How often should I get a new mattress? This is a question that everyone has at one time or another. In their study, “Subjective Rating of Perceived Back Pain, Stiffness and Sleep Quality Following Introduction of Medium-Firm Bedding Systems” researchers Bert Jacobson, EdD, Tia Wallace, MS, and Hugh Gemmell, DC, EdD of Oklahoma State University published in the Winter 2006 issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine took a group of 59 healthy participants (30 women and 29 men) and compared selected sleep variables in participants’ sleep on their own innerspring mattresses (at least five years or older) to sleep on new innerspring mattresses. The sample of participants was selected independent of age, height, weight or BMI. The results were compared between subjects with reported high and low baseline sleep quality. The mean age of the participant’s current mattresses was 9.73 years. For the purposes of this study, “subjects also controlled their own thermal environment and no attempt was made by the investigators to suggest altering their room temperature.”

The results of this study were quite astounding.  The introduction of a new mattress yielded immediate and lasting increases in sleep quality.  Moving from an older (5+ years) mattress to a new one can give significant increase in both the amount of sleep you get and the quality of that sleep.  Is your current mattress still providing you with a comfortable and supportive night’s sleep?  I can’t answer that question for you, but here are some indicators that it may be time to replace your current mattress:

•    You wake up with a sore back or neck or with body aches.
•    You find yourself sleeping more comfortably at someone else’s house or in a hotel.
•    Your current mattress is saggy or lumpy in places
•    Your innerspring mattress is over 10 years old

None of these are hard and fast rules.  It is entirely possible that your bed is 10 years old and is still able to provide excellent support.  It is up to you to decide when and if you need a new mattress.  The amount and the quality of your sleep directly affect your energy level and attentiveness throughout the rest of your day.  Runners generally replace their shoes every 6 months or 300-400 miles in order to prevent injuries and to reduce the stress on their joints.  Shouldn’t you do the same for your back and neck with your mattress?

Blake Bevard
Director of Internet Operations

Memory foam was initially developed by NASA to use in the space program when they were looking for something to help absorb and distribute the pressure placed on astronauts during takeoff of the space shuttle.  It never made it into the space program, but because of the pressure relieving properties it found a new home in the medical field.  Doctors found that patients experiencing back pain or recovering from surgery were much more comfortable and were able to get a higher quality rest on memory foam mattresses than on the typical innerspring bed.

The reasons for this are because of the inherent properties of memory foam.  Memory foam is a conforming material.  Instead of “pushing back” against your body when you lay down on it, memory foam absorbs your energy and slowly conforms to your body’s natural shape.  This allows you to sleep at a better posture and also allows for significantly improved circulation.  Memory foam also offers significantly reduced motion transfer.  I’m sure that by now most of you have seen the Tempur-pedic commercial with people jumping on one of their mattresses with a wine glass on the other side.  The reason for this is because of the nature of the open cell memory foam.

There are other advantages to owning a memory foam mattress.  For one, memory foam offers a consistent feel.  After the initial break-in period (usually about a week), your mattress should feel exactly the same every night when you go to bed until the cells give way and begin to degrade.  On the memory foam products that we offer (Sealy Trueform, Simmons Comforpedic and Tempur-pedic) that is approximately 20 years, which also coincides with the length of the product warranties.  Memory foam mattresses also are hypoallergenic and dust mite resistant.

There are many different memory foam manufacturers and types of memory foam.  There are two main factors you can use to compare different memory foam products, foam density and ILD (Indentation Load Deflection). ILD is a measure of how much pressure it takes to compress the foam 25% of its’ thickness.  The higher the ILD rating, the more firm the foam will feel.  In general, the more dense the foam, the higher quality it is, but you usually want to have a good combination of density and ILD.  For example, Tempur-Pedic’s memory foam (Tempur foam) has a density of 5.3 lb/ft3 and an ILD of 14.  Tempur-pedic and Sealy Trueform memory foams generally are slightly higher in ILD and are slow recovery memory foams.  What that means for you is that it will feel a little firmer and will take about 1-2 minutes to fully contour to your body shape.  Simmons’ NxG memory foam is a quick recovery foam and is lower in ILD, which means it will feel softer initially and will react more quickly to your movement.

As I previously stated, new memory foam mattresses are going to have a slight break in period.  During that time, you may also notice that your mattress will have a slight smell to it.  This due to the product being bagged and packed so soon after being manufactured and typically subsides within a week or so.  The best way to speed up this process is to leave a window open in your bedroom with your sheets and blankets removed from your mattress and to turn on a fan.  This typically helps to alleviate the smell within 2-3 days.

