Is It Time to Replace Your Mattress?

It often seems that we take our mattresses for granted and assume that they are providing the same support as when they were first purchased. Our bodies can be very adaptable, but by the time we are aware of discomfort as a result of a sagging mattress, we have gone months or years on a sleeping surface that is no longer effective. Consider that most inner spring mattress manufacturers look for an inch and a half of sag, with out any weight applied, as the criteria for warranty claims.  The core of any mattress, whether it is inner spring, foam or latex, provides the support for your body weight and gives the overall feel of firmness to your mattress. Long before there is a noticeable sag in an inner-spring mattress, the core has begun to break down and compromise the overall support of the mattress.

Many consumers have become familiar with mattresses featuring foam cores, often topped with memory foam, such as the TempurPedic, although many other foam mattresses are available. The advantage of a foam core, whether polyurethane or latex, is that it is much slower to break down and lose support over time. If properly configured in a mattress, a foam core can be much more successful in distributing body weight. Many configurations of pillowtops or “toppers” featuring a wide variety of materials are available, providing a plush surface layer that conforms to the shape of your body. The core of the mattress must successfully support the conforming layer. If the core itself is sagging, no amount of pillowtop can compensate for the overall breakdown in the mattress.

The mattress industry recommends that you replace your mattress every 8-10 years, sooner with any signs of discomfort. Because our needs for comfort and support change as we get older, many mattress manufacturers recommend that you shorten the replacement period as you grow older. A conventional inner-spring mattress will gradually lose the ability to evenly support your body weight over time and they are much less effective than memory foam or latex in distributing your weight and reducing pressure points.

It no surprise that more and more consumers look to the extended warranties offered by memory foam and latex mattresses as an indication of greater comfort over the lifetime of the mattress. A latex mattress is particularly durable, with a much longer life than even polyurethane foam. Often mattresses constructed from latex will have warranties of up to 20 years, and even after 20 years, a premium latex mattress is unlikely to sag. An inner-spring mattress usually requires a body impression of one and half inches, without any weight on the mattress, for warranty replacement. It has become much more common to find inner-spring mattress that feature pillowtops using either memory foam or latex, taking advantage of the excellent pressure point relief both materials provide.

However, the overall body support is the most important feature of any mattress, and generally inner-spring will begin to breakdown sooner than mattresses that feature polyurethane or latex foam. Many consumers, particularly if they have back or joint problems, feel that they must have a firm mattress for support. While is true that a firm mattress can offer very solid support for a longer period, they are generally not very forgiving in the manner in which they conform to your body. Proper spinal alignment often depends on a mattress core that has more give than an inner-spring mattresses, and latex or memory foam provide this type of support, very evenly distributing body weight.

To put it simply, if your mattress has the firmness that most successfully supports your body and relieves pressure points, then you do not want the mattress to change significantly over time. Once it has begun to change, you no longer have the ideal mattress. In the case of an inner-spring mattress, purchase the best quality mattress you can afford and replace it at the first sign of discomfort, or opt for the extended durability that is found in a latex mattress, and to a lesser extent, in polyurethane foam. Both materials will change much more slowly over time and, in the case of latex, will not be altered in firmness for years after your original purchase.