What’s the Best Spring Tension for My Mattress?

4. What if I have the wrong spring tension?

The wrong tension spring will either compress too much, ie too soft a spring, meaning a lack of support or won’t compress at all, ie too firm a spring, leading to a brutally solid sleep surface. If you have either not enough or too much support this leads to an uncomfortable sleeping position and in the worst case can lead to backache during the night from lying awkwardly in bed.

Once you have chosen the wrong spring tension in a mattress there is very little you can do other than have the mattress replaced. This is why it is so important to choose the correct tensions in the first place. It is also worth bearing in mind the if your bodyweight changes significantly either by weight gain or weight loss it may be worthwhile revisiting your mattress to check it’s still suitable just like you would do clothes in your wardrobe.

Why do retailers get it wrong?

Bed retailers often skip over asking people what their weight it and simply allow people to choose a spring tension on whether they prefer a Soft, Medium or Firmer feel in their mattress. As we have established though this is the wrong way around and leads to further discomfort once you get the bed home. There’s also the issue of wanting to make a quick sale. The more questions you ask and information you need the longer it takes for them to seal the deal. That’s why you often find salespeople literally following you around the store as you awkwardly ‘try’ mattresses for 30 seconds or so.

The more questions you ask them the longer it takes you to buy & bed sales people know this

5. What if my partner and I need different spring tensions?

This is not a problem and can be accommodated by either a split tension mattress or a Zip & link.

A Split Tension mattress is a one-piece mattress in a kingsize or above that has two different spring tensions. One of each side. So you can have a Soft/Medium split or a Medium/Firm split. You can’t have a Soft/Firm split as the jump is too great causing instability in a one-piece mattress where the springs are all stitched to one another.

A Zip & Link bed allows you to have any combination of spring tensions as they are two separate mattresses that are then ‘zipped’ together. They also help reduce transference where one sleeper moves and wakes the other up. This is because both spring units are separate and isolated.

Summary

Its essential when looking for a new mattress that you get the right spring tension to begin with. If you fail to choose the correct spring type and tension then theres very little you can do to remedy the situation. Always ask the retailer what the weight tolerances are for each spring tension and ask for more details. They should be able to tell you the gauge (ie. 1.2,1.4 or 1.6) the type of spring (cage sprung or pocket) and the number of springs in the mattress (one or two layers).

Now that you know this you’re one step closer to finding your dream mattress. If you want to make sure you’re picking the right bed why not give our small friendly team a call for tailored guidance and recommendation. That way you can take out all of the guesswork when buying a new bed.