What Type of Mattress is Right for You?

A custom mattress can transform your sleep quality. With all the new innovations that have come in recent years, you can get a mattress that will meet all your sleep needs, no matter how unique or specific. Custom mattresses can be made with a wide variety of materials, lengths, thicknesses shapes, and more to help you get the best sleep possible.

However, the wide variety of options can make it hard to know what type of custom mattress would work best for you. It would be pretty costly to figure out what works from personal experience alone, so we’ve created this guide to help you understand the differences between the most common mattress materials.

With any mattress, you get what you pay for. Do your research to ensure you’re getting the mattress quality you need.

Innerspring Mattresses

If we told you to picture a mattress, the first image that came to mind would probably be an innerspring mattress. These mattresses are widely available at affordable prices, making them the most popular type of mattress to this day.

Innerspring mattresses are made with a steel coil support system hidden inside a cushioned area. The more and better coils there are, the higher the quality of sleep you’re likely to get. There are four primary types of coils you may see in the innerspring mattress market: continuous, Bonnell, offset, and Marshall or pocketed coils.

Continuous and Bonnell coils tend to be less expensive, but lower quality and significantly noisier over time. Offset and Marshall coils are higher-end choices. Offset coils flex more under pressure, which means they produce less noise. Marshall or pocketed coils are bouncier and minimize motion transfer so you aren’t disturbing your partner as much when you move around at night.

Custom innerspring mattresses have a variety of firmness options, are easy to transport, and are often more affordable than other types. However, you definitely get what you pay for. These mattresses tend to wear out faster than some other mattress types and can become noisy as the springs wear over time. Additionally, innerspring mattresses with lower quality coils may have high motion transfer, which can easily disturb one sleeper when the other moves.

Innerspring mattresses are generally not as good at counteracting pain and pressure points as newer mattress technologies. If you experience pain or have a more sensitive body, you may want to consider another mattress type.

Latex Foam Mattresses

Latex mattresses are becoming increasingly popular. Made with a natural resource, these mattresses are durable and still fairly affordable. They also have hypoallergenic properties, making them a good choice for people with indoor allergies.

Not all latex mattresses are made the same way. There two different manufacturing processes used to create latex products, and they can result in extremely different qualities.

Latex manufactured through the Dunlap process will generally be lower quality. In this process, sap from trees is whipped up and then baked into its final configuration. The resulting mattress will be less breathable and more likely to make you overheat.

If you want a higher quality custom latex mattress, look for Talalay latex. This latex is created through a process that involves removing air with a vacuum and instantly freezing the latex before it is baked. Talalay latex is much more breathable, making it a good choice for anyone who needs a cooler surface to sleep on.

Memory Foam (Visco-elastic) mattresses

Memory foam mattresses are extremely popular for a reason. They contour to your body, allowing you to sink into the bed and feel enveloped as you’re falling asleep. If you’ve never slept on memory foam, you may still have enjoyed the material’s comfort in footwear or furniture. They are also fairly durable, lasting for up to a decade.

Memory foam has an interesting history. It was originally developed in the 1960s for NASA, which was looking to create more protective airplane seats for pilots. Beyond the safety benefits in a crash, people quickly noticed how comfortable the material was. It wasn’t long before memory foam mattresses and pillows began to sprout up on the market.

Beyond comfort, one of the primary advantages of a memory foam mattress is that it relieves pressure and encourages proper spinal alignment. It can help with pain relief and even help prevent future pain from arising.

Memory foam is also a good choice for consumers who are concerned about indoor allergies. The material creates an unfriendly environment for mildew and dust mites.

Choosing the Best Mattress for You

A new mattress is a major investment that can drastically impact the quality of your sleep. The material choice is only one aspect of a custom mattress, but it is an important one that will have an enormous impact on your sleep quality and satisfaction.

Slumber Ease is committed to helping people throughout the Puget Sound region get the best possible sleep. With over 50 years of experience creating custom-fit mattresses, we offer superior quality at a fraction of the cost of national brands. Our products are made locally, so you can visit our factory to see firsthand how your mattress is made.

By educating yourself on the effects of different mattress materials beforehand, you can ensure you’re getting the right type of mattress for you. Contact us today to learn more about how you can customize your mattress.