Picking a mattress can lead you down the wrong path as you chase things like high spring counts and fancy-sounding hybrid technologies. But what matters is five key areas: weight, temperature needs, whether you are sensitive to chemicals, edge support, and motion transfer.
Your best bet is to use these core factors as a mattress screening guide. Tune out the hype around less meaningful specs and focus on how soft or firm the bed feels for your body type and how well it handles movement from a sleeping partner.
We reveal all below.
Choose a Mattress Firmness Level Based on Your Weight
Figure out what mattress firmness level best suits your body weight range to ensure proper spinal alignment through the night and targeted pressure point relief. Heavier individuals exert more downward pressure, which requires extra support, while lighter people need just enough to cushion joints.
Over 220 lbs – Choose a firm mattress with dense foams or robust inner coils. The thicker interior design and reinforced support core provide the strength to prevent uncomfortable sinkage and misalignment issues for heavier body types.
Between 190-210 lbs – Look for a medium-firm mattress with substantial support components but with a little more padding or a conforming top comfort layer for your body shape. This strikes the ideal balance of cushioned comfort while maintaining back, neck and spine health.
Up to 190 lbs – A medium mattress is ideal for side sleepers and average to lightweight people, thanks to a squashier comfort layer.
Under 130 lbs – Look for a medium-soft mattress. These are soft enough to squash under your body but are too soft for people over 140 lbs.
Remember when picking a mattress – The heavier you are, the softer a mattress feels.
Match Your Temperature Regulation Needs
Every mattress manages heat differently. Step two involves analysing your temperature regulation requirements and identifying designs that sleep cooler or warmer accordingly.
Memory foam mattresses conform closely and adapt to your body contours. However, the dense, tiny cellular structure absorbs and retains body heat through the night, especially older generation foams. If you naturally sleep hot and sweat easily, gel-infused memory foam has added phase change materials and breathability features to help.
Latex foam sleeps temperature neutral, making it a little cooler than dense memory foam. Its open-cell structure and inherent springiness allow more airflow circulation. Natural or organic latex foam from sap runs cooler, while synthetic latex foam from chemicals allows slightly more heat buildup.
Innerspring and airy hybrid mattresses with an inner coil system efficiently release body heat to their surroundings, preventing heat from trapping against your body. Breathable fabric covers, copper infusions, and cooling gels or phase change materials provide exceptional cooling if night sweats are a big concern.
Natural mattresses are breathable, antimicrobial, and environmentally friendly. They do not contain harsh adhesives or synthetic foams and release minimal VOCs and odours when new, making them ideal for people with chemical sensitivities.
While costlier, the durable construction of natural mattresses can mean a longer lifespan than other mattress types. They are also health-supporting and sustainable.
Find Exceptional Edge Support
The fourth step is assessing a mattress’s edge support by lying near the perimeter as you would while sleeping. Quality edge support maximises the usable sleep surface area.
Reinforced springs, firm foam encasement, and reinforced border walls indicate good edge support, which allows you to sleep comfortably from edge to edge without sagging.
Prioritise Motion Isolation
Pictured: Giltedge Beds Energise 2000 Pocket Spring Mattress - No motion transfer.
The final step is reviewing a mattress’s motion isolation, especially for couples. Designs that limit motion transfer allow you to stay undisturbed if your partner moves during the night – perfect if your partner always tosses and turns.
Innerspring mattresses with pocketed coils, hybrid mattresses with dense memory foam, and latex foam mattresses reduce motion transfer well.
