Mattress Help, Tricks Of The Trade
July 2020How to Choose a Mattress: the 7 ultimate guides to buying a mattress
Updated 2020: This ultimate bed buying guide on how to choose a mattress gives you a list of each area you really do need to understand before making a new mattress purchase. Buying a mattress in a showroom without understanding what’s inside is akin to buying a new car just because you like the colour of it! To make things worse mattress shops & manufacturers will actively hide key information from you. The very detail that’s essential in helping you buy the best possible mattress for your budget. All so they can lower their costs and increase profits. We explain exactly what you need to watch out for.
Ultimate Independent Bed Buying Guide
When it comes to buying a new mattress the retailers and online adverts are going to do their best to lure you in based on discounts, next day delivery, space-age fabrics and a heap of other tricks. None of which help you choose the right type of mattress for your needs. None of these sales tactics takes into account your body weight, sleeping style or requirements. They are there to sell you a bed as quickly as possible.
Did you also know that most ‘bed buying guides’ use affiliate links? So each of the mattresses they recommend gives them a financial kickback. Hardly unbiased is it! The advice we provide applies to any mattress purchase whether you buy from us or not.
- How much should I spend on a new mattress?
- Understanding mattress pocket springs
- Know what’s inside your mattress
- Understand the mattress upholstery options
- How to compare mattresses side by side
- Mattress detailing provides quality clues
- What construction method is used in my mattress?
By reading each of the areas below you will be able to save yourself time and avoid expensive mattress mistakes. Each heading is also a link to a much more detailed article on each of the areas. This is your one-stop in finding out the key information when buying a new bed whether instore or online.
1. How much should you spend on a mattress?
Setting your budget for a new mattress is absolutely key to your purchase decision. However, you can’t feasibly expect to do this if you do not know what your money can get you. This section breaks down what you can realistically expect to get for a particular budget.
You should aim to buy the best bed you can afford.
Given you spend 8 hours a night in your bed spending as much as you can this will pay dividends and ensure you can buy a mattress that will last.
| How much to spend on a double mattress? | What can I expect for my money? |
|---|---|
| Under £500 | Will not get you much at best a 13.5 gauge open coil/cage sprung with a thin polyester layer or a solid foam mattress. |
| £500 | Entry level spunbond springs with some form of synthetic upholstery. Usually one sided mattresses. |
| £750 | The beginnings of a basic pocket springs unit with 800 – 1000 count. No substantial amount of filling other than foams and synthetic materials. Two sided models. |
| £1000 | Should get you away from most low ranges and into the mid-range pocket spring models. |
| £1250 | Should get you a decent pocket sprung mattress with some Natural Fibre content. |
| £1500 | Should get you many manufacturers mid-range models with Natural Fibres |
| £1500-£2000 | Should get you a Hand Made primarily Natural Fibre Quality Mattress |
| £2000+ | You should expect 100% Natural Fibres and Traditional Hand Made Construction Method. |
| £5000+ | A Bespoke Hand Made Sleep System, High-end Spring Units & Featuring the Worlds Most Luxurious Natural Fibres. |
2. All about pocket springs
It’s essential that you know what spring type and tension you require for your bodyweight. Many people confuse the spring tension with the mattress feel. Meaning you’re more than likely to buy the wrong spring tension and end up with an uncomfortable mattress.
Avoiding anything above 3000 springs as these contain micro springs which reduce the quality of support significantly and are simply used to help retailers market high spring counts.
Springs are also one of the real differences that can be used to separate one manufacturer from the other. This article here will show you how to spot quality springs from cheap mass-produced ones.
| Spring Tension | Wire diameter (Gauge) | Weight Range |
|---|---|---|
| Soft | 1.2mm | Bespoke Tension (Please Call) |
| Medium | 1.4mm | Upto 16 stone |
| Firm | 1.6mm | 16 stone plus |
| Extra Firm / Orthopaedic | 1.9mm | 20 stone plus |
3. Know what’s inside your Mattress
Next up is being able to spot decent upholstery in a mattress. This is done by knowing the GSM (Grams per Square Metre) of upholstery is what the manufacturer does not want you to know about. Once you do grasp the essentials of this you will be able to tell which mattress is a complete bag of springs and which ones are worthy of further investigation.
Take one mattress that lists its contents as containing a Wool layer. If you don’t know how much is inside you can’t possibly know whether its good value. It may be 200gsm or 2000gsm of Wool, the difference is vast!
- The very minimum is 1000 grams per square of upholstery meter in a king-size mattress.
