Mattress shopping can be one of the most daunting tasks we each face at some point in our life. Whether the reason being due to the fact that you have no idea if the mattress you try in the store is going to feel the same as when you buy it, or you are simply overwhelmed by the sea of white rectangles in the mattress showroom, we have come up with five mattress shopping tips to turn a once daunting task into an enjoyable experience.

1. Bring Your Pillow!

The pillow is one of the most important pieces to this puzzle. Your back support and comfort all starts with the pillow. The pillows is 15-20% of your spinal support, so if that’s out of alignment, everything else is likely to follow. A pillow can greatly affect your experience on the mattress. Some pillows respond better on certain types of mattresses. If you are happy with your pillow at home then we recommend bringing it with you when you go mattress shopping. If you’re not happy with it, then make sure you are properly fitted for the right pillow when you are in the store.

2. Know your sleep position

Side sleepers– Most of the weight and pressure is on your shoulders and hips. A mattress that is too firm will trigger those pressure points causing you to toss and turn. A medium to plush mattress is recommended for a side sleeper.

Stomach sleepers– Beware of the soft mattress. A mattress that is too soft will cause you to get in the reverse hammock position and will cause lower back and neck pain. Just an fyi, this is the unhealthiest of the sleep positions because most of our weight is in our midsection and makes it difficult to maintain a neutral spine position.

Back sleepers– The most versatile of the sleep positions. As long as the mattress is conforming to your natural “S” curve then Plush, medium or firm can all be an option. A quick tip for back sleepers, placing a pillow under your knees helps with keeping your spine in alignment.

3. Know Your Support      

                         

      Too Firm                              Too Soft                         Just Right

4. Know Your Materials

The materials of the mattress greatly affect the durability. Latex, Memory Foam, and Polyfoam, are the 3 main materials that are used for padding. Latex is the longest lasting and most expensive, followed by memory foam, and then polyfoam.

If you like latex, make sure you know if the latex you are buying is 100% all-natural latex or blended latex. Some places may mislead charging you all-natural prices when in reality they are giving you synthetic latex.

If you’re leaning toward memory foam, try not to go with anything less than 4 – 5 lb density. Also choose an open cell memory foam as it sleeps cooler than a closed cell and usually is of a better quality.

If you are keen on a more traditional polyfoam mattress, make sure the density of the foam is 1.8 lbs or greater. Foam that is less than 1.8lb density is cheaper quality and assured to wear down quicker. If the shark, I mean salesperson, does not know that, then go on to the next store.

 

5. Know your budget

A new mattress does not need to break the bank. And just because one mattress is more expensive than another doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better for you. Only you know your budget, but a high quality traditional coil mattress should not cost thousands of dollars.

Budget guide  Mattress lasting

1-5 years: $200-$500

5-10 years: $500-$1300

10-20 years$1100-$2500

 

6. Know your comfort

When you first lay on a mattress your body is likely to be tense and not relaxed. We recommend you spend at least 3-10 minutes on each mattress to give your muscles and joints time to relax. Doing this will allow your body to detect any uncomfortable pressure points or pains that are not being relieved by the mattress.

 

Bonus Tip  Wear comfortable clothes when mattress shopping similar to what you wear to bed. If you wear your birthday suit when you sleep then make sure you come dressed with loose clothes because ain’t nobody wanna see that.

 

 

If these tips have helped you in any way during your time out mattress shopping drop us a line as we would love to hear from you. If you have other criteria you use when mattress shopping let us know as we would love to hear what helped you ease through that daunting task.

Also If This was just too much information for you take in all at once. DOWNLOAD our FREE PDF by clicking the image below. It’s a simplified version of this article. You can print it out and take it with you while you mattress shop.

 

Studies show that approximately 60% of the population consider themselves side sleepers. Being a side sleeper myself, I’d like to share some quick tips on how to find the best mattress for your side sleeping position.

First, it’s worth noting the biggest mistake side sleepers make when shopping for a new mattress is choosing a mattress that is too firm. The reason for this is because we’ve been told for most of our lives that a firmer mattress is better for our back. This misconception leads us to fear soft mattresses.

To avoid that big mistake, I have created three things everyone needs to test for when trying out mattresses, especially for us side sleepers. The three things you want to test for are:  

1. Comfort
2. Pressure Relief
3. Support

Comfort

Yes, I know this is a no-brainer, but it still needs to be discussed. Now, of course, comfort is subjective and what may be comfortable for me as a side sleeper may not be comfortable for you as a side sleeper.

