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Firm or soft mattress? Which one to choose?
A mattress is an important investment in our life.
Not only because it lasts for years, but because we are looking for something more than just a mattress.
We are looking for comfort, rest, health and good night sleep.
The most important thing is the quality of our sleep, as it ensures a good beginning of the day and a great life.
Mattress shopping is not easy at all, as there are many types of mattresses, made from different materials.
The variety of the mattresses give us a hard time to choose the perfect mattress for our bedroom.
Let’s go over a couple of important details about the mattress firmness and how to choose the one for a good night's sleep.
Mattress Firmness
The mattress firmness reflects the comfort of the mattress. When you go mattress shopping you can tell the sell person what kind of mattress you are looking for, depending on the mattress firmness. If you are not sure which one to choose, you can just try the mattress firmness at the store and decide for you on which mattress you feel better. Mattress firmness refers to the top layer of a bed, which is also called the comfort layer. The top layers of a mattress usually come in:
Firm
Plush
Pillow Top
Euro Top
These types of mattresses can be divided into soft, medium and firm. But, most people divide them into firm and soft. Depending on how soft and how firm a mattress feels, you can decide what firmness works best for you.
Ho to know which top mattress layer is best for you?
A firm mattress feels more hard and is not that flexible to adapt to your body. People like this type of mattress for a couple reasons:
The rigid feeling of the surface
Don’t sink into the mattress
Edge support
Spine support
Air flow
The firm mattress gives you the desired support, helps with sagging, and most importantly, gives you the necessary spine and neck support.
The soft mattress gives you that smooth and delicate feeling, as it adjust to your body curves. Most customers who have back problems tend to buy soft mattresses.
There are two important factors that can help you decide on your mattress firmness:
Weight - people that are a little heavier tend to buy firmer mattresses. It can be difficult for them to get out of a bed that is very soft. They can sink in the bed and have difficulty getting in and out of the bed.
Back pain - people who experience back pain have a tendency to feel better on a softer mattress.
Simply lie down on the mattress to be able to feel the top layer and see if this is the comfort that makes you feel good. If you want to buy a mattress with your partner and you both like different firmness level, you will need to come to a compromise. But, you can also choose a mattress with a medium level of firmness that could fit both of you.
According to Wikipedia a memory foam mattress will feel firmer in a cold bedroom than it does in a warm bedroom.
Most mattress companies have a chart that explains their mattress firmness. It usually comes with numbers, starting from
1 - very soft, 5 - medium soft and 10 - very firm.
Support Layer
Is important to know that the support mattress layer is different from the top mattress layer. The top layer of comfort shows the firmness of the mattress, but the support layer helps to maintain the top layer. The support layer can be made from innerspring or foam.
Innerspring Mattresses are one of the most used support layers in mattresses. It can come in different levels of support. To know the quality support of the innerspring mattress, we need to know the number of coils in a mattress, the material in which the coils are covered, as well as, the shape of the coils. All these details will give us enough information on the mattress firmness and support.
Is well known that if a mattress has more coils in it, it is considered more firm and will last longer. But, the number of coils is not the only factor that matters. If the coils are not thick enough than the firmness level will be low.
The shape of the coils are important too. It is considered that the hourglass shaped coils mattresses are more firm than those which have continuous coils.
Memory Foam - is important to know the density of a memory foam mattress. By its density we can categorize the mattress firmness into low, medium and firm. The memory foam density goes from 2.5 to 8 pounds per cubic foot. If a mattress has 4 to 5 pounds per cubic foot, it is considered to be a medium density foam mattress.
What really matters in memory foam is the IDL - Impression Load Deflection. This is the most important factor when it comes to measuring the mattress firmness. This shows how soft or how firm is a mattress.
What is your sleeping position?
Depending on your sleeping position, you can tell which mattress will suit you best. Of course, everybody has their own sleep preferences and likes. But, this is what most people choose depending on their sleep position.
Most people who are back or stomach sleepers tend to buy firmer mattresses.
Stomach sleeper - enjoys the firm mattress. It adjusts to their pressure points and helps supporting the neck and pelvis.
Back sleeper - are those who are looking more for a firmer mattress. They like the firm mattress feeling for their back.
Side sleeper - like more softer mattresses. They tend to sleep more on memory foam top layer mattresses. When they sleep on their side, the arm feels a lot of pressure. It is more comfortable when the arm touches a soft surface, rather than a hard one. It also helps their shoulders and hips, as the soft mattresses give them that soft touch and help their arm not to get stuck or numbed.
The most important thing is how you feel when you lie down on a mattress. You are the one who can decide the firmness that you need for your body to feel relaxed and enjoy a good night's sleep.