Mattress Buying Guide

Need a New Mattress?

Your eight hours of beauty sleep may be down to three or four. You may find that you wake up achy and sore. Maybe you are tossing and turning in the night. Or do you have trouble falling asleep? You may need a new mattress. You will need to consider that as an option. Many people who have trouble sleeping, take their lifestyle into consideration, but somehow don't think of a new mattress. They do their best to reduce stress, change their diet, avoid caffeine late in the day and may even have established a bedtime routine to help aid their sleep. Many will add exercise and avoid daytime naps and still don't think to shop for a new mattress. Another habit to consider is watching television from bed and checking email or surfing the web on your laptop, phone or tablet. The light from technology keeps your eyes and mind active. It is important to give yourself some relaxing cool down time before you fall asleep. If you still have trouble sleeping, you will want to consider your mattress. That mattress might just be the culprit for you poor sleep.

You want to get the longest life out of your mattress that is possible. But you don't want to sacrifice good sleep for that. Mattresses do have a life span and when that time is up, a mattress is no longer able to do what it was made to do. The mattress was made to support your body to provide you with a good night sleep.

So how can you get the most from your mattress? First of all, if it is old, replace it. Eight to ten years seems to be the life of a mattress. Some will last longer, others less. You can determine if yours needs to be replace by answering just a few questions. First, do you have trouble sleeping well on it? Second, does it sag in the middle? Third, if you run your hand across it with a few pounds of pressure, can you feel lumps? Yes. You need a new mattress. If you do decide to get a new mattress after you have evaluated your needs and wants, you will want to take good care of it so that is will last as long as it can. Purchase a good mattress with a suitable box spring. Then keep it clear of ephemeral items like remotes, books, food, drink, and pets. You will want to maintain your mattress by regularly vacuuming it once a month with an attachment to get up any errant bugs and mites. You'll also want to vacuum to get the pet hair up from the pet that shouldn't be on the bed but somehow manages to get himself onto the mattress just below your feet. Once a year look for stains, soils or tears plus tell tale sagging. And every now and then when you wake up assess your comfort. Does your back ache, your neck stiff? When you mattress no longer provides you the support and comfort you need, you will find that it just might be time for a new mattress.