When trying out a mattress in the store we typically spend the least amount of time testing the comfort level because most people can tell pretty quickly if the mattress is comfortable or not. Typically, this can take anywhere from 1-5 minutes.

If it feels too firm or too soft for your liking when you lie down, then get up and don’t waste your time trying it any longer. However, make sure you at least lie down, because although it may feel really soft or firm when you sit on the edge, each mattress is designed differently and made to support your whole body as opposed to a concentrated area.

What you are looking for is a mattress that gives you that, “ahhh”, feeling. you may notice a little smile start to form on your face if you have found the right comfort level.

Pressure Relief

Pressure relief is the most important for side sleepers. As a side sleeper, we disburse our weight disproportionately since our hips and our shoulders are our widest and heaviest sections in our body while sleeping.

Typically, if a side sleeper has a mattress that is too firm, they may experience hip pain or shoulder pain. The mattress is pushing against their hips and shoulders rather than cradling it to help alleviate that pressure.

The pressure relief test phase takes approximately 5-10 minutes. What you are looking for is to see if you are feeling pressure in any one spot, particularly in your hips or shoulders.

Support (spinal alignment)

The goal when testing this out is to make sure the mattress is providing your spine with the proper support. If you are currently waking up with back pain, it may be a sign your mattress isn’t providing you with the proper support it needs. If it’s too firm, your body doesn’t have the ability to sink in enough to relieve the pressure points as well as properly align the spine.

Likewise, if it’s too soft, your hips may be dropping too much into the mattress and putting stress on your lower back. This phase takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes to test if you are getting the proper support. Typically for side sleepers, if it’s too soft you’ll start to notice pain or discomfort in your lower back.

In order to save yourself some time while shopping for a mattress, the first test for your comfort level will eliminate a good portion of the mattresses in the store. Once you have found 2-3 different mattress models you feel are comfortable then take the 10-15 minutes on each one to test for both pressure relief and proper support.

If you focus on these three things when testing out mattresses in a store you’ll drastically improve your chances of finding the right mattress for you. Most importantly, be sure to test the mattress ON YOUR SIDE. Most people in mattress stores test mattresses on their backs even when they’re not back sleepers.

If you want a complete guide to mattress shopping click the image below to download it for free.

It’s no secret that mattress shopping in San Diego isn’t the most fun and easy thing to do. It also doesn’t help when you have mattress companies capitalizing on customers lack of knowledge when it comes to mattresses and mattress shopping.

This has led to many unhappy customers throughout the industry, and the mattress industry as a whole has gained a very bad reputation that has been compared to the used car industry, no offense if you’re reading this and in the used car business.  

We’re going to share with you the 9 most common mattress shopping mistakes and how to avoid them.

 1. Buying Solely Off Another Person’s Experience

We’re not saying to completely discredit other people’s opinion especially friends and family, but when it comes to mattress shopping you want to keep in mind that your body is completely different from other people. We are each unique and have different preferences when it comes to comfort and a mattress should fulfill our needs for our body. Some people have more sensitive shoulders and hips which may result to enjoying a softer mattress whereas other people may really like the firm surface. Your sleeping position which is a big factor when choosing a mattress may not be the same as your friend who recommended a particular mattress.

To avoid this mistake you want to stay away from specific mattress recommendations and focus on their experience with the particular company they worked with. Ask them about the customer service, did they charge for delivery, were the salespeople knowledgeable in the materials and mattresses or were they using sleazy sales tactics? These are good questions to ask when asking friends and family and reading review sites when mattress shopping so you know who you are working with.

 2. Buying a Mattress that is Too Firm

One of the biggest mistakes people make when purchasing a new mattress is believing the myth that firmer is better. We see it all the time that people convince themselves in getting a firm mattress because they think it’s better for them, when in reality they should have trusted what their body was telling them and go with one that felt better, even though it was a little softer.

Getting a mattress that is too firm can cause painful pressure points on the hips and shoulders causing you to toss and turn trying to get comfortable or even cutting off your circulation.

Another problem with buying a mattress that is too firm, is that it is not conforming to your curves properly. If a mattress does not contour to your body then the muscles around your spine will be forced to overcompensate for the lack of support thus you may end up with back pain.

