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Mattress advice for side sleeper

David Turner asked
3rd January 2016

Hi. We are looking to replace our double (4ft6) mattress. The one we have is very firm, we have tried to soften this with a memory foam topper, but this seems to cause excessive heat, and I still wake up with lower back pain. I am a side sleeper and I am convinced the hardness of the mattress is the cause. I’m not unusal in weight or height (5′ 11″ and around 13.5 stone, my wife albeit somewhat smaller!). I was in the department store Next recently and tried their “2000 Pocket Sprung Ultimate Natural Pillowtop Medium Mattress“. This was advertised as “2 – medium”, with a wool/cashmere/silk pillow top. http://www.next.co.uk/x571294s3#667282?i=double.
I have to admit, when I lay on this bed, it was just the right softness. I felt my back was supported well as a side sleeper, it felt amazing, convinced that a natural fill pillow top was the way to go – I almost pulled the credit card there and then! I didn’t though – I came home and checked on line.
It would appear that a good many people have suggested that pillow top beds (Next included) can suffer a lot with sagging, and that a better solution would be a good mattress and a good topper.
At this point I stumbled on your very informative web site – you guys seem to really know your beds! Can you suggest to me a bed and topper that you offer that would give me the same experience I felt when I lay on that bed in Next today?
Best regards

1 Answer
Lee Staff
answered 8 years ago

Hi David,

 

Hopefully, we caught you just in the nick of time.  Whenever I hear mattresses/” title=”pillowtop”>pillowtop mattress a small scream occurs in my head, I can’t help it, it just does!  You may have read our article on why pillowtop mattresses effectively reduce the lifespan on your mattress here.

 

I’ll summarise here though to assist.  Pillowtops are toppers permanently adhered/stitched/bonded to a mattress. They feel lovely at first. Due to the fact they are usually really soft and give that hotel bed feeling.  The issue is they can’t be turned and they can compress at an alarming rate due to their softness. Imagine a sofa cushion that needs a good shake but its stitched to the sofa!?  If this happened, there’s no way back.  You’re stuck with a potentially lumpy bumpy mattress forever.  That is unless you remove it via scissors or what not.  It can be a real horror story.

 

 

It’s not always the case but as a mattress designer I’d never attached something to a mattress that can’t be removed or turned; hence why all our mattress topper and core model combinations are all fully removable.

 

Given your budget and feel preference please look at our Artisan 1500 mattress model which has no such potential issue as the pillowtop.  In a medium tension, this would be a medium feel.  You could always add a microfibre topper to it to give that sink feeling.  Then if it compresses you can take it off shake it or replace it far cheaper than a pillowtop!

 

 

As always; if you have further questions please don’t hesitate to contact our office on 0161 437 4419. We are open Monday to Friday 8 am to 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.

 

Kind Regards, Lee.

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