New mattress time. Any experience?

Ah memory foam. We swapped to a memory foam one a year or two ago. It’s super comfy BUT, it does get hot. Lots of products about to help cool them down as it happens. Not tried any of them. I wish I had known before spending rather a lot in a mattress.

I would suggest toppers are ok as a way of fixing an issue you have with an existing mattress. But if yours is hurting your back, get a new one.

What we did was go to Dreams where they have some kind of (probably nonsense) kit that you lie on to figure out which mattresses might be best for you. We tried them all out and then looked at the Dreams ebay shop to see which ones we liked that they had on discount. Saved over a grand from buying it from the store and it looked brand new.

Might sound a bit icky, but if you like hotel mattresses then you don't mind if they have been a bit used anyway!

Get the biggest one you can fit in your bedroom. Ours is a super king pocket sprung one with a memory foam layer and we've never slept so well.

The memory foam one we have weighs a frickin tonne. Seriously, lifting a corner to get the very specific fitted sheets and cover on is not going to help your back, unless you have other people for the housekeeping of course.

What we did was go to Dreams where they have some kind of (probably nonsense) kit that you lie on to figure out which mattresses might be best for you.

Powered by a Kinect off an Xbox 360.

We went to Dreams, lay on everything in the shop, then went "we both think that one is comfy, we'll take it."  They upsold us Tempur pillows and honestly, that was the better spend of £200.

I always use a mattress topper, but that's because it's washable and/or replaceable when it gets full of sweat and assorted smeg.

I love the ikea pocket spring memory foam topped mattresses. We have a dreams king size one that was about £850 and the single we bought for our daughter from ikea for £160 is easily as good, if not nicer.

Ditched memory foam after 2 goes. Too hot and develop divots after a year or so. Recently gone back to sprung. Was the firmest mattress Dreams had. Made in Yorkshire from wool and hemp. Was about 1k. Sleeping really well on it.

I like Tempur , Mrs TiRed does not. We have a VI spring 🤣 (and a Tempur in the spare room - just vacated by Son2). For how long you spend in bed, don’t skimp on a cheap mattress. At the lower end of the market foam buys the most comfort per pound (we have a cheaper foam mattress in another room). You really have to go and lie on some though.

We got rid of our too hot and 'dented', toxic chemicals, memory foam mattresses.

We bought a wool topped, natural materials only, sprung mattress. We've also now got wool duvet and pillows, and cotton only bedding. Soooo comfy.

I have a simba.  Bit of memory foam but not too much.  I like it.

We had an IKEA something or other and loved it. We both like a pretty firm mattress. When we moved house we needed a new bed and mattress. Got the new equivalent of the IKEA and it was not for us, way too soft, back was aching every morning.

Took.it back for a refund which was a bit of a mission in itself. Ended up going to Bensons and trying out loads of different mattresses. The woman at our local one was actually really good. I was expecting the hard sell and the upsell, but we spent 2 hours there and got a mattress that is really comfy for us. No more aching back.

John Lewis. Go bounce about on various mattresses in store. Don't get bothered by anyone. Both lie down on one mattress and go "oooooh". Buy that one. Win.

(Sealy Posturepedic for us - also bought a mattress protector for it so we can swap it within 60 days under their guarantee)

Tempur cloud mattress. Oh my word it is comfy. Ruins hotels for you for forever more.

We got a Sleepsoul from Mattressman. It was cheap for spare room but everyone who has slept on it has raved about it.

Meh. Been to both JL and dreams this weekend as it goes. Now looking at John Ryan. Mattresses that can only be turned but not flipped don't make sense to me. I've spent perhaps 17 years on a mattress that cost about 300 quid. It's collapsing and I'm getting pulled in to the gravity well that is The Chief...

Edit: went on their machine (dreams) and spotted the xbox logo straight off the bat but it's worth a laugh. There's lots of 'sales' going on there though. They must be making money hand over fist.

For how long you spend in bed, don’t skimp on a cheap mattress.

This.  It's perhaps easy to overlook, it's something you'll spend a third of your life using.

Ditto home office chair.

Go bounce about on various mattresses in store. Don’t get bothered by anyone.

