You need a new mattress
when your old one is stained, torn,creaking, lumpy or uneven, more
than 10 years old or you awake with aches and pains and your quality
of sleep is affected.
Levels of firmness: Firm
or extra firm: When it feels solid under your body. Less cushioning
and flexibilty may cause pressure on your shoulders or hips.
Pillow-Top: Extra layer
of cushioning: the softest mattress that still provides support,
these mattresses are quite often deeper that the norm so they
might need deeper base sheets.
Mattress Core: this is the centre
of the mattress which is the area that will provide the support.
Pocket spring: these
are individual small spring units quite often clipped together,
which stops them parting, but allows them to operate individually
and stops roll together which can often happen when couples of
uneven weight are on the mattress.
Open coil unit: This
spring unit is connected together and is a favourite with the
larger manufacturers, it generally allows for the minimum costs
in manufacture and comes in a variety of tension options.
Foam/Latex:
Fillings: General term
used in the bedding industry to describe the layers of comfort
that is put into a mattress, and the price of the mattress normally
reflects the quality and quantity of the fillings.
Hand Finished: this normally
reflects the needle work that is made when side stitching pocket
spung mattresses, where a needle with thick twine is sewn through
the side of the mattress and connects to the spring unit to ensure
that there is no movement during the mattresses life.
Comfort level:In order to
determine your desired comfort level, or surface feel use a scale
of 1-10.
9-10 Extra Firm
7-8 Traditional Firm
4-5 Cushiony and surface soft
1-4 Soft
Remember that the higher number
of springs and the thicker the padding, the better the mattress
quality.
