How to Shop For A Mattress

Getting a new mattress can be an intimate but also an intimidating experience. You are spending a lot of money on a brand new mattress that you’ll be using for several years and, naturally, there could be some nervousness and confusion while buying, since you don’t want to waste your money. In this article, we will guide you in getting the right mattress the first time.

1. TYPE: When you start shopping for a mattress there are really two types of mattress that you’ll encounter. The first is all foam mattresses. As the name says these are entirely made of foam and are typically more affordable. They’re typically lighter and actually work pretty well. You will usually see polyurethane foam, memory foam, latex foam or some sort of proprietary foam on the bed as a support core.
   The other type is a hybrid mattress, which combines two types of material that are dissimilar. So you might see coils and foam or coils and gel or gel and foam or air and foam.
2. FIRMNESS: Now just because you get an all foam mattress or a hybrid mattress that doesn’t really say anything about the firmness profile of the bed. We categorize firmness into five different categories soft, medium soft, medium, medium firm and firm.  If you’re a strict side sleeper, you’re probably going to want a little bit softer of a mattress to allow nice pressure relief for your shoulders and your hips. For people sleeping on back or stomach, a firmer mattress would be much better to properly align your spine and hips. For combination sleepers who rotate positions at night, a mattress that is soft, but not too soft one, and provides pressure relief, but not too much, is the best option. You basically need to play to your dominant sleeping position.
   However, the choice is more of an art than a science because everybody’s different firmness is a little bit subjective.
3. WEIGHT: Lighter individuals can get away with sleeping on any mattress. This is why all-foam mattresses are so popular among younger generations. However, if you’re over 250 pounds, your choice of mattress needs to be a little bit more selective. Not to worry though, since there are some really affordable great mattresses that are specifically designed for people that are a little bit heavier and need more support via coils.
4. COUPLES: For couples, your choice is a little bit harder to please because you’re trying to match two people up. You have to worry about weight, size, sleeping preferences, what sleeping position you guys sleep in, etc. So you really have four options here:
   • You can get a split king or cal king bed where each side is different and custom to each partner.
   • You can let your wife choose because she’s always right. 🙂
   • You can get a custom mattress.
   • You can make some compromises. Hopefully, you guys are pretty close and that way each of you gets kind of what you want.
5. BUDGET: Now the last thing is your budget, but that’s obviously up to you right? The one thing that must be added here is don’t be too focused on the price. Just because a mattress is more affordable doesn’t make it bad or just because a mattress is really expensive doesn’t make it the best one ever.