AKA "Playing Pac-Man."  Also a popular sport in places like Curry's.

We went to IKEA, John Lewis and a local furniture shop with a proper bed department.

The local supplier was superb and just left us to it for ages. Then gave some good advice about as we get older looking for a slightly softer top is a Good Thing. Etc etc. Advised on a couple of brands they felt lasted well/the ones staff bought. They got our order.

John Ryan for me. We have an Artisan Natural and it's excellent. We turn it every now and then. Sometimes round, sometimes over. I write the date on the top right corner every time so we remember to give it even wear. Last year we had to change the base as the old one wouldn't fit up the stairs of the new house. I phoned to ask what base we needed and was told a sprung edge base was what I needed to get the most out of it. I did, and no regrets.

Stay away from man-made fibres unless you want a nightly sauna. We went JLP, KS, to allow for undisturbing at night visits to the internet etc. You spend a lot of time in bed, don't scimp.

Harrison Spinks Flaxby mattress. That’s what we got.

We've just replaced our super deluxe silent night pocket sprung thingy with the same. Interestingly we've found the new one a bit firm, at least I did but we got a topper from Amazon and the combination is super comfy. Think we looked on Good Housekeeping for reviews.

Another vote for John Ryan (artisan naturals) . Nearly 10 years in and we are thinking about replacing it like for like.

As many above have said - don't scrimp.

Vi-spring regal supreme; doesn't need to be turned and/or flipped but I do - it's 'kin heavy; also, 'kin expensive.

Kelcol - made in Yorkshire - top of the range in 'guest bedroom'; everyone who's slept on it have said...great night's sleep - but that could be down to alcohol consumption!

Silentnight miracoil in single bedroom for young grandson.

Now looking at replacing mattress pads and toppers.

Buy the best quality bedding you can afford.

I suffered from a sore back when I was younger and have thought for years I needed a firm mattress to stop that. It got to the point over the last 3+ years where every night I was having crap sleep, persistent pins and needles with excessive tossing and turning. We are two months into a new soft/medium mattress and I not had a single instance of the pins and needles and am wishing that we had made the change years ago. I'd thoroughly recommend researching what mattresses are recommended for the way you sleep then trying some out.

A topper won't fix your problem if you have the wrong mattress. Tried that, made it worse (too firm on top of too firm!)

Another vote for John Ryan.

Wool mattress toppers: any users care to comment?

Like the feel of memory foam  but couldn’t deal with the heat.

Have had a latex mattress for the last 8 years. Super heavy, but very comfortable.  Will buy another when it needs replacing. Also use one of their pillows.  We have the super deluxe.  Their sales Black Friday etc are 15-20% site wide discounts.

https://www.latexsense.co.uk

We've a wool and hemp mattress with a wool topper, duvet and pillows.

It's nicer to sleep in than previous plastic fibre and foam beds and duvets. We sleep better. I rarely wake up feeling sweaty. It's just hard to explain, but it's a very even surface to sleep on. Duvet has a lovely weight to it.

Negatives? They all had a faint lanolin/wool smell the first week we had them. They cost more.

We got a memory foam mattress from Otty. Very happy so bought a 2nd one a couple of years later.

We had a Tempur after I broke my spine but MrsF didn't like it so it had to go. Very expensive. She chose something else, pocket sprung with built in memory foam top and that's is much cooler but not as comfy for me.

I sleep with at least 3 pillows but need one for shoulder support (too many crashes onto my shoulders).

Don't skimp.  Our reasoning for a recent replacement is that spending 8 hours per day lying on it justified spending at least as much as we would spend on a sofa.  Pocket sprung over memory foam.  John Lewis ones are made by Hypnos I think and Hypnos supply many a hotel.  We went with Vispring having had a really good experience with them previously and it was the best we tried, but it's a heavy old thing to turn and flip.

Just had another great night on our Harrison spinks (made in Yorkshire if that’s your thing) it’s double sided currently in winter mode due for a flip soon but very heavy you can specify the spring firmness for each person very happy with it. the ‘sport’ mode switch is hard to find though !

We’ve a wool and hemp mattress with a wool topper, duvet and pillows.

