How To Buy A Mattress

Mattresses come with warranties ranging from 1 to 20+ years. But this is not the actual expected comfort life of the mattress. It may structurally pass the warranty test for 50 years, but if it is not comfortable, its time to change. This what I call the comfort life, and it may very well be far less than the actual life.

Signs of a Bad Mattress

Pain or Pressure - If you are experiencing any pain or pressure in your shoulders or hips, or if you find yourself changing positions frequently, you need to change your mattress. Pain in those two areas indicate that you are too close to the innerspring and/or there is not enough pressure relieving material between you and the springs. You might be able to help the situation by adding a mattress topper, but ultimately, you will need to replace the mattress. It is simply too hard for your body.

Back Pain - If you continually wake up with soreness or pain in your lower back, there is good chance that you are sleeping on a mattress that does not align your body properly. If you have a sleep partner, get in your natural sleep position and have your partner examine your body. Your spine should be relatively straight from your head to your hips. Pay special attention to the hip and lower back area. Most weight is in this area. If your hips are sinking too much, this will cause the muscles in your lower back to work harder throughout the night.

If there is an alignment issue, your only remedy is a better, more supportive mattress.

Allergies - If you have problems with breathing or allergies at night, there is a good chance that your mattress is the cause - especially an older one. Bacteria and dust mites by the millions inhabit an older mattress. If you have not used a waterproof mattress protector, and the mattress is more than 5 years old, it is full of allergens. An allergy cover may help, but ultimately a new mattress would be the best way to go.

If you do buy a new mattress, make sure you purchase a waterproof, breathable and washable cover to keep it allergen free.

Body Impressions & Sagging - Excessive "valleys" in the mattresses are a sign of a worn out mattress. If you do not have any problems now, expect to have some soon. All innerspring mattresses will develop body impressions over time as the comfort layers settle and conform under your body. The warranty will usually not apply until you get 1.5" deep - which is huge. Minimize this by frequently rotating your mattress (turning it head-to-toe) every couple of months.

Also, having a quality waterproof protector will keep perspiration out of the comfort layers. Keeping your comfort layers clean and dry will make them last longer.

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Sleep is an essential part of good health. Scientists are just beginning to figure out all the ways that good sleep improves your life. The reality is that if you are tossing and turning because of a mattress that is too hard, or adjusting throughout the night because your body is incorrectly aligned on your mattress, you are not getting good sleep.

But before getting too far, let's examine some of the benefits of good sleep:

1. Weight - An ample amount of quality sleep helps your bodies' ability to metabolize carbohydrates, reducing body fat. Also it prevents drops in hormones that regulate fat and muscle storage as well as appetite.

2. Appearance - You perspire during a long sleep cycle bringing much needed moisture which hydrates your skin cells. This helps reduce wrinkles as you age. During deep sleep, growth hormones are released that repair and rebuild body tissue.

3. Brain - A well rested brain reduces stress, irritability and improves all your mental functions. Just like lack of sleep can make you angry, enough sleep will make you much more positive, happy and a more pleasant person.

4. Health- There is ample evidence that good sleep helps the body resist disease, by strengthening your immune system.

5. Long Life - Naturally, if you are healthy and happier, you can expect a much longer and more pleasant life. If you want to live a long life, get some good sleep!

Can a good night's sleep improve your appearance and health? Absolutely. It is critical that you find a comfortable mattress that aligns you properly without any pressure points. This will allow you to maximize the time you spend in bed. Even if you can only get 6 hours of sleep a night, you want to make sure it is spent in deep nourishing sleep, uninterrupted by tossing and repositioning on an uncomfortable mattress.

For Further Reading:

Sleep and Disease Risk
Beauty Sleep - the science

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Here are the basic sizes for mattresses:
King - 76" X 80"
Queen - 60" X 80"
Full - 53" X 75"
Twin - 38" X 75"

Also, you can usually special order the following sizes:
California King - 72" X 84"
Twin Extra Long - 38" X 80"

Master Bedroom - For two adults, if at all possible, purchase a king set. This will give both people the most room to adjust on the mattress. The difference in price between a queen and king will be about $500, well worth it for more room.

The California king size is getting more popular. But a word of caution, you will significantly limit your bed and linens options when you go with a California king size mattress. If you are 6'5" or taller, it may be worthwhile. Otherwise, it would be better to have the four extra inches of width in a regular king.

Guest Room/Kids Room - I always recommend buying a queen set. A full and queen set are often priced the same. The difference in size is minimal for space concerns. And of course, you will have many more bed and linens options in the queen size. If you are locked into the full size, purchase the very best full set you can find. There will be limited room to adjust, especially if two adults have to squeeze together on it.

