Tips for Shopping for a New Mattress

Sleep is a hugely important part of our lives. When we don’t sleep enough, it can cause a multitude of problems, ranging from making it difficult to concentrate the next day to causing physical pain. The quality of sleep you get can be impacted by several different factors, including your mattress.

Mattresses that get used regularly typically last between seven and ten years. If your current mattress is starting to look worn and uneven or if you’re waking up feeling sore or unrested, it may be time to start looking for a new one. Finding a new mattress can be a more time consuming process than you might expect, though. Take some of the hassle of finding a new mattress with these helpful tips:

Do Your Research

For being such seemingly simple objects, mattresses can be surprisingly complicated to shop for. Between foam mattresses, innerspring mattresses, adjustable air mattresses, and mattresses with adjustable bases, it can be hard to know where to begin. Which type of mattress is best for you ultimately depends on several factors, such as how you sleep, if you’re sharing a bed with another person, and if you have health issues to consider. For example, foam mattresses tend to be popular with people who have back or joint problems while adjustable air mattresses can be great for people who share a bed with another person because they can be adjusted to meet different preferences.

If you’re considering getting an entirely new type of mattress, you might want to visit a store that specializes in selling mattresses. Even if you don’t actually buy a mattress there, the sales staff in these types of stores tend to be more knowledgeable about sleep and have more training about the benefits each type of mattress has to offer. They should be able to provide you with more information to help you find the best type of mattress for you.

Take Your Time Shopping

Mattress shopping isn’t the kind of thing you want to do if you’re in a hurry. When most people look for new mattresses, they often just lay down on them in the store for a couple of minutes. Unless you immediately know a mattress isn’t going to be right for you, it’s best to spend about 15 minutes trying out a mattress if it seems like it might be comfortable. You’re going to be spending several hours on your mattress every day, so you’ll want to make sure that your new mattress will be comfortable in the long run and you can’t really get a good sense of that in less than five minutes. You might feel a little ridiculous laying down in the middle of a store for that long, but it’s better than spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on a new mattress only to find out it’s not a good fit for you.

Check the Return Policy

The only surefire way to find out how comfortable a mattress is in the long term is to actually spend several hours on it. Before you decide to purchase a mattress, be sure to ask about the store’s return policy. Many stores offer a trial period where you’ll be able to try out your mattress for a certain amount of time and return it if you don’t like it. If you’re shopping for a mattress online, you’ll definitely want to make sure the retailer you’re buying from has a good return policy since you won’t be able to test the mattress out before purchasing it.

No matter which type of mattress you end up purchasing, remember the most important thing to look for is one that it provides the right amount of support without creating any pressure points.