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1. Do you need a new mattress?
- If you use a box spring: Is your mattress 12 years old or older?
- If you do not use a box spring (you use a platform, slats, or keep your mattress on the floor): Is your mattress 10 years old or older?
- Does your mattress sag in the middle?
- Do you wake up feeling sore or unrested?
- When you apply some pressure (3-5 pounds) and move your hand across the top of the mattress, do you feel lumps?
If you say "yes" to any of these factor, you may need a new mattress. Some factors, like the age of a mattress, are a sure indicator that you could benefit from a new mattress. A sagging mattress is another sure indicator, but your mattress usually wears out long before its starts sagging. The message here is that you should not feel like you have to wait until you say "yes" to two, three, or four factors before you deserve a new mattress.
2. Core: Inner-Spring Mattresses
Inner-spring mattresses dominate mattress sales in the United States, accounting for 80% of all mattresses sold. An inner-spring mattress has springs inside, which are also referred to as coils.
Coils
Number of coils: Mattresses of the same size will contain different amount of coils, depending on the gauge of the coil and the quality of the mattress. However, a rule of thumb is that you should look for mattresses with these minimum quantities of coils: at least 450 in a king-size mattress, 375 in a queen-size mattress, and 300 coils in a double bed.
Shape of coils: The shape of coils also varies from mattress to mattress. There are a number of common coil shapes:
Hourglass coils: These coils are shaped, as their name implies, like an hourglass. By tapering in at the middle, the hourglass coils compress easily in response to initial pressure. Then, as the pressure increases, hourglass coils provide more resistance. Hourglass coils result in a bed that is soft but not too soft.
Open-ended coils: As we will describe below, there are connections between the coils to provide support to the coils and so that the coils function as an integrated system. In open-ended coil mattresses, the connections between the coils are some distance below the top of (both sides of) the coil. This allows the top of the coil that are not connected to function independently and respond to weight and pressure that is applied.
Continuous coil springing: Continuous coil mattresses are made from a single piece of wire that is shaped to form a system of coils.
Pocket-spring mattresses: Pocket-spring mattresses create a fabric pocket to house each spring, rather than connecting each coil with wires. As with open-ended coils, the purpose is the have each coil work independently in responding to weight and pressure.
Wire Gauge
Find out what the wire gauge is on the mattresses you are considering. Wire gauge (heavier gauge indicates more support), combined with coil count, is an indicator of support.
Connections Between Coils
Connections between the coils are important, because they will prevent the coils from moving out of place. They also may influence how the coils work together to provide support. Many manufacturers provide a display that lets you see a cross-section of the mattress, so you can see the materials and methods used to connect the coils. Once you understand how the core of the mattress is constructed, see if it translates into something you can feel during your mattress tests.
3. Alternative Mattresses: Foam, Air, Water, Futon, and Latex
Inner-spring mattresses account for 80% of mattress sales in the United States. The other 20% is divided between foam, air, water, futon, and latex mattresses.
Foam: Memory foam has become a popular alternative mattress material, and Tempur-Pedic is the dominant manufacturer. This solid foam mattress is generally paired with a box spring. It is supportive without a spring system, so it isolates the movements of one partner from another. The mattresses often have an odor when purchased, and need to breathe for several weeks before the odor dissipates.
Air: Improvements have been made in the design and manufacture of air beds in recent years, led by the popular Sleep Number bed from Select Comfort. This bed allows bedmates to independently adjust the firmness of the air mattress under their half of the bed.
Water: Ah, water beds. We described the effect of memory foam as isolating the movements of one partner from another. The water bed experience is basically the opposite of that. Every one of your movements or your partner's movements creates a wave for a highly reactive experience that many loyal water bed users find fun or hypnotic. The amount of support provided by the mattress is varied by filling the mattress with more or less water. The water is either heated by a heater, or if the bed is not heated a thermal pad protects the user from the cool mattress. Recently, some manufacturers have begun offering mattresses filled with gel instead of water, which makes the bed somewhat less reactive and slows the waves. WARNING: Water beds are the heaviest mattresses. Make sure you floor is able to bare the weight. Many apartments, rental units, and condo associations forbid the use of water beds.
Futons: High quality futons are often natural fiber filling (like cotton) packed into a durable, natural cloth outer layer. These mattresses may be best for "college kids" who have less sensitive backs, and visitors who only have to spend a few nights on one.
Latex: More popular in Europe than the United States, latex is a natural material. Latex mattresses may appeal to those with allergies or asthma, as it is resistant to molds and spores. Latex mattresses tend toward the firm, and they can last up to 20 or 25 years. In the United States, Dormia is a leading manufacturer of latex mattresses.
