THE PATHFINDER TO YOUR MATTRESS
The most important things to know
to choose meaningfully.
DESCRIPTION
Mattresses can be considered a crucial element for our sleep quality, and we, therefore, need to pay attention to their status and be ready to invest in them when the times comes.
A mattress is composed by a core (also called support layer) and a comfort layer. The core is the centre part of the mattress, providing support and typically representing the hardest part of the mattress. The comfort layer instead is generally composed of 3 parts (the quilt, the middle upholstery and the insulator).
If one or more of the following symptoms are present, it might be time for a change. In essence, it’s up to 9 years old (this varies on the type of mattress), you continuously get new pains, you notice sagging, lumps or tears, you experience bed bugs, your allergies are getting worse due to dust mites and mould, there are lots of persistent stains.
Mattresses, not only support you during sleep but also can track and improve your sleep patterns to help you achieve a better night rest. To do so, they integrate:
Monitoring technologies, to provide you with the most comfortable rest both in terms of duration and quality. A set of sensors placed within the cover monitor respiration, heartbeat, sleep restfulness and body pressure to track and optimize your sleep (not required to attach equipment to the body).
Temperature control, to keep just the right temperature for a perfect sleep. Customizable bed surface cooling, as well as warming, are possible thanks to the built-in thermostat (even with different temperatures for each side of the bed); steering of overall bedroom environment is also possible through integration with a smart thermostat, humidifiers, air purifiers and more.
Mattress settings, to let the bed adjust to your body posture while sleeping. You will be able to manage for example mattress firmness (through pressures sensors that increase or decrease the amount of air in each chamber in case of airbeds) and position (connecting to bed base to adjust the head, foot and midsections).
App-based controls/ integration, to enable IoT connectivity with other smart devices and even be programmed with intelligent personal assistance programs. You will be able to set your bedroom in sync with smart lights, thermostat, coffee machine and much more. Furthermore, the mattress itself will let you fall asleep more comfortable with music, white noise or guided meditations, and it will deliver data to your fitness or daily activity tracker, and finally will wake you up with gentle, customized alarms.
BENEFITS
No direct impact on time savings.
Quality of life improved thanks to the reactive adaptation to your sleep patterns.
Peace of mind increased thanks to sleep tracking and optimization.
No direct impact on home costs.
TYPES
Alarm Systems can be classified considering several factors like the type of connectivity used (wired or wireless alarm systems). However, the aspect that makes the difference between alarm systems is the range of services offered by the manufacturer and their partners: installation, monitoring and cloud storing. From these services, the type of installation selected is the one that creates the most significant differences between one alarm system and another
These consist of two main components the support core (filled with coiled steel springs) and the comfort layer (mostly made by polyfoam, sometimes integrated with thin memory foam or latex layers). There are four main variants of innerspring mattress:
- Bonnell coil with up to 5 years durability, medium support, low pain relief, low contouring, medium temperature control and low price point.
- Offset coil with up to 7 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, low contouring, medium temperature control and medium price point.
- Continuous-wire coil with up to 8 years durability, medium support, low pain relief, low contouring, medium temperature control and medium price point.
- Pocketed coil with up to 4 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, medium contouring, medium temperature control and high price point.
Made of foam typically of open cells they enable air circulation and are capable of softening in reaction to body heat, quickly adapt to your body shape. Their design is effective and efficient at providing comfort and pain relief, as well as durable in time. There are six main variants of foam mattress:
- Memory foam with up to 8 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, medium contouring, low-temperature control and medium price point.
- Open-cell memory foam with up to 9 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, medium contouring, medium temperature control and medium price point.
- Gel foam with up to 9 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, medium contouring, high-temperature control and medium price point.
latex foam with up to 10 years durability, medium support, high pain relief, medium contouring, high-temperature control and high price point.
- Polyurethane foam with up to 4 years durability, medium support, low pain relief, medium contouring, medium temperature control and low price point.
