What are the most important factors to consider when evaluating mattress quality?

The most important factors for people who sleep on their backs are support and pressure relief. If the mattress is too soft, your body will sag and cause back pain, but if it's too firm, you won't relieve enough pressure. Many of you may not know this, but the material the mattress is made of is one of the main reasons for the comfort it provides and, therefore, an important factor to consider. In general, mattresses are made of foam, latex or inner springs.

A large proportion of mattresses are also hybrid, meaning they are a mix of foam and latex, or foam and inner springs. The key to choosing the right type of material is to re-evaluate your sleep habits and your body. If you weigh more than average, then it's best to opt for firm latex, foam, or hybrid mattresses, as they provide better support and keep your body upright. In the same way, if you sleep in heat, which means that you tend to sweat during the night, then latex is your ally, since it promotes air circulation and ventilation throughout the night.

While these are less common, adjustable mattresses have air chambers that allow you to control the firmness level of the mattress. But if you decide to roll the dice and buy completely online, we suggest that you opt for a two-sided mattress with multiple firmness options or a mattress with a solid and extended return policy. Mattresses come in a wide price range and, nowadays, you can easily find not one, but several mattresses that fit your budget. However, instead of following a schedule, focus on warning signs that it's time to change your mattress, such as lumps or crevices, and whether the mattress is causing you difficulty sleeping or pain when you wake up.

A mattress made of latex, a more elastic type of foam formulated from the sap of a rubber tree, can be felt somewhere in between a memory foam mattress and an inner spring mattress. For anyone who prefers an organic mattress made from natural materials, it's important to ensure that the entire mattress meets strict organic standards and not just one component. It's also important to note that some mattress brands offer their mattresses in only a few sizes. Even so, if you're testing a mattress and you feel that it puts pressure on certain parts of your body, it's probably not the right mattress for you, just from a comfort standpoint.

Overall, a quality inner spring mattress offers good edge support, is more breathable (and therefore cooler) than its all-foam counterparts, and comes in a variety of firmness levels to suit a variety of preferences. Online mattress brands face lower overall costs, allowing them to charge less for mattresses and other sleeping products. That said, buying mattresses in stores can take longer, be overwhelming, and make it difficult to compare mattresses. Third-party retailers, such as Amazon, department stores and mattress stores, may have their own rules, whether you purchased the mattress online or in a physical store.

The base layers of a mattress are largely responsible for the support felt on the mattress, so these components are collectively known as the support core. In fact, studies have shown that the right mattress can improve pain, stiffness, and sleep quality by 50 to 60%. The padding on the top of the mattress helps make crevices less visible, and the steel coils found in internal spring mattresses also offer additional support to prevent them from falling, even if body impressions are likely to occur over time.