Mattress buying guide: How to buy the best mattress in the UK 2019

Get sleep down to a fine art by choosing the right mattress 
Pete Wise5 February 2020
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How have you been sleeping lately?

These are bamboozling times for mattress shoppers. From pocket-sprung to memory foam, heritage handmade to Silicon Valley, there’s a dizzying array of quality options to choose from. We’ve tried out the best to set you on the right path towards a better night’s sleep.

Getting a decent amount of shut-eye every night is a goal for many of us, but catching enough zzz’s often falls victim to the many distractions of modern life, despite knowing sleep is as vital to our physical and mental health as eating right and exercising regularly.

What are the main types of mattress?

Perhaps the single most important factor that makes one mattress different to another will be the design it uses to support your bodyweight. Most mattresses come under one of the following categories:

Memory foam mattresses

Memory foam mattresses tend to give the sensation of sinking in, rather than being lifted up. They first hit the shelves in the 1980s, and since then have earned a consistently growing share.

These mattresses use a layer of polyurethane foam, usually just a few inches thick, to provide tailored support for the body. The foam is made up of billions of spherical cells, which flatten, one microscopic layer on top of another, until the sleeper is perfectly supported.

“Memory” foam is a misnomer: the foam does not remember how you sleep, and we dare say it might even struggle to recite the alphabet.

The rest of the mattress will typically consist of a few lower-tech foam layers designed for support and/or airflow. Memory foam mattresses can be very supportive too, but they tend to give the sensation of sinking in, rather than being lifted up.

Pocket-sprung mattresses

The classic sprung mattress. Pocket-sprung mattresses support the body using a large number of springs, each of which is housed in an individual fabric “pocket”. This design helps each spring give focused support when you lie on the area of the bed directly above it. Linked springs are not as supportive as a pocket springs and can cause the dreaded roll-together when two people of uneven weight are sleeping in the same bed.

Micro-coil mattresses

Much like a pocket-sprung mattress, but with thousands of tiny springs, rather than hundreds of fairly small ones. A higher spring count can mean a mattress gives more finely focused support in the areas you need it most – but on the other hand, micro-coils will typically offer less support than the longer, stronger springs found in traditional pocket sprung mattresses.

Hybrid mattresses

A combination of memory foam with either pocket springs or micro-coils. At their best, hybrid mattresses offer an effect and feel roughly halfway between a quality memory foam mattress and a quality sprung mattress. Products within each of these categories will vary greatly in terms of feel, quality and price. That said, we can pick out some common traits of each mattress type that might help guide your research:

Mattresses for couples

It’s only natural that some couples will have differences of opinion over which mattress type feels best. If this applies to you, you might find a happy medium in the form of a hybrid mattress, made with both pocket springs and memory foam.

Alongside the different types of mattress, it’s also worth considering criteria like texture, materials, build quality and effect on the sleeper’s temperature – all of which will play into your long-term comfort, and all of which are considered in this article. Very few earthly things get closer to you than your mattress, so let’s make sure you pick one you’re thoroughly fond of.

For more on mattresses, read our article on the best mattresses of 2020.

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