throw Away An Old Mattress

Replacing a mattress also means that you need to go through the somewhat cumbersome process of throwing away the old one. You can take it to the tip or hire a rubbish removal company to collect it. However, these can be expensive options as tips typically charge a flat rate to dump one. This may be the only option in lesser populated and regional areas.

Many councils will collect them for free under household cleanups . But if you live in an area that with scheduled collections rather than collections on request, then you’ll need to put up with an old mattress stinking up the place for a couple of months.

Landfill may be the only option depending on your location, but did you know that you can recycle your mattress as well? These services operate across the country and offer a much more sustainable approach to putting your old bed to sleep.

How to recycle your old mattress

Soft Landing is a national social enterprise with the goal of keeping mattress waste out of landfill. They have partnered with a number of well-known mattress manufacturers to achieve this, and they’re endorsed by state and territory governments.

You can take your mattress to one of many drop-off points or organise a collection in many areas of New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the ACT. Fees typically start at $50 for one mattress, then $35 for each one after that. Soft Landing doesn’t operate outside these states and territories.

Getting Started With Your Duroflex Mattress

We would like to be there for you with you throughout your journey to a rich sleep experience. These quick pointers will help you adapt effortlessly to your new mattress.

• Once unwrapped, leave the mattress uncovered for a few hours to let it breathe and feel fresh.

• If you have ordered our roll pack mattress, please ensure that it is unpacked as per the instructions in the manual to regain its expected shape.

• Change is never easy even when it is for good. Your new mattress may feel slightly different and new to your body at first, kindly allow time for your body to adjust and adapt to get the best experience.

Quick Links

Read Also: Should Mattress Be Firm Or Soft

Choose Your Ideal Type And Material

Ok, so this is where most people will go with their personal preference rather than anything else. If someone says latex is the best, I would not take this as final until I read other opinions and test it myself.

Want to know more? Head over to our complete mattress types guide.

And here are the most common options on the market these days:

Is It As Firm Or As Soft As Youd Like

Even if you think you know the firmness level youre looking for, we recommend keeping an open mind and trying a range. The only way to know what a mattress firm or soft description really means is to lie down on it. Similar to clothing sizes, with mattresses there are no standardizations for soft, medium, or firm across brands. In our own mattress tests, two staffers who had long insisted they were firm-mattress people realized they preferred mattresses labeled as medium. When youre browsing online and reading reviews, keep in mind that firmness often means different things to different people. For example, although many user reviews describe the Casper Original as being too soft, there are those who consider it to be too firm or just right. If youre shopping in a store for a specific brand you prefer, try the firmest version available, then go progressively softer until you hit the firmness level you like.

Read Also: Can You Throw A Mattress Away

What Is A Mattress

This type of mattress was first brought to market in recent years in response to the often eye-watering mark-ups made on mattresses sold in bricks-and-mortar stores.

Mattress-in-a-box is an online only mattress industry. Manufacturers cut out the middleman by selling directly to the consumer, and they deliver compressed mattresses to your door. The mattresses are deoxygenated and enclosed in vacuum-sealed packaging, making it possible to be transported in a box, earning them their nickname. Once opened, the mattresses slowly expand into the full size .

They’re generally cheaper than conventional mattresses, costing around a thousand dollars for a queen-size mattress . Through our testing we’ve found that a mattress that costs $1000 can be just as comfortable and perform just as well over its lifetime as a traditional one priced at $6000.

Mattress-in-a-box beds are usually made of foam or foam-like materials .

These mattresses generally represent good value, although they may not be for everyone as one person’s idea of the perfect comfy mattress may differ from another’s. They tend to use more foam and foam-like materials than spring mattresses, so a mattress-in-a-box may not be for you if you prefer the feel of a traditional spring mattress.

Brands that have had success in this market, and whose products we’ve tested, include Sleeping Duck, Koala, Ecosa and Avatar.