A mattress is a big investment in one’s sleep. Most people still like to see and feel it before buying it. But which is the best place to buy a mattress? Is it the internet or a mattress store?
Table of Contents
Mattresses come in all shapes and sizes, but picking the right one to improve your health can be a challenge. Choosing a mattress that matches your body type and sleeping habits will help keep your back, neck, and joints in alignment, which is important for maintaining good health.
The link between the quality of a mattress and mental and physical health is still being discussed. While some argue that a good night’s sleep on a quality mattress is essential to maintaining good health, others claim that the only thing mattresses are good for is creating a comfortable place to sleep. So who is right? The truth is, the most important thing to contemplate when picking out a mattress is how you intend to use it.
It is an exciting experience if you go by the various Mattress buying guides on the net. There are so many types of mattresses in the market that one can spend a whole week looking at all kinds available and still miss some. There are
- Coir Mattresses
- Coir Foam Mattresses
- Foam Mattresses
- Memory Foam Mattresses
- Innerspring Mattresses
- Latex Mattresses
- Hybrid Mattresses
And then there are so many variants of these. firm mattresses, medium-firm mattresses, soft mattresses, hard mattresses, and more. There is an equal number of manufacturers also.
The Best Place to Buy a Mattress
Some advisors want you to buy it online. I was told that 60% of people in the US buy mattresses online. But how could I buy something without even checking what I was buying?
Others want you to go to every store and lie down on the mattresses there for a minimum of 15 minutes to understand how you feel.
- I did visit a store, shortlisted four mattresses, and told the salesman there that I am going to lie down on each one of them for 15 minutes and then decide whether these are good for me or not. The joker got angry with me for wasting his time during rush hour.
- The next shop that I went to allowed me to sleep on each for a minute.
- The third one said I should be lying down on each one of them simultaneously to understand which one is the best and then showed me the door.
So I decided to do a detailed study of the market to understand which would be the best place to buy a mattress. A mattress that will be good for my health and fitness. It is good that I did this study. It is a huge market, and it’s very easy to get confused about what to buy and where from. My findings
Mattress Thickness
I mean, we like bouncing on the thick beds in 5-star hotels whenever we get a chance but are they suitable for regular use?
The salesperson immediately turned down my first liking. He said,
- The price of a mattress is directly proportional to its thickness. The thicker mattresses are more luxurious and expensive.
- They suit heavy-weight people, and a 12-inch mattress is ok for a person weighing 150 kg.
I weigh less than half of that.
When I lie on a mattress, I should stay on it rather than sink in it? I do not want a sinking feeling while sleeping and will buy the one that supports my body correctly.
When I sleep on the old one on my stomach, the stomach is just sucked into the mattress, and my back is curved downwards. It gives me a terrible backache on waking up. Starting a day with a severe backache is not a very good way to start.
Types of Mattresses
The judging system used to judge mattresses is typically based on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being ultra soft and 10, being extra hard. The scale is based on the mattress’s ability to provide comfort, pressure relief, and pain reduction.
- 1 to 2 – Ultra Soft
- 2 to 4 – Soft
- 5 to 6 – Medium Firm
- 7 to 8 – Hard
- 9 to 10 – Extra Hard
But you cannot be specific on which mattress for whom. Generally speaking, it is a hard mattress for heavier people and a soft mattress for lightweight people. Get an ultra-soft or ultra-hard mattress only if a doctor prescribes it.
Take a hard mattress if you sleep on your back or stomach. Take a medium firm or soft one if you sleep on your sides.
If you have a backache or a stiff neck, have a medium-firm mattress. It is the best mattress for side sleepers. If you have a shoulder problem, you’d better get a soft or medium mattress. With a frozen shoulder, you should sleep either on the other shoulder or on your back. Do not sleep on your stomach.
Like anything else, mattresses can also be toxic, and I do not want a poisonous bed. I don’t want to have any allergies in the family. (But this is a very interesting argument.)
Memory foam mattresses generally have toxic materials in them like formaldehyde, benzene, and naphthalene. You can get irritation in the eyes, nose, throat, and skin due to the isocyanates in them. Or even some tightness in the chest & asthma.
CertiPUR is a program that lets people test, analyze, and get certified about the health, safety, and environmental properties of polyurethane foam used in bedding and upholstered furniture. It specifies substances that may not be used to produce polyurethane foams and sets stringent maximum limits for some components. CertiPUR is a registered trademark of EUROPUR. The CertiPUR logo can only be used by foam manufacturers whose foams are certified and meet the CertiPUR standard.
CertiPUR-US is a similar program based in the US undertaken by an organization of foam manufacturers that certifies polyurethane foam for its quality. This is to ensure that the foam meets specific standards.
But then, there are other agencies that say that everything in this world is toxic. All the mattresses are so less toxic that they are not harmful and we can buy any mattress on the market without any hesitation.
