I need help buying a new mattress

saxonrosecliff

As above - its time for us to buy a new mattress. We have a budget of around £400 which I realise isn't a lot but this is a money saving site!

We don't want memory foam or orthopaedic or too firm. Other than this I've got no idea what I am looking at so if anyone can help on what to look for and decent brands or can make any recommendations, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you.

Nile

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

I’ve moved your thread from the ‘In my home’ board to the ‘I wanna’ board, where it is better suited.

Regards

Nile

TheCyclingProgrammer

We got our bed and mattress from http://www.factory-beds-direct.co.uk/. There's a ton of good information on there. Don't be put off buy buying online - they will help you choose a bed that's suitable for you and if you aren't happy with it you can return it within 30 days. That's a much better way of trying a bed than lying on one for 10 minute in a shop which doesn't really give you an idea if it's the right bed for you!

saxonrosecliff

Thank you for that website. I've been reading it for an hour so far - who knew that buying mattresses was so complicated!

dlusman

saxonrosecliff wrote: »

As above - its time for us to buy a new mattress. We have a budget of around £400 which I realise isn't a lot but this is a money saving site!

We don't want memory foam or orthopaedic or too firm. Other than this I've got no idea what I am looking at so if anyone can help on what to look for and decent brands or can make any recommendations, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you.

I would have said that there are so many options out there , and everyone has a unique idea of what they want from a mattress. The only way you will find out ones you like is to go out to a bed store and try them out.

TheCyclingProgrammer

dlusman wrote: »

The only way you will find out ones you like is to go out to a bed store and try them out.

I disagree. The only way of finding out which bed you like is by sleeping on it, ideally for more than a few days and certainly for more than 15 minutes or even an hour in a shop.

Going to a shop might help you rule out what you don't like (e.g. if you're a hot sleeper then memory foam might not be a good option) but I think its an overrated experience.

TheCyclingProgrammer

saxonrosecliff wrote: »

Thank you for that website. I've been reading it for an hour so far - who knew that buying mattresses was so complicated!

If you're still none the wiser after reading the website, then it might be worth emailing them or giving them a call. They were able to advise me by email based on our budget, my wife and I's relative weights etc.

We ended up with the Origins Pocket 1500 with a divan base and 4 drawers:
http://www.factory-beds-direct.co.uk/product/origins-pocket-1500/?attribute_pa_size=king

Its very comfortable on its own but a topper is recommended for extra comfort - we made the mistake of trying to skimp on the topper and bought a cheap microfibre one from Amazon, which actually made the bed less comfortable as it went very lumpy.

We recently replaced it with a lovely wool topper from http://www.soakandsleep.com and its transformed the bed.

Suffolk_lass

saxonrosecliff wrote: »

As above - its time for us to buy a new mattress. We have a budget of around £400 which I realise isn't a lot but this is a money saving site!

We don't want memory foam or orthopaedic or too firm. Other than this I've got no idea what I am looking at so if anyone can help on what to look for and decent brands or can make any recommendations, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you.

We did quite a lot of research before settling on a latex foam mattress which has been fantastic for us. It is probably too expensive for your budget if you went for a 100% latex core. However, we also bought a latex-topped foam mattress for our spare room that is also very comfortable and we collected it in a roll. The idea was that you could reverse it for the summer if the latex were too warm. That was around £350 and excellent (though has had less use).

We tried all sorts of firmness to soft types and found that for us, a firm-ish mattress is best. It really is so much about personal choice. If you have a bad back (and are tall) the advice is for your mattress to be at least 3-6 inches (7-15cm) longer than you.

I also really like the fact that we were able to test out different support levels at Ikea when we were recently looking for a good quality but economically reasonable mattress with our Son, who is 1.94m (or just over 6 foot 4 in old money). We settled on a pocket-sprung mattress with a 10 year guarantee for around £400.

I picked up on this thread because I have been researching whether to replace or re-cover our latex mattress. All the bed manufacturers refer us to the advice on the Sleep Council web-site that suggests we should replace our beds every seven years. I admit to being sceptical about this advice, in that the Sleep Council is owned and run by the trade association for bed manufacturers - so there is a vested interest in recommending regular replacement.

I can understand this advice if you have an open-sprung mattress but not for a latex product where the rubber has not deteriorated and for which the key advantages are its breathability, retention of support and anti-allergy qualities. In our case it is the fabric cover that has begun to fray and because I have several allergies, I am looking to refresh this.

I hope our experience may help, and if anyone can offer advice on re-covering a mattress (not a topper or supplementary cover), I am keen to hear.

Many thanks
SL