How to Choose a Mattress and Achieve Your Best Sleep

Mattresses provide the foundation for sleep and choosing the right one can make all the difference when it comes to comfort.

Your mattress is supposed to provide support for your back and joints, promote good alignment, and cushion against pressure points and pain. But, sleeping on a bed that is wrong for you can affect rest by creating pain, tension or other problems.

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According to National Sleep Foundation polls, more than 9 in 10 people say that a comfortable mattress is important to sleep quality, the most widely agreed upon factor in their surveys.

However, many shoppers report feeling intimidated when trying to select a new bed due to the abundance of options and conflicting or unclear information. Some may even wonder if buying a mattress online is safe.

Surveys from the Better Sleep Council found that many Americans delay buying a new bed because they feel overwhelmed by the shopping process. Common frustrations people mention included not knowing when to replace, how much to spend, what to look for, how to narrow options and discomfort testing beds in stores.

Rather than struggling with an old mattress or rushing a purchase only to regret it later, reduce shopping stress and equip yourself to choose the best mattress by learning a little about beds and how to compare them.

8 Helpful Tips for Choosing the Best Mattress

Based on our experience helping customers find the perfect mattress, we’ve put together a few helpful tips for choosing the best bed, designed to help you get better sleep and to make the process simpler.

1. Make Note of What You Want First

Mattress preferences tend to be quite individual so when looking for your perfect match, the number one consideration is… you!

Before you even start shopping, it can be very helpful to make a list of what you want in a bed in order to better focus your search. Don’t forget to include your partner in this also, if applicable.

Here are a few good questions to ask yourself:

• What do I like most about my current mattress (and past ones)?
• What do I like least about my current mattress (and past ones)?
• What type of surface do I usually sleep best on? Hard as the floor, soft as possible, just enough softness, etc?
• What are my “must-haves” for my next mattress?
• What am I interested in trying or researching?
• What are my biggest concerns or questions when I start browsing?
• How long do I expect to use my next bed?
• Do any accessories (frame/pillows/etc) also need to be replaced?

These answers help you get a better idea of what to look for. Some may seem obvious, but writing your preferences down and brainstorming really is useful, especially later on when you are trying to narrow down the field of potential candidates.

For some shoppers, this may still be a lot to consider. We’ll try to simplify things real quick by talking about two of our top mattresses:

• Best Mattress Overall: Amerisleep AS3 – When it comes to mattresses that suit most sleeping styles, a medium mattress like the AS3 is usually the best way to go. It feels soft enough for most side sleepers and supportive enough for many back and combination sleepers.
• Best Medium-Firm Mattress: Amerisleep AS2 – For sleepers who desire a mildly firm feel, it’s difficult to beat our AS2 mattress. Its medium-firm feel is designed to promote back support while still feeling conforming enough for pressure relief.

As a reminder, all of our mattresses are backed by a 100-night sleep trial and a 20-year warranty.

2. Compare Pros and Cons of Mattress Types

One of the first places people tend to get stuck in the buying process is determining which mattress type is best for them. There is no single type of mattress that will satisfy 100 percent of people. However, comparing the pros and cons of different materials before you start shopping can give you a little insight.

For example, innerspring mattresses are more widespread and familiar, basic models can be fairly cheap and initial comfort is often good. However, these types of beds tend to be more prone to sagging and pain, while also having a lower average owner satisfaction according to review sites like Sleep Like The Dead. Many innerspring mattress manufacturers offer pillow top mattresses to increase comfort, but some sleepers find they still don’t experience enough pressure relief.

Memory foam mattresses, the second most popular type, rate highest in average owner satisfaction and is associated with good pain and pressurerelief, longevity and motion isolation. Not all brands are equal though, as some are prone to heat and odors than others, and quality can vary widely.

Latex mattresses have a similar feel to memory foam beds, offering a full-body contour with a hint of bounce. Many shoppers seeking an organic or hypoallergenic mattress gravitate toward a natural latex mattress.

Hybrid mattresses combine features of foam and innerspring beds to maximize benefits. A true hybrid has at least 2 to 3 inches of foam on top, offering more cushion and pressure relief than the typical innerspring mattress. The coils usually establish a mattress for isolating motion better than a traditional innerspring, too, while also promoting more airflow than a foam mattress would.

Less common types like air beds and waterbeds also have distinct benefits that will appeal to different people, so doing a little online research into these varieties and technologies can be helpful for deciphering differences you’ll encounter when shopping. For example, the size and number of air chambers inside an airbed influences its comfort.

3. Firm, Soft, Medium, Extra-Firm, Plush or Medium-Firm? How to Choose Firmness

Firmness proves another major point of confusion for shoppers. This is largely due to difficulty comparing firmnesses between brands and types, a lack of standard categorization, and the arbitrary nature of comfort.