With all of the advantages to memory foam, there can be some drawbacks.  Because you are dealing with solid layers of foam, memory foam can sleep warmer than your typical innerspring or latex mattress.  This has been a recognized issue in the past and manufacturers have made significant strides in reducing heat retention.  Tempur-pedic utilizes air flow systems between the layers in their mattresses that allow hot air to more freely escape.  Sealy Trueform utilizes Outlast technology, which pulls your body heat away from the surface of the mattress and releases it later as the surface begins to cool.  This helps to keep the temperature of their mattresses constant throughout the night.  Simmons Beautyrest NxG models contain Simmons’ proprietary NxG memory foam, which is non-temperature sensitive and is able to dissipate heat more quickly.  As well, the feel of memory foam isn’t something that everyone likes or gets used to.  If you aren’t sure if a memory foam bed is right for you, see if there is a way you can try it out first.  Tempur-pedic has a 90 night comfort trial on all of their mattresses.

When looking at memory foam mattresses, it is best to look at it is an investment in your comfort and overall health.  After all, you spend approximately 1/3 of your life sleeping, so don’t you want to make the most of that time?

Blake Bevard
Director of Internet Operations

“Do I really need a new box spring?” This is a question that we receive relatively often. After all, of the two pieces of your sleep set, your mattress is the one that you are in contact with 8 hours a night. If you are having a problem sleeping, your mattress is probably the first thing that you blame. Failure in support from your box spring is something that may have never crossed your mind.  However, your box springs wear out over time, just like your mattress does.

Think of your box springs like the shock absorbers on your car. You know that they are there, and you know what they do, but unless they completely fail you usually need a mechanic to tell you when they need to be replaced. A good, quality box spring is designed to have about the same lifetime as your mattress, around 10 years. So if you are replacing a new mattress, you may be able to keep your old box springs, but if you are replacing your 10-15 year old mattress that has just worn out, it is probably time for a new one. When making this determination, keep in mind that not all box springs are designed equally. Some mattresses, such as a Simmons are designed to use a non-yielding, rigid box spring (foundation). Others are designed to use a box spring that will give work in tandem with your mattress to provide extra flex and support. Putting a new mattress on the wrong or a worn out box spring can significantly lower its lifetime.

There are other advantages as well to purchasing your mattress and box spring as a set.  Purchasing as a set keeps your warranty valid on your mattress.  It also ensures that your mattress is going to be properly supported.  When purchasing from Mattress Direct Online, it also ensures that you are able to keep your comfort warranty intact.  If you have a platform bed, we understand the lessened need for a box spring.  In that instance, you will be well served to purchase a low profile box spring (5 ¼” instead of 9”) and use it to keep your warranty intact, however we realize that there is a lessened necessity for the box spring in that situation.  If you have a question about your mattress or box spring, please contact us at 888-814-2337 and we would be happy to help you through anything that may be troubling you.

Blake Bevard
Director of Internet Operations

Some may say the hardest part of purchasing a new mattress set would be wading through the seemingly endless sea of different models from various manufacturers and determining the difference between all of them.  Others would probably agree that coordinating ingress of the new mattress set as well as egress and disposal of the old mattress set is the most taxing task of the process.  The former statement I can help with, but that is for another day.  The later however is the focus of this article.

I have delivered mattresses in 21 of the lower 48 states, spent the past two Christmas’ driving a box truck to some far off location in the eastern United States, all the while arriving at my destinations only to find that I now have to put the proverbial rectangle through a triangle.  I could muse for days about situations, people, and places that I have encountered during my travels.  The hardest part to believe is I have accomplished all of this in a shade under three years.  Local deliveries generally don’t present the same challenges as deliveries hundreds of miles away.  If and when a problem arises you cannot just head back to the store or warehouse and take your time coming with a solution to rectify the situation. We are all referred to as professionals in our respective fields, and I am just that a professional, “AKA the best you will find anywhere”.  I can deliver a mattress with the same accuracy, consistency and precision as Joe Montana hitting Jerry Rice on an 80 yard fly pattern for another touchdown.  I have been flown across the country multiple times to fulfill mattress deliveries because they knew that I was the only man that could get the job done.  The most humorous part of all is after I finish making the impossible look easy mattress customers realize that they could have done it themselves.  I think the reason so many people pay astronomical prices for in home delivery is because of the doubt in their own ability to move a large cumbersome object through the house without managing to break every family heirloom in their path.  “Bull in a china shop” syndrome, if you will.

