How to choose a new mattress

For most people buying a new mattress is an event that only occurs every seven to 12 years.

When it’s time to shop for a new mattress technologies have most certainly changed and whatever you learned the last time you bought a new mattress you may have forgotten. For many people the first stop in their journey is the internet; unfortunately the internet cannot tell you would any mattress is going to feel like to you.

I always tell people that my sister loves onions and her husband, but I don’t care for either. Choosing a mattress is a very personal experience.

Most of the information online is geared to other people’s experience of comfort. You are the only one who can decide what is comfortable for you. The best way to do that is to try a mattress. The goal in choosing your mattress should be good posture and comfort.

There are some general guidelines depending on sleep position but are not hard and fast rules. Generally a side sleeper will prefer a softer bed, this is to accommodate the pressure on shoulder and hip joints. A stomach sleeper will do better on a firmer mattress. On a too soft mattress, a stomach sleeper will feel tension in the neck, shoulders and lower back. Stomach sleeping is strongly discouraged by doctors and in my experience most stomach sleepers suffer from back issues due to this sleeping position. Doctors and physical therapists recommend back sleeping. It is said to be easier on your organs and your face creating fewer wrinkles. Back sleepers are easiest to fit because for the most part their curves are not getting in the way of proper posture.

Most mattresses are marked with some word indicating firm soft plush medium or any combination of those words together. Unfortunately, there’s no industry standard for those words and even with the within a brand there is not a standard. This can make it confusing when you’re searching for a mattress but even if there were a standard for what these words mean each of us interprets hard and soft differently depending on our sleep position our weight and age, and any physical issues.

Health professionals tend to recommend a firm mattress. What they really mean is a supportive mattress and that support will be different for each person. Unfortunately, when we hear the word firm, we turn it into the idea of hard but there’s a difference between firm and hard. If a hard surface was better, we would all sleep on the floor. The hardest mattresses are made for heavier people. What we want is a supportive mattress that is going to work with the shape of our bodies. What works best for most people is a mattress with a firm spring and some cushioning on top to fill in the nooks and crannies of our bodies.

The materials in mattresses and what we call them have changed over the years but essentially the two most common kinds of mattress are inner spring or foam. An inner spring mattress is now called a hybrid. This word is confusing many of my clients. Inner spring mattresses were invented in the 1920s and were the luxury mattresses of their time. Up until the 1940s most mattresses were cotton batting, horsehair, wool, kapok, excelsior or feathers. enclosed in a cotton ticking. This mattress was then placed on top of the bed spring, which was an open unit with the springs exposed not very attractive and not very safe.

Mattresses made entirely of foam have been available since 1918. At that time the only foam available was latex foam, it is a plant-based foam made from the sap of the rubber tree. It’s very durable, comfortable, naturally anti-microbial and mildew resistant but it’s been replaced with polyurethane and memory foams which are petroleum based. Latex foams are coming back into use as people are looking for healthier more sustainable options.

Quality mattresses today have higher coil counts, this means that the coils are smaller and work better with the shape of your body and sleep position. All the major manufacturers make a variety of mattresses in different comfort and quality levels. Choose the quality and type of mattress according to its use a bed for the guest room or a child’s room may not need to support a couple or a 250 pound person. A 10-year warranty is standard and is still free. When you’re shopping for a mattress wear comfortable clothes and be prepared to lie around. That will be the most important part of your mattress research!

Sweet dreams.

Margaret Wright owns the Mattress Store in Chester. Reach her at margaretmwright2nd@gmail.com