- Convoluted foam with up to 7 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, medium contouring, medium temperature control and low price point.
Made with two or more different types of materials (usually a single material base and mixed materials comfort layer). The materials mix aims to balance the comfortable cushioning and pressure relief of memory foam and/or latex (in the comfort layers) with the strong edge support and flat even surface of the pocketed coil (in the base layers).
There are three primary variants of the hybrid mattress:
- Foam/ spring hybrids with up to 7 years durability and medium price point.
- Futons with up to 3 years durability, low support, low pain relief, low contouring, low-temperature control and low price point.
- Pillow top mattresses with up to 9 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, medium contouring, medium temperature control and high price point.
Starting from temporary air mattresses, they are usually made of a foam comfort layer and puncture-proof vinyl interiors integrated with air coils support. Made by multiple material layers as well as independent air chambers, they come equipped with manual or electric air pumps, to inflate or deflate the bed to the required thickness. Looking now to airbeds, these are real daily use mattresses, designed for bedroom sleeping and long-term use, great for their customizable firmness.
This mattress type has up to 10 years durability, medium support, medium pain relief, medium contouring, high-temperature control and high price point.
These use water as the primary support system and are made of tough vinyl with layers of fibre (inside) and leather, rubber or other materials (outside). They are equipped with free-flow or limited-flow chambers, both of sole water as well as water and air. The choice is based on the amount of support and flexibility required and whether or not the movement of the water is felt as distracting. This mattress type has up to 15 years durability, low support, medium pain relief, high contouring, high-temperature control and high price point.
VARIABLES
Once you have selected a mattress type, you have to consider a set of variables for your purchase:
The top 8 bed sizes are:
- Toddler (0,7 x 1,3 m) suitable for 1 toddler.
- Crib (0,7 x 1,3 m) suitable for 1 baby.
- Twin (1 x 1,9 m) suitable for one person.
- Twin XL (1 x 2 m) suitable for one person.
- Full/Double (1,4 x 1,9 m) suitable for 2 people.
- Queen (1,5 x 2 m) suitable for 2 people.
- King (1,9 x 2 m) suitable for two people with a child.
- California king (1,8 x 2,1 m) suitable for two people with two children.
The top 4 sleep positions are:
- Side sleepers, ideal mattresses providing adequate support, on the softer side to cushion the shoulders and hips.
- Back sleepers, ideal mattresses providing even and consistent support with medium firmness.
- Stomach sleepers, ideal mattresses providing exceptional support especially around the midsection where a large amount of weight is concentrated.
- Combination sleepers, these groups use more than one of the previously mentioned positions on a nightly basis. Therefore, they should select their mattress based on personal preference.
The key to making your body at ease and pain-free. For example, if you suffer from chronic back pain, you might need to support your whole body letting your spine align properly, while if you suffer from hip pain, you might need to focus more on supporting the centre of your body.
The key to making your mattress last over the years. The type of mattress for sure is an indicator (for example, latex mattresses will last longer than foam ones), but also your check on finishes and a small stress test can reveal the quality of construction.
The key to enabling the proper support based on the sleeper weight. Although most mattresses range between 20,3 and 30,5 cm thick, it is appropriate to classify them as light (for people less than 59 kg, typically preferring mattresses that are 25,4 cm thick or shorter), average (for people between 59 and 104 kg, typically preferring mattresses that are 23,4 to 30,5 cm thick) and heavy (for people more than 104 kg, typically preferring mattresses that are at least 30,5 cm thick).
The key to enabling pain relief. If the mattress is not firm enough, you might sink while, if it is too firm, it might cause your spine to misalign and therefore give you back pains. The firmness scale generally ranges between 1 and 10, with most people falling into the 5 to 7 range of the scale.
The key to making it feel nice when lying the mattress. It is a mix of elements such as contouring (the way it conforms to your body), motion isolation (the capacity to avoid the transfer of movements), breathability (the ability to let air circulate minimizing sweat problems) and the edge support.