Mattress Price: How To Make Sure You’re Getting Value For Your Money

‘Cheap Beds for Sale!’ screams the headline on a billboard. And if you’re in the market for a new bed, a bargain on a mattress price is always tempting. After all, why pay more than you need to? And one mattress is just like any other mattress, not so?

Well, not quite. Buying a bargain basement bed isn’t the wisest decision for a multitude of reasons. The primary one being that a considerably low mattress price can cost you in the long run.

On the flip side, buying an expensive mattress is also no guarantee that you’re getting the best value for your money.

The fact is, ensuring quality and uninterrupted sleep of seven to eight hours on a sustainable basis is as vital to your health and wellbeing as eating a nutritious, well-balanced diet, or participating in regular, moderate exercise.

And there’s little hope that quality sleep can be sustained on a mattress that doesn’t provide the maximum level of support. Or from a mattress that doesn’t contour to your body shape. Or a mattress that’s poorly made.

A THREE-STEP GUIDE TO A QUALITY BED BEYOND THE MATTRESS PRICE

As a guide to quality beyond the mattress price, the only criteria you should consider are the following :

1. The quality of the materials that have gone into the manufacture of the base and the mattress.
2. Investigate the pros and cons of the different types of mattresses available.
3. Scrutinise the confidence the manufacturers have in their product, which is demonstrated by the length of the guarantee and warranty they offer.

THE BED BASE: A FOUNDATION FOR QUALITY SLEEP

Let’s start with the materials that you need to look out for. For the bed base, today’s leading manufacturers avoid using traditional wooden materials as, other than being environmentally unfriendly, they also tend to squeak and groan the older they get.

Instead, they use sturdier more robust materials such as injection moulded virgin polymer and high-grade aluminium, the best of which can withstand up to 400 kgs of body weight.

And be wary of a slatted bed base because over time it can cause irregular sagging, which will damage the mattress, and affect your quality of sleep.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF MATTRESSES: THE PROS AND CONS

Before you get into weighing out the pros and cons of different mattresses, it is important to consider the details behind the technology and design of them. This plays a huge part when considering the quality against the mattress price.

A good mattress is key, to long-lasting comfort and maximum body support from head to toe. A top-quality mattress will be firm, but not too firm. It will adapt to the contours of your body which relieves pressure points. So you don’t wake up with aches and stiffness in your hips and shoulders.

Ever woken up in the middle of the night feeling hot and bothered? This often happens because your body heat builds up and is retained inside the mattress.

But the best-designed mattresses have in-built holes that allow air to move freely through the foam casing, which disperses the heat build-up, so you can maintain constant body temperature for better sleep.

A type of mattress that has been around for ages is the Bonnell Innerspring mattress. It uses an hour-glass shaped steel coil spring that’s covered in padding. First adapted from buggy seat springs of the 19th century, it offers little support or comfort when compared to modern bed technology.

Some people swear by a memory foam mattress. The idea behind this technology is that the foam is infused with certain chemicals that react to body heat, it then manipulates the shape of the foam so that it aligns with your body contours. However, there is a downside. Memory foam tends to retain body heat which can lead to discomfort and poor sleep outcomes.

Air mattresses offer a support system that is adjustable on each side of the bed so that you and your partner can vary the firmness as you wish. It is also augmented with various fibres and foams.

However, one negative issue is that people often don’t inflate them properly, which defeats the object of assuring a decent night’s sleep.

A hybrid mattress, which is a combination of natural latex and pocketed coil springs, is hard to beat. Because of its shape-sustaining properties, the latex has an unparalleled ability to contour to your body shape, giving you maximum support while relieving pressure point discomfort.

Being an organic material, latex also allows air to circulate freely, is more durable, and, you’ll be glad to know, is resistant to dust mites, mildew and mould.

Look, too, for a mattress made up of individually pocketed springs. This means that each spring is sewn into a single fabric pocket, which provides more support and comfort than the traditional wire-framed coil mattress.

Another beauty of pocketed spring technology is that each coil moves independently and absorbs the pressure applied to specific parts of the mattress. Called Zero Motion Transfer, it means that you may move around in the bed without it disturbing your partner.

CHECK OUT THE WARRANTY

Concerning warranties and guarantees, don’t settle for less than what the top brands have to offer.

One manufacturer, Genie Beds, is so confident about the quality of its bed sets that, in addition to a five-year guarantee and 15 year warranty on both its mattress and base, it also offers a 100-night trial.

Basically, it means that if you’re not happy with your Genie within 100 days from purchase, then just contact Genie and they’ll come and pick it up from you. No questions asked.

At the end of the day, buying the best available bed is a long-term investment in your health and well-being, so opt for mattress quality, not mattress price.

As Henry Royce, who along with his partner Charles Rolls founded one of the finest motor manufacturers in the world, said about his product: ‘Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.’

If you are in the market for the best quality bed available, check out the Genie. It’ll give you years of support, comfort and blissful sleep.

For more information on the Genie range, feel free to download the “How to Choose a Better Bed” guide.