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3 Tips for Choosing the Right Mattress
Since we spend around one third of our lives asleep in bed, not spending enough money on your mattress or the surface that you sleep on can often be detrimental to your health. This is why it’s important that you spend your money where you spend your time. However it’s also important to take into consideration that not everybody has the budget for an expensive bed or mattress that’s going to offer them optimum comfort and support. We’ve put together a list of top tips and pieces of advice given by professionals such as chiropractors and orthopedists when speaking to people who’re looking for tips on choosing the best mattress.
Go in with a Budget
Before you head out to shop for mattresses, the first thing that you should do is decide how much you’re willing to spend. As with any major purchase, it’s important that you enter into it with a budget and a spending cap in mind to help you avoid spending too much. This will also ensure that you get the most amount of quality from a mattress whilst avoiding any extra products that the salespeople at the mattress store might try to sell to you. When you head to the store, it’s a good idea to keep the add-ons and accessories that you may be offered in mind. As soon as you’ve selected a mattress that you like, many stores will then go on to try and sell you mattress covers, bedframes, extended warranties, and more accessories that you may not actually need, which is why it’s important to be sure on what you need and what you don’t before you buy.
One good idea for those who are trying to stick to a budget is to browse the shop’s website before you visit, as this way you’ll be able to get a good idea of the types of mattresses that they have on sale without feeling like you are under any pressure to buy. Make a list of the mattresses that you see online and think may suit you, and use this list when you visit the shop.
Understanding Which Mattress is Right for You
There are dozens upon dozens of names given by mattress manufacturers and retailers for the different type of mattress, however although they may vary slightly, there are only a few basic types.
Memory foam mattresses use materials that mold to your body as you sleep, offering even support all over your body. Essentially they are designed in such a way that you ‘sink’ into them, and the mattress will apply even pressure to your body at all points. However, if you get warm at night they may not be the best choice as they have a tendency to heat up.
Sleep number mattresses use inflatable air pressure chambers on the interior of the mattress that you can customize to match the level of firmness that you require from your sleeping surface. They provide the option for you to adjust the bed so that it is firmer or softer at any time, and depending on the model that you get you can have two different chambers on each side of the bed, so that you and your partner can both customize your firmness levels to suit your personal preference.
There are also the basic mattresses to choose from, with ‘firm’ and ‘plush’ being the main choices. You can get ‘extra firm’ and ‘extra plush’, or somewhere in between the two such as ‘cushion firm’ which is where the manufacturer adds cushioning to a mattress to make it soft without compromising on firm support.
Testing the Mattresses
If you have a salesperson that’s trying to get you to buy the first mattress you’ve looked at after sitting or lying on it for just a few seconds, the best thing to do is leave and try somewhere else. You will not be able to get a good feel for a bed if you’ve only been given the chance to sit or lie down on it for a couple of seconds or even minutes, so you should ask the assistant to bring you a test pillow, and lie on the bed in your normal sleeping position for a good few minutes to get an idea of how comfortable the bed will be for you to sleep on. You should give yourself time to relax and settle into the mattress before deciding whether it’s right for you or not.