 3. Suckered Into Outlandish Sales

We love getting good deals just as much as the next person but have you ever stopped and wondered how a mattress store can really sell a mattress for 50, 60, or even 70% off and still be in business? Not only that but it seems like these sales are going on every week. Well, here’s a little secret about the mattress industry. The average mattress retailer marks up their mattress prices 200%-500%! I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. So a king mattress that may cost a big box retailer $900 typically sell for $3,500-$5,000! With prices that high they’re able to do 50% off sales and still have huge profits. Another reason prices tend to be spiked high is because certain brands have pricing requirements and each mattress is touching multiple hands to finally reach you. So there is a lot of expenses that are spend before it’s on the floor.

So here’s a tip when mattress shopping look for local manufacturers in your area. They don’t carry the big brands so they’re not locked into price requirements and also they’re usually more connected with their customers so they have their customer’s best interest in mind.

 4. Trying Too Many Mattresses

We know it can be tempting to flop down on every mattress to make sure you’re getting the right one, but trying every mattress is a recipe for confusion and “paralysis by analysis”. When trying out too many mattresses it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and confused and then everything else starts to feel the same, almost like wine tasting. Best solution is doing a comfort test first by trying out a firm, medium, then a soft, and picking the best feel in that category. Doing that will narrow down your choices in the showroom and make it a lot easier to select a mattress. We recommend narrowing it down to 2 or 3 mattresses and then taking at least 10 minutes on each one to get a better idea of the comfort that is best for you.

 5. Buying Solely On Price

We understand a mattress purchase is a large investment and figuring out how much you’re willing to spend on your mattress purchase is a good idea. However, you want to have realistic expectations when beginning the process. Just because you saw a $300 queen size set for sale at one store doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a quality mattress even if it did have a really cool cover and design, and if you do decide to buy mattress at that price don’t expect it to give you 10 years of comfortable sleep. Heck, we’ve seen $2,500 queen mattresses last only 2-3 years! So how do you avoid this mistake?

You want to pay attention to the quality of materials inside the mattress. To understand more about how to determine quality materials click here.

 6. Buying Based On Name Brand

Unfortunately in the mattress industry you don’t get what you pay for and purchasing a big name brand is the epitome of this being true. Here’s a little background on the mattress industry, about 60%-70% of the market is owned by two very large companies. We won’t name names here but we’ll call them the “big S” companies (with one T). These companies really drive the direction of the industry and over the years we have seen the quality of their products slowly decline. The mattresses may feel very comfortable and look very nice but it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Also keep in mind with the brand name comes insane markups because of high overhead cost. So instead of focusing on brand, focus on craftsmanship and the material that make up the mattress.

 7. Buying Without Testing

Did you know we spend about a third of our lives in our beds? That is a lot of use our mattress gets. So something that is being used everyday and is very important to our health probably shouldn’t be purchased blindly. Wouldn’t you agree? A mattress is the most important piece of furniture in the home and time should be invested trying out different mattresses. You want to find the one that fits your needs and I’m sorry but there is no “one size fits all” mattress.

To avoid this mistake first understand what the 3 most important things a mattress should do explained here and then spend at least 10-15 minutes on the two you like the most and compare them. Spending 10-15 minutes testing a mattress gives you a good amount of time for your body to adjust to the surface. If you have time to lay longer then go for it. The longer the better.

 8. Buying SOLELY On Comfort Alone

Ok, that may sound blasphemous coming from a mattress store, but we said SOLELY on comfort. We know that comfort when it comes to mattresses is for most people the most important thing. However, buying a mattress ONLY because it’s comfortable after laying on it for a couple of minutes doesn’t mean you should buy it. The truth is it’s not all that difficult to make a mattress with very cheap materials and very low cost feel comfortable, but it doesn’t mean you should buy it. When it comes to mattresses you’re looking for something that is not only comfortable but also durable.

To avoid this mistake during your mattress shopping journey you want to test out several different mattresses and when you narrowed it down you want know what are the materials being used in the mattress. Quality materials is key here if you’re looking for a mattress that will give you lasting comfort.

 9. Buying Based on Coil Counts

One of the biggest traps we see shoppers fall into is falling for the coil count myth. Don’t get me wrong, coil counts can play a role in the quality of a mattress but that should not be a primary motivating factor when purchasing a mattress or determining mattress quality. There are way too many variables in comparing coil counts and coil technology and comparing mattresses based on coil counts can lead to a lot of confusion and misinformation.

Coil quality is affected not only by the amount of coils but also the type of coil, the thickness of the coil and the amount of wire in the coil. So it’s best to avoid the coil count conflict unless you are comparing apples to apples, and even then it’s best not to even go there.

 

So when you are out doing your mattress shopping, remember these mistakes and DON’T MAKE THEM! 🙂

 

For more mattress shopping tips download our FREE Mattress Shopping Guide.