How To Pick A Mattress in 4 Simple Steps

You’d think that choosing a mattress would be one of the simplest decisions you’ll ever have to make. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth and choosing a mattress can actually be quite complex and daunting.

Luckily, there are a few simple steps that you can follow to make the process easier.

4 Steps to Choosing a Mattress

1: Decide on a budget.

The first thing to do before you walk into a mattress store or start browsing online is to determine your budget. Figure out what you can comfortably afford and stick to your decision. If going over budget will mean the difference between paying a mortgage or not, it’s a good idea to set your budget a little lower than you can afford – just in case.

Setting your budget early will cut down on disappointment, narrow your options to a few dozen instead of a few hundred, and make things easier.

2: Choose a mattress type.

There are a number of different types of mattresses to choose from. These include hybrid, water bed, memory foam, latex, pillow-top, and innerspring. These types aren’t to be confused with firmness or softness, which we’ll get into later, but rather dictates the material that your mattress is made of.

While mattress types can be confusing, there are a ton of great online resources that you can access to get an idea of what each type is and what that type is good for.

3: Determine your ideal firmness.

If you’re like most people, you have a preferred sleeping position. This position can be a determining factor of the firmness that you need in your bed. In addition, medical conditions and general references can also be factors.

Generally, back sleepers do best with a mattress that falls around the 5-7 range on the firmness scale, side sleepers a 3-6, and stomach sleepers a 5-7. Of course, this is just a recommendation and what works best for you will depend on everything else that plays into the decision.

4: Factor in your weight and body size.

Body weight and size are important to consider, because they can effect how comfortable even the most traditionally comfortable mattress is fr you. If you’re a heavier person, a memory foam mattress in the 1-5 range might not be ideal because you’ll sink too far into it, resulting in you feeling stuck and unable to move properly during the night.

For someone with a very small body size, an extra-firm mattress won’t do. This body size doesn’t produce enough pressure to make a firm mattress conform to the body. A very thin person would quite literally be sleeping flat on top of the mattress, and that’s just not comfortable.

After going through the steps above, you should have a pretty good idea of which type of mattress to look at. If you have to, write down your answers to every step and bring them with you when you go mattress shopping.