HomeHow Often Should You Turn A Mattress?
When it comes to having a good night’s rest, your mattress is one of the most critical factors in determining whether you wake up recharged and ready to face the day or feel worse for wear. If you’ve just bought a new mattress, did you know that proper mattress maintenance is critical to ensuring that your new mattress lasts as long as possible? Things like cleaning and vacuuming, regular changing of bedsheets and using a mattress topper are just some of the things we’re used to doing. Still, there is one thing that most of us miss out on turning our mattresses after a certain period of use.
Why Should you Turn your Mattress?
Mattresses are meant to take our body weight when lying down, and the material sinks in to ensure comfort in any sleeping position. After we sleep on the mattress for a long time, however, the surface of the mattress will eventually develop an imprint based on our body weight over time. Turning the mattress regularly ensures that the mattress does not face uneven wear. This uneven wear increases the risk of your mattress not providing the proper support your body needs when lying down.
Turning or Flipping your Mattress?
Double-sided mattresses are designed to provide comfort when sleeping on either side of the mattress; this means the mattress has the same comfort layer on both sides. Conversely, single-sided mattresses are only intended to be slept on one side, as they have comfort layers on only one side of the mattress. If you own a double-sided mattress, it is best to flip your mattress whenever you turn it to maximise its usable lifespan. Single-sided mattresses can only be turned or rotated.
How Do You Turn Your Mattress?
Turning a mattress is a simple process. It takes one person to do it, but having another person help you turn your mattress is handy.
- First, you’ll need to remove all your pillows, bed sheets, blankets and duvets – anything on top of your bed. Next, move away from any furniture close to your bed as well.
- Second, grab the mattress by its handles (there should be a handle on each side) and rotate it around on a 180-degree axis. You should now have the head side of your mattress moved to the other side, where your feet will be when you lie down.
- Lastly, put some new bedsheets on and place everything back onto your bed. You now have a turned mattress that will last you much longer and be more comfortable to sleep on without any indents.
How Do You Flipp Your Mattress?
For those with double-sided mattresses, flipping your mattress should be done together with turning it to get the most usability. Have another person help you; your mattress may be too heavy to flip alone, and you might risk injuring yourself.
- First, remove the bedsheets, pillows, and everything else on your bed.
- Second, grab the mattress by the handles and rotate the mattress horizontally on a 180-degree axis so that the head side of the mattress goes down to the foot side.
- Thirdly, before placing the mattress back on the bed frame, lift it on its side, then flip it over so that the bottom side of the mattress becomes the top side facing you.
- Finally, place bed sheets, pillows and everything else back onto your bed. You now have a flipped and turned mattress to provide maximum comfort.
How Often Should You Turn A Mattress?
Turning your mattress at least once every three months is recommended if you sleep alone. If the mattress isn’t used all that much – for example, mattresses in the guest rooms – you can try rotating the mattress every half a year or every year, depending on how many guests you host in your home. If you are sleeping with a heavier or taller partner, you might have to turn your mattress a little more frequently, say once every two months. This is because you want the fillings in your mattress to distribute your weight evenly. In addition, you want to ensure an even level of wear and tear across the mattress to avoid sagging or dipping from occurring, resulting in inadequate quality sleep.
The Exceptions When Turning Or Flipping a Mattress
Rotating your mattress helps prevent indentations that may eventually cause sagging to occur. Most mattresses are pocket-sprung, hybrid, latex, or memory foam. As a general guideline, memory foam and pocket-sprung mattresses should be rotated four times a year, while hybrids should be rotated every three to six months. Latex mattresses can take more weight over time, lasting 6 months before being rotated.
If you own a memory foam mattress, you’ll see that your mattress is built with a comfort layer only on the top, while the bottom layer is meant to be the support layer. So if you plan to flip your memory foam mattress, you’ll be sleeping on the uncomfortable part! So ensure you avoid flipping your memory foam mattress – only rotate it.
Final Thoughts
If you have a king-size or queen-sized mattress, you should seek the help of a friend or a family member to reduce the risk of injury to yourself or damage to the mattress. Regular turning and flipping of mattresses will help extend your mattress’s usable lifespan and allow you to have a great night’s sleep every time. However, always ensure that your mattress is double-sided if you plan to flip it – otherwise, turning it regularly will do just fine if you have a single-sided mattress.
