Oh, fall—the season of change. With fall in the air, it might be time to ditch your worn-out, old mattress and upgrade to change your night of sleep from restless to comfortable.
When selecting a new mattress in autumn, it should still keep you comfy not just throughout the season but also throughout the year. That includes early autumn with hot afternoons and late autumn with chilly evenings.
To select the best mattress for you, certain features like the mattress’s material, support, and comfort should also be top priorities from January to December. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most important mattress features to consider to provide you with all the need-to-know information required before purchasing a new memory foam topper or latex foundation mattress.
Different Mattress Styles
The style of your mattress affects your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout your night.
Memory Foam Mattress
Memory foam mattresses are easily one of the most popular mattress types on the market. NASA invented memory foam in the 1970s to boost the overall safety of aircraft cushions.
As the name suggests, the foam can “remember” your body shape, while supporting it until you change your sleeping position. Memory foam mattresses provide features such as body contouring and pressure relief to customize your night to you.
One of the main drawbacks of a memory foam mattress is that they tend to have less airflow in comparison to other types of mattresses like latex, which can cause you to “sleep hot” at night.
Latex Foam Mattresses
Next up is latex foam mattresses. These mattresses have a type of foam that provides benefits like comfort and cooling properties, meaning if you sleep hot, this is the mattress for you. It can also provide more bounce and responsiveness. Latex foam mattresses have higher levels of durability to keep your mattress in tip-top shape for longer periods of time.
The downside to latex foam mattresses is they aren’t as contouring as memory foam mattresses, so keep that in mind if that’s important to you.
Innerspring Mattress
When learning how to pick the right mattress, one key skill is knowing how to compare the different types. One of the oldest bed types, innerspring mattresses usually have more bounce than memory foam mattresses. They’re also typically firmer.
Innerspring mattresses have a steel coil core to provide support. They allow for natural body movement.
After learning how to pick the right mattress, make sure to consider that actual coils are much less common today in mattresses due to them wearing down then weakening the structure of the mattress. This has resulted in box spring mattresses that have slats to provide the same features without the need for metal coils.
As innerspring mattresses age, they can get squeaky over time if they have metal coils and can break down to be not as firm as when you first purchase the mattress.
Hybrid Mattresses
Hybrid mattresses are made of a combination of foam and innerspring, so you get the features of both mattresses in one. If the upper layer of foam isn’t your preference, hybrid mattresses can also be made of cotton, latex, or wool.
Hybrid mattresses offer the benefits of contouring foam with the support of the innerspring. With the foam layer on top, the hybrid mattress works to quiet the sound of the coils that often result in innerspring mattresses.
Sleeper’s Features and Preferences
Your features and sleep preferences can influence which mattress is best for your night. Let’s jump in.
Bodyweight
Bodyweight is often overlooked but is an important feature when selecting your ideal mattress. It can affect several issues including:
- Cooling
- Feel
- Hug
- Sinkage
- Support
Bodyweight is especially critical when picking a mattress that provides the right amount of firmness and support. This can, in turn, affect your comfort level. A heavier bodyweight can cause more sinkage over time, which will greatly affect the mattress’s support.
For example, heavier sleepers who weigh 200+ lbs should generally consider thicker mattresses with greater firmness. This will not only provide more support and comfort but also extend the mattress’s lifespan.
Comfort Level
This is a subjective issue that differs among different sleepers. For example, some people feel more comfortable with firmness levels in the low, mid, or high range.
Air circulation is another issue. People who are “hot sleepers” might feel less comfortable with memory foam mattresses since they often have less airflow than other materials.
Several other factors can affect a sleeper’s comfort, including material, size, and height. There are no right or wrong options in these areas, and it depends on which options make you feel like you’re on Cloud 9.
Mattresses and Sleeping Style
How you sleep can help determine which mattress factors should be at the top of your wishlist. Let’s explore.
Side Sleepers
Side sleepers are the most common type of sleepers. A soft-to-medium mattress is ideal for side sleepers.
Besides that, a soft mattress with good neck and back support is ideal. The reason for this is that your position often changes at night, which causes your arms and legs to change positions, which makes it important to have a mattress that supports your positioning.
Stomach Sleepers
The top priority of stomach sleepers ought to be a mattress with support. The reason for this is that the torso puts the most pressure on the mattress, so it’s important for the mattress to provide the same level of support over the entire surface.
Stomach sleepers should be as parallel to the mattress as possible. For example, a high pillow could cause aches and pain due to the spine not being aligned. Look for mattresses with a mid-level firmness.
Back Sleepers
Support and firmness are both key mattress features for back sleepers. Back sleepers should generally go with a mattress that provides moderate firmness.
Avoid mattresses that are too soft since they could cause back pain due to a lack of support. The spinal alignment will also be off-balance if the mattress provides low support.
Bed Type and Bedroom Size
Your bed style and bedroom size can play a role in determining which size and type of mattress is best for you.
Bed Style
The kind of bed you own should affect what kind of mattress you pick. For example, if you have a low-profile platform bed, then a solid mattress topper might be ideal. Meanwhile, good options for bed styles like canopy beds may include a box spring foundation and memory foam topper.
Bedroom Size
It’s important to get the exact dimensions of your bedroom before picking a twin, queen, or king size mattress. You should even get the doorway’s length, so you’ll know how much clearance you’ll need if the bed is close to the door unless it is an expanding bed that arrives at your house vacuum-sealed in a box.
You can also pick certain kinds of beds like storage beds, which can help use your bedroom’s floor space more efficiently. This could include drawers at the base’s foundation where you can store linen, clothing, and other items.
One main factor to keep in mind related to the bed/mattress and bedroom size is whether you prefer a larger bed or more bedroom walking space.
Final Thoughts
Just as the fall season has moderate temperatures that vary throughout the day and night, your mattress should work with you to adapt to change.
It’s important to pick a mattress that’s just right for your wants and needs. Create a mattress wishlist based on factors like the mattress’s material, size, airflow, firmness, price, etc. to get on your way to your best night of rest.