If you plan on using the kid's bedroom as another guest bed, the queen will work perfectly. Also, if you are buying a quality set, a good queen set will take you well into your child's adult life, possibly becoming their bed in their first apartment, or a quality guest bed in your home.

For very young children transitioning from crib or toddler bed, it may be best to go with an inexpensive twin, knowing that you will change to a queen when they get older.

A final thought on guest beds - if you are not comfortable on it, nobody else will be. Buy a mattress that if you have to sleep on it, you could. If a spouse is sick, snoring, or you are painting a room for instance, you may end up on that mattress. Buy it with this in mind, you are likely to spend more nights on it than any guest over the life of that mattress.

Mattress Budget - Minimum to budget for a quality set
King - $1,300
Queen/Full - $800
Twin - $600

The prices above assume you are buying for adults, and for every night use. There are certainly less expensive mattresses that may work as transitional beds for small children or infrequent guest use. But choose wisely. There are a lot of really bad mattresses out there. Don't waste your money on a piece of junk.

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If you are truly wanting the very best mattress for your body, go with an open mind and try all types of mattresses: air, foam and innerspring. For the purposes of this part of the lens, I am going to focus on innerspring, but much of this will apply to the other types.

For innerspring mattresses, generally speaking, stomach and back sleepers need to be on Firm to Plush mattresses. Side sleepers will usually end up between Plush to Pillow top.

Pillow Top Mattresses - I define a pillow top as having two seams. They are generally the softest mattresses, allowing the most conformance. These are also the silliest of the three types, since you can yield the exact feel with only one seam on a plush with identical comfort layers. But pillow tops sound sexy and can usually justify a higher price. If you sleep on your side or simply like a softer feel, you will probably end up on a pillow top.

Plush Mattresses - Plush is your between feel, but they could be even softer than some pillow tops depending on what comfort layers are inside. Plush beds are very good as compromise beds. If one spouse likes soft and the other firm, plush may be the way to go.

Firm Mattresses - Firm mattresses are usually your hard beds. Minimal and much firmer comfort layers are usually present. Keep in mind that as far as comfort goes, plush and firm mattresses can overlap in feel. If you are a side sleeper, be very wary of firm category mattresses.

If you have the same mattress model available in all three comfort types, try each one and see if you can decide on a comfort preference. This will usually weed out several mattress choices. You do not want to try every mattress in the store. It is a waste of time and will confuse you.

How To Test A Mattress

Support - Start on your back without a pillow. Your upper back and shoulders should be flat against the mattress and your face pointing at the ceiling. Your lower back should feel supported. Your hips should be slightly lower than the rest of your body. Your knees should have a slight bend in them and the feet ever so slightly elevated. If you feel like your shoulders are rolling in, or if you feel like you are in a hammock, it is too soft. If your lumbar area is not supported it may be too hard.

Pressure - Turn to your side. Have your partner or salesperson examine your alignment. Again, you should be able to draw a relatively straight line along your spine. Check pressure on your shoulder and hip. If you feel any discomfort or pain in these areas, the bed is too hard.

Comfort - Now turn to your natural sleeping position. You should feel relaxed, aligned properly and no pressure.

Repeat this process as you narrow down your selection. Once you are down to just one or two, start spending more time on each in your natural sleeping position.

Another helpful hint - Once you have a comfort preference, try one of each brand at about the same price point. Even if this price is higher than your budget, I recommend this to get a feel for each brand and the features/benefits that each have in their product.

Pick a mattress as firm as you can but be comfortable. A firmer feel will resist body impressions better than a super soft one. But if you have to have a super soft pillow top to be comfortable, do it. Just make sure the softer the mattress, rotate it more frequently.

One last thought - COMFORT TRUMPS EVERYTHING ELSE!

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If you don't learn anything else from this lens, put the following deep within in your heart.

THE PERCENTAGE DISCOUNT IS MEANINGLESS!

I don't care if the salesman claims that the mattress is 99% off, it is meaningless if the starting price has been inflated. All that really matters is the final price. Imagine if Mattress Store #1 is having a giant mattress sale and everything is 50% off. You find a mattress you like for $500 that was supposedly $1,000. You go to Mattress Store #2 and find a comparable mattress set for $450, which is 30% off of their regular price. Which would you choose? Believe it or not, I had customers pay more because they thought they were saving more!

How To Get The Best Mattress Price

Visit a mattress store and find a mattress you like. Write down all the information you can on that mattress - manufacturer, price, make, model and measure the depth of the mattress. Visit other retailers and find a comparable mattress set. Verify that the mattress is truly comparable - similar specs, specialty foams, marketing description, brand etc. If the price is lower, you can take that information back to the original store to see if they will beat the price. If the price is the same or close, I would choose the store that has the best services - delivery, trial period, in-house warranty processing and the most helpful salesperson. But make sure you consider the entire package, including add-ons and tax.

