Too soft mattress

JGB1955

Mattresses are graded 1 to 5 - if you want a firm one, go for a 4+.  I wouldn't go for anything less.

BananaRepublic

JGB1955 said:

Mattresses are graded 1 to 5 - if you want a firm one, go for a 4+.  I wouldn't go for anything less.

I have never seen that grading system. Where did you hear that? The firmness is a function of the spring tension, and the layers of padding.

Ganga said:

BananaRepublic said:

sol2017 said:

Did you try the mattress before buying it? I imagine if you committed to spending 1K, you must have been pretty sure it would be fine. Was it OK all this time and only recently became uncomfortable?

When I was looking for a new mattress, among other things I visited a store (if I remember correctly, it was Bensons... store) and they had this testing device - a mattress you lay on and it measures pressure points or something that tells you what softness you need (1 through to 5).

Maybe a gimmick but they were pretty convincing. I didn't have a grand to spend though so I bought one of the online products. (Just in case you thought I was advertising 😉)

You could visit some stores and see what other mattresses are like. Not sure if they're open and if you can test them these days (covid and all).

I tried it in store in so much as one can. I also tried one of those sleep devices at Dreams which recommended some beds, including similar ones to the one I bought in the same tension ie medium. Harrison Spinks as you may know sell beds under many brand names, including John Lewis, Harrison, Harrison Spinks and Flaxby (Dreams only). The problem is that I had no previous experience of coiled spring mattresses, and sleeping is not the same as a five minute rest in store. 

I did try the same bed today in store, and mine does seem more like a soft (or gentle in HR speak), than a medium, but it is hard to be sure. This range of beds is unusual as it uses lots of small springs as well as big ones (about 15,000 in total), and lots of layers of wool and other natural fibres. Either it is too soft as per the spec, or the medium is more like a soft from other brands.

Hi ho, it has always been wrapped inside a decent quality protector so someone might end up with a like new posh bed for a bargain price.  🤣

Do not know many people who would buy a second hand mattress ,no offence but you would never know who had been sleeping on it 

No offence taken and I agree completely. However, you do see them on ebay. And it has had a protector on from new, so it is clean. But I suspect it is not worth much.

pinkteapot

Has the mattress been too soft from the start, or has it sagged? 

If it's the former then the fact their definition of 'medium' isn't the same as yours won't get you far. However, if the mattress has sagged in just 7-8 months you can complain under the warranty. We got a refund once on a mattress that sagged (developed big depressions where we each slept) after just a few months. The company sent an inspector out to look at it who agreed with us that it wasn't right and we got our money back. 

BananaRepublic

neilmcl said:

You've had the mattress 7-8 months and only now realising it's too soft. I'm afraid there's very little you can do about it now other than to sell it and get a firmer mattress. You don't have any legal recourse against the manufacturer. Who did you buy the mattress from and did they provide any sort of guarantee with it?

Yesterday I had confirmation from the retailer that Harrison Spinks have agreed to replace the mattress without charge.

At the end of August a Harrison Spinks rep visited and tested the mattress, largely by hand but one test was to place a cord with a weight at each end across the bed such that each weight was hanging over the side. He then measured the maximum sag across the width of the mattress. It was within spec (he had a table of maximum allowed sag against mattress age) until at the end he pushed the centre of the mattress down, and it did not rebound as much as expected leaving the sag outside of the allowed range.

Clearly they have a standard procedure for testing a mattress which takes into account the base and age.

So the conclusion is a) if a mattress is uncomfortable, contact the retailer and see if the manufacturer will inspect it and b) don't listen to anonymous online posters who confidentally tell you that there is nothing you can do.

Something I did learn from the visit is that the stated tension is determined by the pocket springs alone. It does not account for the layers of fibre or the micro springs. In other words, it is not a measure of how soft it feels. In this case the mattress has thick layers of soft natural fibres including wool, and two layers of microsprings each side of the pocket springs. These both reduce the overall tension, and in this case the mattress feels quite soft compared to medium tension mattresses from other manufacturers such as Hypnos.

Homer_home

So the question that is on everybodies lips is....

Did you ask for a firmer mattress?

BananaRepublic

Homer_home said:

So the question that is on everybodies lips is....

Did you ask for a firmer mattress?

Yes I did. 

BananaRepublic

I doubt anyone is interested, but the replacement mattress arrived last Tuesday .... and it is a medium tension. It is now on ebay. Get a bargain while you can. It really is the most uncomfortable mattress that I have ever slept on. I am back on the foam mattress that was in the spare room, and that is so comfy. It cost me ~£300 nine years ago.