The “best” mattress should do at least three things
- Support your back
- Ease pressure points
- Last a long time
Obviously, because you spend one third of your life in bed, you want it to be comfortable!
And because it’s a big investment, you expect it to last. The best mattress for you depends
on your mattress type,
comfort level preferences, and budget. And, if you share your mattress with a partner, you
have to consider their preferences too!
Before you choose a king size bed, consider the pros and cons of each mattress type.
Mattress Type |
Pros |
Cons |
Best For: |
Memory Foam |
Pressure-relief Contouring Responsiveness Quiet Excellent
motion Isolation Hypoallergenic |
Sometimes traps heat Can
result in "stuck" feeling |
Side sleepers Combo
sleepers Back sleepers Stomach sleepers |
Innerspring |
Responsiveness Cooling Edge
support |
No pressure relief Motion
transfer Bouncy but noisy Sags quickly Collect dust mites
and allergens easily |
Stomach sleepers Back
sleepers |
Hybrid |
Responsive Cooling Some
pressure relief Some motion isolation |
Can be noisy Can sag
quickly Can collect dust mites and allergens easily
|
Side sleepers Combo
sleepers Back sleepers Stomach sleepers |
Latex |
Responsive Cooling Hypoallergenic
Motion isolating |
Heavy Expensive
Firmer feel compared to memory foam Too responsive for some
|
Side sleepers Combo
sleepers |
Memory Foam Mattreses
Memory foam isn’t exactly new in the mattress world, but recent innovations have made it
more and more popular.
The most recent trend to boost memory foam’s availability is the bed in a box revolution,
which cuts out the middleman (brick and mortar stores) and ships mattresses directly to
customers’ doorsteps.
Memory foam mattresses are easy to compress and ship in a box, so they go hand in hand with
this new delivery format.
A basic memory foam mattress model has 2-3 layers of foam with some variation depending on
the firmness
(firmer mattresses have fewer layers, softer mattresses have more).
A true memory foam mattress has memory foam in its comfort layers and then a firmer,
stiffer foam as the bottom layer (usually poly foam).
Memory foam is dense and soft— two characteristics that lend themselves well to a silent,
pressure-relieving sleeping surface.
However, this same high-density foam is known to trap heat. Manufacturers of this popular
foam infuse it with cooling gel,
green tea, charcoal, graphite, or copper to dissipate some of the heat.
Amerisleep’s memory foam, known as Bio-Pur®, is partially plant-based,
making it more responsive and breathable than traditional memory foam.
Innerspring Mattresses
Innerspring mattresses are still the most common, widely available mattress type.
They’re bouncy thanks to their coil support cores, but they offer little by way of pressure
relief because of their thin Euro or pillow tops
(comparable to the comfort layer in a memory foam mattress).
Innersprings have one advantage over memory foam: they sleep cooler because air can easily
move through the bottom coils.
However, these same coils lead to sagging and deterioration after only a few years.
This is probably one reason memory foam is starting to take over as the most popular type of
mattress.
Hybrid Mattresses
Hybrid mattresses look and feel quite similar to innersprings, but there’s a couple of major
differences: first,
hybrids contain more foam in their top comfort layers. In fact, a hybrid must have 2-3
inches of foam to even be classified as a “hybrid.”
Second, hybrids are often made with individually-wrapped coils, also known as Marshall
coils.
Each steel coil is wrapped in soft fabric or foam to alleviate motion transfer and noise
(two problems common to innersprings).
Latex Mattresses
Latex is popular because it feels similar to memory foam, but it’s not always made with
polyurethane like memory foam.
For that reason, it appeals to eco-friendly consumers. Dunlop latex is harvested from the
sap of a rubber tree, a renewable resource.
Dunlop feels firmer than the other latex type, Talalay.
Talalay latex also comes from rubber tree sap, but polyurethane fillers are added to give it
a softer, bouncier feel.
Latex is not as easy to find as memory foam, nor is it available in a wide range of budget
options.
However, it’s incredibly durable, so some prefer to invest more money in it because of its
longevity.