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How to choose a mattress
A mattress is used for around eight hours a night for the better part of a decade, which makes it one of the highest-value-per-pound purchases in the house. Two things decide whether you get it right: firmness and construction.
Firmness follows your sleeping position
- Side sleepers need the mattress to give at the shoulder and hip so the spine stays straight. Medium or medium-soft.
- Back sleepers want the lower back supported without the hips sinking. Medium-firm.
- Front sleepers need to stop the hips dropping, which arches the lower back. Firm.
Where partners differ in weight by more than about 25kg, a pocket sprung mattress handles it far better than foam, because the springs respond independently on each side.
What the construction actually changes
- Pocket sprung — each spring moves on its own, so you are much less disturbed when the other person turns over. Sleeps cooler than foam.
- Memory foam — contours closely and relieves pressure points, at the cost of retaining heat and being harder to move on.
- Hybrid — springs for support and airflow with a foam comfort layer on top. The usual answer when you cannot decide.
Spring counts are less meaningful than they look
Past roughly 1,000 springs in a king size, more springs stop making a noticeable difference. A 2,000-count mattress is not twice as good as a 1,000-count one, and the quality of the comfort layers above the springs matters considerably more.
Check the depth before you buy the sheets
Modern mattresses run from about 20cm to over 30cm. Standard fitted sheets stop coping at around 25cm, so deep mattresses need deep fitted sheets — an easy and annoying thing to discover on the first night.