Many places like MDO (MattressDirectOnline.com) offer complimentary standard delivery on all products purchased from their company.  That right there gets you the consumer over the biggest hurdle, getting the product from point of purchase inside your front door.  Let’s face it, not everyone drives a pickup truck and can lift a king or queen mattress set on ones own.  For those of you who can, tie the rope tight with the box spring upside-down and on top of the mattress, call a friend on the way to the house and remember to lift with your legs and not your back. As a point of fact mattresses do not have handles placed everywhere you need to hold them.  If I had a dollar for every time a customer brought this to my attention I would probably be sitting on a beach somewhere drinking mai thais instead of here writing to you.  However, the plastic that mattresses come from the factory in makes for a very handy way to pick up and move the product.  Just bend at the knees, grab a handful of plastic and stand up.  You may be surprised at how easy it is to hold a mattress when properly handled.  Now make sure that you have a clear path through the household, and a good firm grip on the plastic the mattress is in you may start to proceed to the designated bedroom where the product will be set up.  Folks this is not a race, and I CANNOT stress that enough.  Wives, if your husband has a macho complex you may want to make sure you stay close by as to nag him about trying to rush the job.  After all, that is your mothers’ china cabinet he and the family friend are about to turn into a nice pile of cherry finished firewood and glass shards.  Once in the house be aware of your surroundings and think of the mattress like a giant Tetris piece.  There are multiple ways to get the mattress where you want it to go.  For instance, if the hallway to the room you are attempting to put the mattress in is narrow try turning the mattress vertical (head to toe) and then make your turn out of the hall and into the chosen room.  This problem is often encountered on stairs as well.  Maybe you have a landing or two with a couple of 90 degree turns incorporated in there, or you might just live in a restored home in the north with stairs that were designed in the early 1900’s.  Both scenarios can be solved with patience and logic, and if those don’t work just remember that you can bend most mattresses up to a 45 degree angle without damaging them.  That last bit of information certainly comes in handy when delivering in the north east.  Most stair problems can be circumvented by measuring how big the opening is going up the stairs.  If you have an open foyer, you shouldn’t have much if any trouble getting whatever you want upstairs.  However if you do not fall into the open foyer category then please do me one favor, be realistic with your choice of mattress size.  We all want a king size mattress, but sometimes it just won’t fit.

Once in the room with the mattress make sure the frame or bed you are placing the mattress set on is properly supported.  This means four legs and five slats for a twin or full headboard and footboard (or appropriate frame), and make sure to cut your slats out of hardwood (poplar is the least expensive) and not pine.  Five legs with one being in the center will satisfy warranty needs for a queen mattress and six legs on the floor for a king two of which should be running head to toe down the center of the bed.  At this point you will want to remove the mattress set from the plastic and or any other packaging and set the foundation down into the frame or bed so that it is being supported by the flat part of your frame or bed.  Follow that with the mattress sans packaging of course and you have a new comfortable sleep surface.  On the sides of the mattress you will find manufacturing labels, go ahead and dispose of those as well.  You will also find a law label and some satin tags and labels.  Do not remove these, if you have a warranty issue this is how the manufacture will identify your product to ensure that you get a proper replacement mattress.  If the tags bother you under your sheets, try folding them over so that they are not on the surface of the mattress.  One more tidbit of info on warranties, most state that the product must be free of stains to exercise the warranty.  The best defense against this is to purchase a mattress protector at the time of your mattress set purchase.  While mattress pads may help you really need something that is water proof.  Sealy Bed Armor is a good choice that employs a gore-tex type membrane with a terrycloth cover so you don’t even notice it underneath your sheets.  All the “hard work” aside, now the only step left is to dress your new mattress set and enjoy the many nights of comfort that lie ahead.  No pun intended.

Christopher Wade
Mattress Direct Online Delivery Expert

Happy New Year from Mattress Direct Online!  2008 was a great year for us, as we launched a new version of our website bringing you a larger and more diverse product offering than ever before.  From the introduction of the Simmons NxG mattresses and the launch of the “Better 6″ campaign by Sealy to the launch of our own MDO pillows and comforters, we saw significant growth.

Our goal is always to provide you with an honest, informational and quality shopping experience.  With that in mind, in 2009 we will begin using our blog to bring you articles, reviews and general information to help enhance your shopping experience.  We hope that you find our input helps you make a better and more informed mattress or sleep accesory purchasing decision.

Blake Bevard
Director of Internet Operations

A man who is clearly a mattress connoisseur reviews the Serta Mattress — check out what he has to say!

This is way beyond absurd.  Mattress Mack has way more fans than he should, or maybe his fans have way more spare time than they should.  Either way, the man has a serious local following.  They must love his mattresses.

So apparently this guy is a small-time cultural icon in Houston, where he appears to have branched out from mattresses to all sorts of furniture.  His fans (?) remixed all of the Mattress Mack commercials, and it’s pretty good.

I pretty much have no idea, except that the guy in the middle is usually shouting about his quality mattresses.

This commercial, from Punch Drunk Love, featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, is spot-on with the real thing.  I can see the guy flopping on that huge stack of mattresses, then talking about his Sertas and Stearns and Foster deals.