4. Brand
The mattress market is a very competitive sector of the economy, with a number of major brand manufacturers and many newcomers trying to carve out a piece of the market by competing on features, price, or both. The inner-spring market has the three "S" brands: Simmons, Sealy and Serta. Each has a number of mattress lines from the basic to the high end. There are another ten brands in the inner-spring market that you are probably familiar with, so lack of selection should not be a problem. In the specialty mattresses, Tempur-Pedic dominates in memory foam and Select Comfort dominates in the adjustable air mattress market.
5. Thickness
Thick mattresses are a new trend, particularly among high-end mattresses. These mattresses may feel more comfortable to you, but keep these factors in mind:
- Thicker mattresses are also usually heavier mattresses, and somebody has to be able to flip them.
- A thicker mattress may make your bed too high. You may need to buy a shorter platform to make a thick mattress work in your bedroom.
- If you use fitted sheets, the sheets need to be able to fit around whatever mattress you buy. If you have a big collection of sheets that is made obsolete by your thick mattress, that would be a big hidden cost to your purchase.
6. Firmness
There are a number of opinions about what is healthiest, but having read a bunch of those opinions, we make these recommendations:
Buy the mattress that is is most comfortable to you (or you and your partner).
In terms of back health, we commend a medium to medium-firm mattress. This gradation varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, so we go back to the original recommendation: buy the mattress that is most comfortable to you.
7. Size
If you are buying a mattress for the same users (you alone, you and your partner, a member of your family), the question is: how does the current size work for you? If you are considering changing mattress sizes, make sure you measure your bedroom to ensure you can both fit the mattress and have enough space to walk comfortably next to the mattress. Ensure that you'll have enough room to open the drawers of all of your furniture. Here are some common mattress sizes:
- Twin/Single: 39" x 75"
- Double/Full: 54" x 75"
- Queen: 60" x 80"
- King: 76" x 80"
- California King: 72" x 84"
8. Comfort Layers and "Tops"
The comfort layer is the layer that lies between you and the core: springs in most cases, air tubes, etc. Some manufacturers use the same spring-coils on all of their mattresses, and vary the top depending on the expense of the mattress and the intended firmness. High end mattresses will fill their comfort layers with down feathers, wool, silk, premium foam, etc. Lower end mattresses will construct the comfort layer of lower grade foam, coconut fibers, and reclaimed cotton fibers. These don't tend to last as long, break down, and can become lumpy. It is sensible to pay more for comfort layers that are made of more comfortable and longer lasting materials. However, watch out for (and don't spend more for) luxurious materials like silk and cashmere that may be used in such small proportions that they make no difference.
A popular trend is to put a "top" on higher-end mattresses -- these mattress have an initial comfort layer over the core, plus an additional completely enclosed "top" which is attached to both sides of the mattress (both tops). Pillow top mattresses are usually a two-to-three inch top sewn on top of a mattress. Euro-top mattresses are similar to pillow-tops, but are more tightly contained, which makes them less likely to shift.
9. Price:
Unless you’re a college kid with a back of steel, we don't recommend buying the lowest end mattresses. You can get a decent queen sized mattress for $750, but if you have another $1,000 to spend, you'll feel the difference. You can spend $7,500 for a mattress, and it will not be ten times as comfortable as a $750 mattress, but it will probably be extremely comfortable. This guide gives so some methods for evaluating and comparing mattresses, so if you do buy a high-end mattress, you can get one that meets your needs and feels comfortable to you and your partner.
Specialty mattresses often do not go on sale. However, many of the major retailers that sell brands of inner-spring mattresses have big sales all the time. Find the mattress you want and wait a couple of weeks until it goes on sale. You can save a lot of money.
10. Box Springs
Mattress salespeople have been known to apply pressure in selling box springs. However, you should make your own decision:
- If you have a slat or platform bed, you may not even be able to use a box spring.
- Your old box springs may not have worn out as quickly as your mattress.
- You may prefer the feel of your mattress without the box spring to it with box springs.
11. Sleep Alone, Sleep Together, or In Between
If you are buying a mattress for yourself and a new partner, consider spending a couple of nights in a hotel where you can test various sized mattresses for what works best. 12% of married couples do not sleep in the same bed, and a significant percentage of the other couples experience problems sleeping in a shared bed. Some couples try to make sleeping together work by buying larger beds -- this often does not help. Others give up on sharing a bed and make like Lucy and Ricky, buying two single beds. There is, however, another option that is becoming more popular. Couples experiencing sleep problems use a normal couple-sized bed, a queen or a king. If some night one or both members of the couple was having trouble sleeping, they could move to a single bed which is also kept in the bedroom (and may be configured as a day bed). Often, just moving a few feet away allows both parties to sleep well.
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