Time for a new mattress? Is a queen or double bed the right size for you? Buying a new bed is as important and intimate as buying new underwear. While your personal preferences may be comfort, style or health focused, there’s no denying that your purchase can affect your mood the whole day long. If you share a bed with a partner, buying a new mattress is even trickier… Do you rock and roll through the wee hours or quietly spoon your way to sunrise? He snores, she doesn’t. She’s hot, he’s cold. One wants supportive cushioning but the other says the harder the better. Being disturbed by a partner is the number one sleep complaint from people who share a bed. Thankfully mattresses (like underwear) come in smorgasbord of shapes and sizes. If you’re struggling with mattress size – and yes, size matters – pull up a chair and let’s talk about your next great mattress. During the 60’s and 70’s, double beds ruled marital bedrooms, even though they were only 15″ wider than twin size beds.
Back then, our homes were smaller (and we were shorter). A queen size mattress gained popularity in the 80’s and is now the most popular size mattress for people who share a bed with a partner. Here’s why – the 6″ difference in width and length make for a more comfortable and non-disturbed sleeping environment. For many couples, a queen size bed is the idea choice as it fits well into most bedrooms and is larger enough to give both people the space they need to sleep undisturbed. If you and your partner are less than 5’5″ tall and sleep in a smaller bedroom, a double bed may still be a good choice for you. Sheets are also less expensive than with larger or specialty mattresses. King size mattresses have come into vogue in the last decade, offering couples as much space in bed with their partner as if they were alone in a twin. In fact, if you push two twin mattresses together, you’ll have a king size bed – in width at least. King size mattresses come in two popular lengths – standard and California king, which is the longest mattress available.
Because of the size of king size mattresses, they’re not a viable option for some couples. During delivery, they can be challenging to maneuver around corners and up stairs and they’re heavier than other mattresses. Some smaller bedrooms simply won’t accommodate the mattress and allow for walkability around it. Bedding can also more expensive and extra long pillows are needed to accommodate the extra width. On the flip side, king size mattresses offer sprawlers an opportunity to move freely throughout the night with disturbing their partner. In fact, many sleep doctors recommend a king size mattress for the best undisturbed sleep. And when kids and pets pile into the bed, there’s more than enough room for everyone. If you have the space and your budget will allow, a king size mattress will deliver a better night’s sleep for most couples. To know if a bed is the right fit for you and your partner, get yourself to a mattress retailer first. Then lie beside your partner on the bed with your arms tucked behind your head.
If your elbows barely graze each other or don’t touch at all, you’re on the right size mattress. But there’s more to buying a new mattress than elbow room. Buying a new mattress is a big decision and you might find these posts helpful as well: If you’re ready to shop, find an authorized Restonic Retailer near you.What's in a Namely? Bad Trip: My Journey to Discover Why Everyone is (Still) on a Journey When the "Something Old" at Your Wedding is... One of the most disturbing Sleeveless in Seattle (and New York, and Atlanta, and Detroit...) When the Question is the Answer: The Dumbing Down of TV Interviews The Good Ship Lollipop Has SailedWhy does, like, EVERYONE talk this way now??) I also write ads.Here is a link to my portfolio. « History, Interrupted |Bad Trip: My Journey to Discover Why Everyone is on a Journey » Your email address:Powered by FeedBlitz Subscribe to this blog's feedWhat It Is, Why It Works, And The 5 Key Things To Look For When Buying A Memory Foam Bed Or Topper.
While memory foam was developed for NASA in the 1970's, it didn't hit the consumer market until the early 1990's - first as memory foam mattress topper pads, and later used in memory foam mattresses. Since then, memory foam mattresses have become the fastest growing segment in the mattress industry. With every year, you see more and more companies selling memory foam mattresses and topper pads, and it is very difficult, even for those of us in the industry, to keep up with all the new memory foam products being introduced. What is a consumer to do? 1. Brief History Of Memory Foam And Why Not All Memory Foam Created Equal - Some Just More Comfortable And Sleeps Cooler Than Others 2. How To Choose Between Different Memory Foams 3. What To Look For In A Memory Foam Mattress Or Topper, And When You Might Need To Get A New Mattress In this guide, I'm going to do my best to give you the straight story on what memory foam is, how it works, and what to look for in memory foam (density and quality, memory foam toppers versus memory foam mattresses, etc.).
Armed with the information, I hope you are able to find just the right memory foam mattress, topper pad, or other product that fits your needs. Where the mattress industry so often sells on hype about latest greatest technology, I wanted to concentrate on actual, verifiable information when putting together this guide. So before we go into the details about memory foam, I thought it was important to first look at the bottom line -- how does memory foam compare to standard innerspring mattresses for comfort. And what is great about the internet is that these days you can cut through the hype to see the actual data on this -- real reviews, by real folks, trying out the mattresses in their own homes. And while it was hard to get this kind of objective information back in '94 when I was first starting out selling memory foam after it helped me with my back pain, in 2014 all this information is now at your fingertips, literally. While comfort is subjective, what is no longer subjective is that certain types of mattress are just more comfortable than others.
And you don't have to take my word for it, or any other mattress retailer. The numbers don't lie. Based on over 22,000 real people's mattress experiences, the meta site Sleep Like the Dead found that in analyzing this information that memory foam mattresses received the highest level of customer satisfaction of any mattress type at 81%. In contrast, only 64% of innerspring owners said they were satisfied. That is a huge difference, and shows the simple reason why memory foam has gained such popularity -- it delivers comfort in a way that far surpasses the standard innerspring mattress. Where did memory foam come from and what gives memory foam its unique comfort properties? It is an interesting story and starts with the space program. But these days there are lots of different foamers making memory foam, and while they are all referred to as "memory foam", they have different formulations and in terms of comfort and sleeping cool memory foams are definitely not created equal -- which I will cover in our next section.