These steps must be followed to ensure a valid warranty. Use washable mattress (and pillow) covers to protect your mattress from stains. Buy them in a purpose-made ‘barrier’ fabric if you have a dust allergy. Stains, soiling, fluid penetration or other signs of abuse may void the warranty and make your product ineligible for repair or replacement. Throw back bedclothes in the morning and leave the bed to air for 20 minutes to allow body moisture to evaporate. Turn your mattress over (if advised) and end to end every three or four weeks, and every week for the first three months, to help upholstery fillings to settle down more evenly and to promote even wear. If your mattress has a layer of memory foam on one side, you should simply rotate your mattress rather than turning it over. Because it has a layer of memory foam, it will be less susceptible to settlement, so you should not be worried that it cannot be turned. To keep your mattress at its best, don’t sit on the edge of the bed regularly and don’t let the children bounce on it.
Don’t leave any plastic wrappings on a new bed mattress – this could lead to rot. Vacuum the mattress and base from time to time. Using detergents or chemical cleaners on your mattress is likely to damage the fabric and stitching. If your mattress is stained, use a cloth with mild detergent and warm or cold water. Never soak a mattress. Use an appropriate frame and center support on small double and larger sets to ensure validation of your warranty. We recommend divan bases, flat slatted bedsteads and metal mesh bases. Carry your mattress upright on its side. It is easier to handle and less likely to damage the mattress. If you need to store your mattress for an extended period, please store it flat. Don’t lift your mattress by the handles (if included). Handles are designed to position the mattress only. Due to modern day fillings being more sumptuous than their predecessors, settlement within your mattress should be expected and is perfectly normal.
Your new mattress is zoned to complement the human body. As such, you may observe some settlement of the upholstery in the zoned areas where your body weight is greatest. There is no need for concern; it demonstrates that the mattress zones are working as designed, offering optimum support in the zoned areas. Bending or rolling your mattress will damage the core unit and invalidate the warranty. Some residual foam odour may be apparent on removing your new foam mattress from it’s packaging. This is quite normal and is not a cause for concern. Please give the mattress time to air by leaving it uncovered in a well-ventilated room for several hours before use. Foam based products do have a natural odour which disperses over the lift time of the product however as above there is no cause for concern and this strength of this odour will reduce within 2-3 weeks of use. If you have purchased a rolled up mattress, please ensure that you unroll and place it on a bed in a warm room for 24 hours before use.
After this time the mattress will fully regain its normal shape. Please note that recovery time will be faster when placed in a warm environment however some mattresses may take up to 72 hours to full expand to their advertised depths. It is vitally important that rolled mattresses are opened as soon as possible to avoid failure in the properties of the mattress from being rolled for too long. The mattress cover is not suitable for machine washing. If this is your first foam mattress, it may take a few days to get used to the feel as it is very different to a traditional spring mattress. Please be aware that slight softening of the foam may occur during the first few weeks but this should not be a cause for concern. Over a period of time, you will notice a yellowing of the foam. This is perfectly normal and is due to the properties within the foam, and will not affect either the quality or performance of you mattress.Traditionally, futons were made out of cotton. And over time the cotton would batt down and get awfully firm.
While you can try to maintain the loft by whacking it with your tennis racket, in general westerners don't like the feel of the traditional cotton futon alone because it is just too firm. Which is why most futons sold in the US aren't made of just cotton. Typically you get layers of cotton surrounded by layers of foam. Some more expensive futon mattresses may offer innerspring or latex. But there is a trade off. While you don't want the futon to be overly firm for sleeping purposes, you also don't want it to be too soft and sinky when you sit down on it in its couch configuration. Here's one option that may work better than trying to walk this line between too firm (for sleeping) and too soft( for sitting). And that is to buy a firm futon. This could be an all cotton one, in fact, since you don't mind it being firm. And often this is a less expensive option than the futons which offer foam, innerspring or latex. With the savings, you then buy a memory foam mattress topper pad.
These come in all depths -- I recommend at least a 2" thick topper, and a 3" one if you like a softer mattress feel. The trick is that you don't keep the topper on all the time. When you are using the futon as a couch, you store the memory foam topper. So the futon remains firm for sitting purposes. But when you want to use it as a bed, then you put the topper on the futon to give you a really comfortable bed.I've found that memory foam just adds a lot of cushion due to its density. I recommend a 4 lb density memory foam since this gives you a nice soft feel and saves you some money over getting a 5 lb density or higher topper. And memory foam offers pressure relief in a way no other comfort layer due to the unique way that memory foam cells spread pressure and soften to your body's heat. Finally, memory foam will generally give you the best bang for the buck. While you could go for a cheaper eggcrate pad, I find that these don't last long and don't offer the comfort of memory foam.
And while I love latex foam, it is a lot more expensive than memory foam and it has a bouncier feel than the soft conforming nature of memory foam. One downside to my arrangement is that you would need to take off the topper when you are using the futon as a couch and store it. And a memory foam topper is both bulky and weighs a fair amount. So if you use the futon often for sleeping, you may want to go with a thinner topper (a 2" one) that will hopefully be comfortable for you in both positions. At just 2" thick, you should sink in too much when using it as a couch. And 2" of memory foam still makes a big difference for a futon in the sleeping position -- it really takes the edge off a too firm futon and makes it much more comfortable. Another way to go would be to find a futon that already incorporates memory foam. So if you are just starting out, you should look around and try some of these out to see if they are comfortable for you. But if you already have a too firm futon and looking for a way to make it much more comfortable, adding a memory foam topper pad to it can make a huge difference in comfort at a smaller price compared to buying a new futon.