Mattress makers will generally label beds somewhere on a scale of very plush to very firm, but how the bed actually feels can vary from brand to brand and even within lines, and one person’s medium might be another’s firm. To further complicate things, most beds will often soften a bit in the first year or two.

The least arbitrary measures include the IFD/ILD scale for foams (amount of weight required to compress the foam by 25%) with higher numbers being firmer and coil gauge (thickness of coil wire) for spring beds with lower numbers feeling firmer. But, the thickness of layers and padding materials also play a role. Reviews can also help you get an idea of how accurate firmness descriptions are.

If you are unsure about mattress firmness, two helpful things to consider include your sleep position and personal comfort factors.

As described in detail in one of our previous articles, here are general guidelines for mattress firmness based on sleep position preference:

• The best mattress for side sleepers should have enough give to allow hips and shoulders to sink while still supporting the waist and lumbar region. Your spine should be straight and parallel to the floor when lying down. Plush to medium is likely the ideal firmness range for you.

• Back sleepers need a supportive surface that supports natural alignment. Similar to when you are standing up straight, your spine should still have a slight curve, but there should be no more than a finger’s width of space between your back and the bed to avoid muscle tension. Beds in the medium-firm range will likely feel best.

• Stomach sleepers need supportive beds that prevent the upper body from bowing down, which can lead to back and neck pain. Beds in the firmer range with a slight comfort layer may be best.

Other things that may affect firmness preference include age, weight and medical conditions.

• Your preferences may move toward softer mattresses over time since tissues become more sensitive to compression and pressure points.

• Larger individuals may need firmer beds to receive adequate support and may feel more comfortable with thicker comfort layers that adequately cushion curves.

• If you have existing pain-related conditions like arthritis or fibromyalgia, that should also be factored into your mattress decision as supportiveness and pressure point relief will prove even more important to comfort.

• In published studies, medium to medium-firm mattresses almost always results in the highest comfort ratings and pain improvements versus soft or firm mattresses. If looking for the best mattress for back pain, check out a medium-firm option.

If you are trying to decide between firmness levels, we generally suggest choosing the firmer option for two reasons. First, mattresses soften a bit as you break them in, and second, you can add a mattress topper to an overly firm bed whereas correcting a too soft bed is not so simple.

4. Picking the Right Mattress Size

People often usually have a good grasp on what mattress size they want, but it’s still worth considering before you buy a new bed. After all, a too-small mattress can only lead to discomfort, while a too-large mattress can leave you with little room for bedroom furniture.

Size	Dimensions (in inches)
Crib	28 x 52
Twin	38 x 75
Twin XL	38 x 80
Full (a.k.a a “double bed”)	54 x 75
Queen	60 x 80
King	76 x 80
California King	72 x 84

The simplest way to determine what mattress size is best for you is to ask who is going to sleep on it. Taller people often need a mattress at least 80 inches long, ruling out a traditional twin or full mattress. Some taller sleepers need the added length of a California king size mattress to sleep well.

Single sleepers are usually comfortable on any size, but couples shouldn’t sleep on anything smaller than a queen. Children graduating from a crib mattress often move to a twin size or twin XL bed, but some parents treat their children with a full size mattress.

Budget is another factor to consider when it comes to mattress sizes. Naturally, a larger mattress costs more money. If, for example, you and your partner would be perfectly comfortable on a queen size mattress, you might choose that instead of a more expensive king size mattress.

5. Budgeting for a New Bed

In the Better Sleep Council surveys and in past Consumer Reports surveys as well, the price often proves a point of confusion for shoppers.

There is no magic price that you should spend, but the average price people pay for a new mattress ranges between $800 to $1500 according to different sources. Buying a very expensive mattress is no guarantee of comfort, and there are well-rated beds in cheaper price ranges as well.

Rather than aiming to spend a specific price, set a ceiling that makes sense for your budget and then contrast the specifications for mattresses within that range. Look for options that match your list of preferences and that have good quality and reviews compared to other options in the price range.

If you want to maximize your chances of picking up a high-quality mattress at a discount, try online mattress stores. Brick-and-mortar stores usually have more costs to meet and often raise their mattress’s prices to cover expenses. Online retailers have relatively fewer expenses and tend to pass the savings onto the customer.

6. Specifications Tell You More Than Brand or Price

Generally, we like to think that well-known or more expensive products are inherently better, but when it comes to beds this often is not true. Compared to name or prices, the details under the covers will tell you more about a bed’s potential quality, durability and value.

With memory foam beds, for example, key things to look at include memory foam density, core foam density, the thickness of layers, cover and flameproof materials. You may find that beds with similar price points vary significantly in terms of quality, regardless of type.

Always look for detailed descriptions of what the different mattress layers are made of including support cores, comfort layers, coil count and gauge, and other components. These details can help you determine how comparable different beds are and which offers the best fit for you.