We will need an orthopaedic mattress or some such medical-grade mattress, as sometimes I have a backache. The one recommended by a chiropractor.
Orthopedic Mattress
It is the most exciting part. Can you imagine that there are no certified orthopaedic mattresses on the market? It is only a marketing gimmick to mislead us.
Medical Grade Mattress
Similarly, the medical grade is a trademark of a foam manufacturer in the UK named Mammoth Co. Undoubtedly, Mammoth Medical grade mattresses are the highest quality mattresses offered by this company, but it is still only a trademark. We should not go by the literal meaning.
Except for this, there are no other medical-grade mattresses.
Innerspring Mattresses
A very interesting fact about innerspring mattresses is that they are the most disliked but still most used mattresses on the market.
My current one is an innerspring mattress. We have used innerspring mattresses most of the time. They are the most inexpensive ones, and I remember such a wide variety of these mattresses when we bought this one. But they are noisy, especially when they are required to keep your secrets. They also wake us up when any one of the two turns the other way. Can there be a mattress on which I do not wake up even if my wife moves or turns the sides?
There are various kinds of innerspring mattresses. The most commonly used nowadays are the ones in which small springs are present in individual pockets. These give the bouncy feeling that we get on hotel mattresses. But these spring pockets become the breeding grounds of the dust mites. Besides, innerspring mattresses cannot have motion isolation, though these Marshall coil mattresses have the best of all motion isolation.
I wouldn’t be interested in the conventional innerspring mattress as I am already using one. I would buy the latest innovation in the category, whether cotton, foam, or latex.
Memory foam was once such an innovation, though it is not new. It was invented by NASA in 1966 and is commercially available now. It is polyurethane with various other chemicals added to it to increase its viscosity. Due to this, it is also called viscoelastic foam. They entrap heat during daily use, and your body will not feel comfortable on them.
So Gel is infused in these to regulate your body temperature.
Hypoallergenic Mattress It is essential to note that we buy a mattress that keeps us safe from all kinds of allergies. Our old mattresses are full of dust mites and other creatures. A hypoallergenic mattress keeps us safe from allergies, prevents bacteria growth, and is child safe. The hypoallergenic coating does not allow dust mites to enter the mattresses.
There are various kinds of hypoallergenic mattresses. Nowadays, most mattress types have a hypoallergenic variant too, whether it is a cotton mattress, memory foam, or latex. The coating is present on almost all kinds of mattresses, which makes them hypoallergenic. But still, we should check before buying.
Latex Mattress These are made from Synthetic Latex from petroleum as well as natural Latex from rubber plants. The properties are the same as memory foam but these don’t get heated.
Natural Latex is the better version being more durable but expensive. There are blended latex mattresses to keep prices down, but still, it is better to go for a Natural Latex mattress.
Hybrid Mattress These are a combination of latex and memory foam and innerspring mattresses. Due to the Latex/Memory foam, these feel very upmarket, and due to the inner springs, they have the required bounce as well.
I also observed that there is no uniform warranty policy offered by mattress companies. The warranty is from 2 years to 25 years. So obviously the company offering a 25-year warranty has more confidence in the quality of its product. But there is a catch. Do read the warranty document very carefully. There are so many if and buts to rejecting the claims. Keep the mattress absolutely clean as specified in the warranty document.
Another new feature is the 100-day trial offer. Some of the better companies are offering this to satisfy the customer before saying the final yes. But we need to be cautious here too. Check the terms and conditions of the trial offer. Some companies will deduct some amount from your payment if the product is returned. Some others will ask you to pay for the courier charges while returning the product. So it is better to clarify first.
There are various other choices like a
- Cotton mattresses: It will be challenging to keep them free of bugs.
- Air mattresses: They are too firm for me. And who is going to repair them if they get punctured or start leaking?
- Water bed – Not suitable for regular use.
This study made buying a mattress much easier for me. The choice is now between a latex mattress and a gel-induced hypoallergenic memory foam mattress or a hybrid mattress.
It is difficult to find an exclusive memory foam mattress so we are left with Latex or a Hybrid mattress.
A hybrid mattress is less expensive comparatively. Many players are selling hybrid mattresses with small variations in them. The warranty varies from 3 years to 11 years, and you can get up to a 12-inch thick mattress.
On the other hand, the number of players selling pure natural latex mattresses is limited. The product is expensive, and the warranty offered is up to 15 years. The maximum thickness is 8 inches.
There are companies offering 12-inch mattresses too, but they have a mix of latex and foam.
I also studied about 100 plus reviews for each mattress type. Most such reviews are only positive.
Latex mattresses are liked a lot by people who have bought them.
Hybrid foam mattresses are also favored, though not to the extent of latex mattresses, and are much less expensive. They also come in various combinations with ordinary foam, HR foam, memory foam, latex, etc. So the best bet will be a hybrid foam mattress.
It is a matter of your budget only as far as the mattresses are concerned. Happy Sleeping.