Mattress stores may not match or beat online mattress retailers - they basically are call centers and have very different cost structure than a brick and mortar store. But any traditional retailer in the same trade area is potential leverage for you. Make sure you are comparing apples-to-apples. Salespeople may try to mislead you, so be wary and question anything that does not sound true. There are many mattress salespeople that operate with a lot of integrity, but unfortunately there are still plenty that will tell you what you want to hear.

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I've been asked numerous times, "What is the best mattress brand?" I can say without hesitation that the best mattress brand on the market is Tempur-Pedic®. I sold all the top brands including the leading air mattresses and virtually every major brand of memory foam, latex and innerspring mattresses. By far, Tempur-Pedic® was the top seller, least problematic, with the highest customer satisfaction. If a customer purchased one, if I ever saw them again, it was to thank me, buy another one, or bring a friend/family member in to purchase one.

Tempur-Pedic® is the best mattress solution on the planet if you like the way it feels.

If you try them out and simply don't like the feel, do not buy it. But if you are willing to give it at least a 30 day trial, more times than not, you will be done with traditional mattresses. Let's take a brief look at what they do for you:

Alignment - No other mattress provides perfect alignment no matter what position you are in or how much you weigh.

Pressure Relief - There are no springs or air pressure to deal with and the material is pressure relieving. You should never have any issues with sore hips/shoulders, numb limbs or tossing and turning.

Motion Transfer - You will never feel your partner move, allowing you to sleep without disturbance.

Body Impressions - Tempur® material remembers ITS shape not yours. It has one of the best mattress warranties in the business and covers impressions greater than .75".

The human body is not designed to sleep on steel springs. Too many comfort layers may cause alignment issues. Too few will cause pressure point issues. There is a fine line between the two. And it is very difficult to find one good compromise that will work for both sleep partners. Air beds suffer the same body impression challenges as traditional mattresses, and with motors, pumps, and valves, there are plenty of opportunities for failure.

I was often asked if so-and-so memory foam brand is any good. The bottom line is if you want superior quality and durability, get Tempur-Pedic®. Salespeople will try their best to sell you some knock-off and tell you how much better their product is. Resist the temptation. Salesmen push knock-offs because they generally earn more commission off of the cheap brands that allow price manipulation. Tempur-Pedic® has a minimum price that most retailers follow. This means salespeople do not make as much on Tempur-Pedic®. One more way you can tell if your salesperson has your best interests in mind is if they push you to some obscure memory foam product.

Ultimately though, the best mattress and brand is the one that fits your body and feels the best. That is why it is so important to find a competent salesperson and have them fit you properly on the correct mattress for your body.

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Let's assume you read online that latex mattresses are the perfect mattress for your sleep needs. You head down to the local mattress superstore and are greeted by Ed, the friendly salesperson. You explain that you want to see a latex mattress. He is most agreeable and takes you over to a wonderful mattress proclaiming it to be 100% latex. You try it out and it does not quite feel like you expected, but the price is right and Ed proudly boasts that it is "on sale for 50% off!"

Unfortunately, Ed is being less than honest. But how do you know for sure? Well, that is where the law tag comes in. The law tag is the black and white tag that lists the comfort layers as a percentage. It is required by law on every mattress. This is the quickest and easiest way to see if Ed knows what he is talking about. First off, it is rare to find any mattress that is "100% latex." There will be edge support, fabric and possibly other types of foam inside. But if its truly a latex mattress, the percentage should be well over 50% to even be considered a latex mattress.

Another way to verify the contents of a mattress is to ask for the specifications of the mattress, or spec sheet. This should be something printed by the manufacturer showing all of the contents of the mattress. If the law tag is missing and there is no spec sheet, I would not do business with Ed.

A final thought on law tags - if you have to remove the tag for some reason, store it some place safe with your receipt. You will need the law tag and your receipt if you ever have to file a warranty claim. I always recommend, if at all possible, leave the law tag on the mattress. That way it is always with your mattress.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say they can sleep anywhere, I would be very wealthy. Yes, you probably could sleep on any mattress if you had too. But what we are really talking about is quality of sleep. As the body ages, gains and loses weight etc., the support and comfort needs will change dramatically. Poor alignment and pressure points will lead to sleep that is not productive. This may cause health issues down the road.

Don't just settle for any old mattress. You don't have to spend a fortune, but invest enough to sleep comfortably for several years.

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For Further Reading:

Consumer Reports - Mattresses
How To Buy A Mattress - An insider guide to buying a mattress.

I Sell Sleep - My Facebook Page dedicated to people who just want a good night of sleep. "Like" the page and keep in touch!