7. Make Use of Mattress Reviews

When surveyed by Nielsen, 70% of people said they trust online reviews, second only to word of mouth, and a GE Capital study found that 81% of shoppers seek out reviews before making large purchases. In a Google consumer survey, online reviews are the most trusted resource for mattress shoppers, selected by 28% of respondents.

The reason reviews continue growing in popularity is that they can give an unbiased view of a product or service that you simply can’t get from stores or specifications alone. When it comes to larger purchases that you will use for a long time like mattresses, this insight can prove very helpful.

Reviewers will often mention how beds compare with their expectations, what they like or don’t like, how it compares to others they’ve tried and whether or not they would recommend the mattress.

Though comfort is subjective, a large sample of reviews reveals trends that can help you determine if a mattress is likely to fit your comfort preferences, and provides another way to compare different brands and models.

The industry average for memory foam, for example, is about 80% satisfaction or 4 out 5 stars. Mattresses that rate above that might be considered above average, while ones below that may have particular issues that consumers consider below average or less than satisfactory.

When looking at reviews, just be sure to consider the source – are the reviews verified in any way? Are they on a reliable website?

For Amerisleep.com’s mattress reviews, we use a third-party review system which verifies that people leaving reviews are real customers, and we are also proud of our above-average reviews on trusted third-party sites like ResellerRatings.com.

8. Give Yourself Time to Adjust

It can take a few weeks to adjust to a new mattress and determine whether or not it is “the one” for you. Even an in-store test is not a guarantee of comfort, so plan on giving yourself about a month to bond with your mattress however you buy it.

Since it isn’t always easy to know if you’ve made the right choice when it comes to long-term products like mattresses, this means it is wise to look for a bed that can be returned in a time frame you find reasonable.

Having at least 30 days to return policy can make buying less stressful while helping to ensure you do end up with a comfortable mattress. See how long you have to return and what’s involved so you know what to expect. A proper sleep trial usually offers a few months to try out a mattress at home and allows you to return it for a full refund if you’re dissatisfied.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the pros and cons of memory foam mattresses?

People have fallen in love with memory foam mattresses primarily because they’re affordable and conformable. The material yields to a sleeper’s body within seconds, supporting all the body’s curves and providing excellent amounts of comfort. Most shoppers can afford a memory foam mattress, with the average queen size memory foam mattress costing around $1000.

What keeps many people from sleeping on a memory foam mattress is heat retention. Traditional memory foam was a dense material, absorbing heat faster than it releases it. However, many mattress manufacturers have added heat-wicking materials like graphite and copper to increase heat dispersion. At Amerisleep, we made a more breathable material by substituting select ingredients with plant-based alternatives.

Can you use a mattress without a box spring?

Yes, most modern mattresses don’t need a box spring. The traditional box spring was only designed to work with old-fashioned innerspring mattresses, with the coils inside a box spring laid out to sync up with the coils inside a spring mattress. These coils are not spaced close enough to create an evenly supportive surface, leaving gaps that can cause sagging.

So if, for example, you place a memory foam mattress on a box spring, the mattress is likely to sink between the coils and lose its shape.

Should I choose a mattress protector?

Yes, once you pick the right mattress it’s a good idea to find a mattress protector in a matching size. Protectors keep liquids and other potentially harmful things from penetrating your mattress and changing its feel. A mattress protector is particularly helpful for people with allergies because it prevents pollen, dust mites, and other allergens from accumulating inside the mattress.

How do I choose a mattress by material?

When it comes to choosing a material or mattress type, the important considerations are cost and feel. Obviously, some materials cost more than others—for example, natural latex foam tends to cost more to produce than memory foam, while memory foam tends to cost more than basic poly-foam does.

Feel is important to think about when it comes to foam and spring mattresses. Foam mattresses tend to hug the body more, while the buoyant coils of a spring mattress keep a person on top of the bed. Which feel is more suitable is largely a matter of personal preference.

Is latex the best mattress material?

Latex foam has gained a lot of popularity as a natural and durable material. It has a conforming feel similar to memory foam, molding to the body and easing pressure. For a more thorough comparison, read our memory foam vs latex mattress guide.

The drawback is that natural latex foam expensive to produce and creates a heavy material, with an all-latex mattress often being one of the harder-to-move beds. There truly is no such thing as the “best mattress material” because every option has its pros and cons.

Ready to Choose the Right Mattress?

Next time you find yourself in search of a mattress, approach the process strategically to cut stress. Take inventory of what you want, learn about the main categories, and do a little research into the basics. Remember, a new bed is something you will be using for several hours a day and many years, so it’s worth the time.

Equipping yourself with information and focusing on what you find comfortable makes it easier to sort through options, compare quality, and analyze reviews – all of which will help you choose the right mattress for better sleep.

When did you purchase your last mattress? Have any mattress shopping questions or tips to share?