Anything less than this will indicate you’re looking at a cheap short-lived mattress.
4. Understanding mattress upholstery
There are only two parts that go into making a mattress – the springs and the upholstery. Once you grasp the basics of upholstery your job is halfway done. Be warned, not all is as it seems as mattress brands try and trick you into blended fibres and low natural fibre percentages.
You have two choices with mattress upholstery:
- Synthetic entry level materials like foam, polyester and white fibres
- Natural Fibres such as Horsetail, Wool, Cotton & Bamboo
Where ever possible you should always opt for a Natural fibre as these are more breathable, last longer and have more resilience for a perfect nights sleep. True Natural fibre mattresses are not available for under £1000. Any that claim to be will only contain 1-5% actual natural fibres blended with cheaper synthetic fibres.
This is where most people mistake the spring tension as comfort. You need to know exactly what upholstery layers and in which order they appear to work out how it will feel and respond to you.
5. How to do a mattress comparison
When you’re wondering how to choose a mattress, and are faced with 5000 or so models, you really do need to do like for like comparisons. This section guides you through the process of comparing like for like models. Not particularly easy when manufacturers or retailers do not give you the information you require to do this! We show you what to look for.
- The key to comparing is knowing the Spring type, tension, mattress upholstery GSM, layering of fibres and construction methods used.
All of which retailers will do their best to hide from you! Below is an example of how to compare two mattresses side by side.
| John Ryan By Design Artisan Naturals | Vi Spring Regal Superb | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1200gsm Blended British Fleece Wool and Cotton. | 900gsm Blended real Shetland Isle Fleece Wool and Cotton |
| 2 | Hairproof Cambric Cover | Hairproof Cambric Cover |
| 3 | 1250gsm Rebound Poly Cotton | 1200gsm long stranded Horsetail blended with British Fleece Wool |
| 4 | 1500gsm 100% Pure Mohair | 1000gsm Bonded British Fleece Wool and Cotton |
| 5 | 1600 Calico encased Pocket Springs [ 49mm ] [1.28mm ] | 1720 Calico encased Pocket Springs [48mm ] [1.28mm ] |
| Total GSM | 3950gsm | 3100gsm |
6. Mattress detailing matters
This section will give you the confidence to walk into any mattress showroom and determine quite easily the products that are worthy of further investigation. The clues to a well-built mattress are quite obvious once you know what to look for.
Retailers will use all sorts of fancy names and fabrics to avoid you asking what’s actually inside the mattress.
A few tricks below will help you spot a quality mattress from a cheap import such as:
- Hand side stitched panels are far more robust when you sit on the edge of a mattress it shouldn’t bulge.
- Quilted covers are far cheaper than tufted Damask and indicate an entry-level mattress.
- Mattresses with stitched handles are far easier to turn.
- Zip-off covers will not fit in most washing machines and can be a false benefit as you can’t easily wash them.
- Avoiding excessive spring counts, 4000 plus, as these mattresses contain micro springs which are a poor support choice.
7. Mattress construction
This section gives quite a comprehensive overview of what makes a good mattress. We have used real-life examples to dissect what can be considered to be a well-constructed product and analysed each component to determine what makes one model better than the other.
A hand made mattress is always far superior to a mass-produced machine-made model. By understanding certain mattress construction methods you will be able to better select your perfect mattress. You can then spot the cheap mass produced mattresses from the beautifully well made.
Here are a few quick tips when looking at construction specifics in a bed.
- One-sided mattresses should usually be avoided where possible, as they will settle and dip quicker than two-sided models.
- Pillowtop mattresses will fail far quicker than any other mattress type and are a poor method of construction. Once the pillowtop compresses you can’t remove it and the mattress is ruined.
- Hand side stitching is better than quilted panels
- Perimeter support is essential to stop you rolling off the edge of a bed
- Tape edging vs machine-stitched quilted covers helps create a better mattress as it provides a more resilient finish to a mattress.
- Tufting is a high-quality sign that the fillings are being held correctly to stop them from shifting over time. Always check the tufts go all the way through to the other side.
Summary
Getting to grip with these basics will put you in a far better position to determine what will be the most suitable mattress for you. Meaning you can start to compare mattresses in retailers and showrooms. By asking questions and uncovering the detail you can then spot a quality good value mattress from an expensive unsuitable bed in no time!
We hope you find our site useful and feel free to browse our online handmade in the UK mattress shop. If you have any questions please contact our friendly expert team or drop us a question below for more tailored mattress advice.
John & Ryan
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