It’s nicer to sleep in than previous plastic fibre and foam beds and duvets. We sleep better. I rarely wake up feeling sweaty. It’s just hard to explain, but it’s a very even surface to sleep on. Duvet has a lovely weight to it.

Negatives? They all had a faint lanolin/wool smell the first week we had them. They cost more.

Thanks for this @matt_outandabout and some interesting points made.  Will probably start off with a mattress topper and pillow, the current topper is unable to deal with my daily sweats and chills so fingers crossed that wool will fare better.  Yep, it's a large amount of money but am desperate to sleep for more than 4 hours, if I'm lucky, every bloomin' day.

We're in need of a new mattress so this is of interest.

I'm slightly sceptical of the memory foam ones - we've got on in the van and at the end of a couple of weeks it has two impressive dents in it and is a lot less comfy than it was on day one of the trip. Do (better quality that ours probably is) last? I'm not that fussed about how comfy it is on day one - it's day 1000 or 3000 day really matter. That's why I'm very sceptical that you get anything of any value from lying on a bed in a store for 5 minutes.

And then once you've landed on the 'tech' for your mattress (pocket sprung, latex, memory foam etc - any hybrids of all the above) you have to decide on softness. I reckon this is almost as important. I 'think' I've come to the conclusion that whilst you'd think a couple of biggish units we'd be better on a firm bed as we are both relatively curvy shaped (broad shoulders and other 'stuff' on Mrs C too!) a softer medium or maybe even softer mattress is maybe better. Unless you are built like a lanky streak of piss or are a barrel a firm mattress just seems to contort your spin unnaturally, especially as a side sleeper.

We went John Ryan last time and might be tempted to do the same again but there is almost too much choice or brands and each one has a bazillion models. So confusing.

I ‘think’ I’ve come to the conclusion that whilst you’d think a couple of biggish units we’d be better on a firm bed as we are both relatively curvy shaped (broad shoulders and other ‘stuff’ on Mrs C too!) a softer medium or maybe even softer mattress is maybe better.

That's basically what the local bed shop said to us. They also suggested that there's a lot of people sleeping on firmer mattresses than they need...I would have gone a step softer for ours. In fact, when it needs replacing I'm looking for the same one but a step softer....

It's a minefield...

Also another thing to consider...the bigger heavier ones don't corner well, so if you are dragging the thing upstairs, and have a narrow staircase, it can be a nightmare in itself, it's a two or 3 man job to avoid folding the matress too much which can damage it, or putting your back out trying to manoeuvre the thing!

Forgot to say.  Best thing about latex vs spring is no bounce - you don’t get woken by someone else getting in or out of bed

Just to say that's 16 years on one Tempur mattress and 10 years on the other (cloud) mattress. Both still like day 1.

A grand I don't regret spending out of my redundancy money - https://mammothcomfort.com/

Any recommendations for a front sleeper getting a sore lower back from sinking into the mattress?

I work in the PU foam industry and commissioned the Tempur plant in Tennessee.

Tempur are the best PU mattresses irrespective of the above statement but they do take some getting used to.

We have had a Simba (lasted three years), currently on a Emma - I can get them v.cheap. If it wasn't for that we'd be on pocketsprung wool topped. I also fed our knackered Simba back into the manufacturing chain that's not normally open to consumers - I'd consider end of life if buying PU as it's a big slab of foam to correctly environmentally dispose of.

Hi. I was in the same boat a while back, feeling the springs on my old mattress. I ended up getting a thick mattress pad, and it made a huge difference. It added extra cushioning and made the bed way more comfortable.

As for finding a new mattress, I'd recommend checking out memory foam mattresses. They have that "sinking in" feeling you mentioned, and they're great for back support. Brands like [edited by Mod] are pretty popular for their comfort and quality.

Consider the thickness of the mattress relative to the frame. Beds used  to come with high bases and comparatively thin mattresses. Modern beds come with thick mattresses and comparatively thin bases.
Guess what happens when you put a modern thick mattress on an old thick base?

I need to Fosbury flop into bed at night, it’s so high. I’m considering a bigger set of those steps that they have for Dachshunds to get on the sofa.