Mattresses Overview

What is a mattress?

A mattress is a large pad that supports the reclining body, used as or on a bed. It usually consists of a heavy cloth case that is filled with hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, etc., and sometimes has a core of metal springs.
 

Shopping Choices and Challenges

Mattress vary by what is in their core and what is on their exterior. At the core you'll find coils, air tubes, water and gel, cotton and foam. Mattresses can be topped with memory foam, pillow tops, and Eurotops. Confused yet? Mattress manufacturers often sell the same mattresses at different major distributors under entirely different names or model numbers. The reason they do this is to frustrate shoppers attempting to do price comparison shopping. What's a shopper to do? Here is our advice:

• Focus on how a mattress feels to you. Ultimately, the mattress you buy has to feel comfortable to you (and, if you have one, your bedmate). Refer to our section on Testing a Mattress.
• If you are purchasing a spring-coil mattress, understand the interplay between coils, gauge, and the connections between the coils. However, realize that there is no hard and fast rule like "more coils equals a better mattress", or even an equation to calculate the optimal relationship between coils and gauge.

No consensus

To make shopping even more challenging, mattresses are a product category that receives a lot of marketing expenditure and spin. Every major brand and type of mattress seems to have their doctors and experts who testify to the health benefits, back support, and superior sleep provided by each brand. Every major brand has their own ad campaigns, often presenting real or simulated testimonials from satisfied, well-rested users.

Testing a Mattress

The process of shopping for and testing mattresses can be overwhelming. Here are some suggestions for how to find a mattress that will give you years of comfort and satisfaction:

• Shop in a store that has a range of brands and models on display, ranging from soft to firm.
• Wear comfortable clothes. Take your shoes off before testing a mattress.
• Ideally, the mattress should be tested on a base that is similar to the base you will be using at home. If you use a platform bed or a slat base, and the mattress at the store is on box springs, ask the clerk to place the mattress on the floor.
• If a bed feels comfortable to you, lie on your back and try to fit your hand under the small of your back. If it slides in easily, the bed is likely too firm and may cause discomfort in your shoulders and back.
• Roll over on the mattress. If it requires a lot of effort, then the mattress is too soft.
• The mattress should appear solid and well made. Rolling on the mattress should not produce odd noises, and the movement of the mattress in response to your weight and pressure should feel natural and smooth. The corners of the mattress should be strong but not inflexible.
• If you have found a few mattresses that you are considering purchasing, spend 10 or 15 minutes lying on each. Although you can't spend the night on any mattress before you take it home, a longer test will give you a sense of what spending a night on it will feel like.
• If you are shopping for a bed for two people, you should shop and test as a team. Is there enough room on the mattress to accommodate your normal movements? Do the movements of one partner cause excessive movement of the mattress? Does the mattress pass the individual tests recommended in this section for BOTH partners. If you can't find a mattress that is comfortable for both of you , try more stores before you decide to compromise.

Issues for older and mobility challenged shoppers

If you are an older shopper or have mobility issues, here are some additional considerations:

• It is true that older bodies and backs are less forgiving than younger bodies and backs. If you are over 40, buy a good mattress. This does not necessarily mean that you have to buy a very expensive mattress, but it does mean that you should probably avoid the least expensive mattresses.
• If you have difficulty getting in an out of bed, take the height of your bed into account when you purchase your mattress (and box springs). When you sit on the edge of your bed, you want your feet to comfortably rest on the ground.
• Inner-spring mattresses are designed to be flipped every three months. If this would be difficult for you, consider buying a "flipless" inner-spring mattress or a lighter foam mattress.  

How Not to Buy/Mattress Myths

There are a number of myths relating to mattresses. Some of these have their roots in marketing spin, and other come from shoppers' faulty attempts to make sense of the mattress buying process. Nevertheless, here are six myths that you should not let influence your purchase:

• Firmer is better: This myth may have come from orthopedists, who used to recommend the firmest mattress possible. Today, we know that a mattress supports your back at the places where the back and the mattress meet. A mattress that is so firm that is cannot conform to the curve of the spine may be limited in its ability to provide a healthy level of support.
• More expensive mattresses are better: High price may be an indicator of a good mattress, but it is not a guarantee of one. Moreover, it is not a guarantee that a mattress will be good for you. Find a mattress that meets your needs, and then buy it on sale, if possible.
• More coils are better: To understand the functioning of the coils, you have to know how many coils there are, how the coils are shaped, how the coils might be connected to each other, and the gauge of the coils. Additionally, the comfort of the mattress will be a result of the core of the mattress (the coils) and the materials used to cover the coils. The number of coils in a mattress is a useful number to know, but on its own this data provides a very limited means of evaluating a mattress.
• A mattress will cure your sleep problems: Don't believe all of the promises of the mattress manufacturers and salespeople. A mattress may help you sleep better, but there are many problems that may be affecting your sleep that will not be cured by a mattress. These include sleep apnea, caffeine addiction, depression and anxiety, noisy neighbors, and other physical, mental, and environmental factors.
• Mattress salespeople are knowledgeable: This is usually not a myth, but the advice of mattress salespeople needs to be kept in perspective. Mattress salespeople are often given higher commissions for selling specific mattresses, and may try to steer you toward the mattresses that will earn them the most money, even if that mattress is not the most comfortable or best value for you. Reading this overview and the Factors to Consider section will make your prepared and informed. Remember to trust yourself.
• You can tell a lot from a mattresses model name: A lot of effort goes into naming mattresses, and the names can be very evocative: ultra-plush, comfa-pedic, support-plus. In reality, the names of a mattress may be more misleading than they are informative. Try to ignore the model name when you are testing mattresses -- uses your own senses to make the evaluation.

What's new about mattresses?

There are several mattress trends and innovations that are worth noting:

• Bigger: The average mattress size is gradually increasing. More queen-sized and king-sized mattresses are being sold today than in year's past.
• More expensive: Mattresses have become more expensive, and more consumers are opting to spend money on the higher end mattresses than in year's past.
• Popular alternatives: There has always been a low double-digit percentage of the mattress market that is not inner-spring. Twenty years ago, water beds and futons were popular alternatives . Today, it’s memory foam (with Tempur-Pedic being the leader) and air mattresses (led by Sleep Number Beds).
• Euro-tops: Pillow-top mattresses became popular in the 80's and 90's. Pillow-tops are giving way to Euro-tops, which are more tightly sewn on to the bed, and less likely to shift.

Selecting a Mattress

There are eleven factors for you to consider when you are selecting a mattress. We have defined these eleven factors and we present the options relating to each. We also have presented three features that are commonly available in mattresses. If any of these features are important to you, you may choose to select only models with your favorite features.