There are hundreds of “brands” that mostly come from China. My parents purchased an expensive one in the hope of a better night’s sleep and reduced back issues. However, my mother is still sleeping on the sofa after the wasted investment.
Almost everyone knows someone who wished they did not let the delivery company take away the old mattress after receiving the new one? I see it everywhere while doing my research.
Good mattresses are worth more money because the materials are higher quality and have fewer chemicals many sleepers are sensitive to.
The Few Good Mattresses
A good one is usually much heavier than the super cheap crap sold at the discount stores. Heavier ones do have better quality foam and heavier gauge springs which can help to improve comfort and extend its life.
The below video by Consumer Reports is an excellent look into the different materials and suppliers of the materials, and which type is best for side sleepers.
Can a mattress last 20 years?
Some can last 20 years in some situations including:
- It is used in the guest room and had little use.
- It is used for a small child and as the child grows to adult the total weight per year average is low.
- It is two-sided and is flipped every month or a few times per year.
- It is rotated 180 degrees several times per year.
- The owners spend a lot of time away from the house traveling for work, weekends at the cottage, traveling the world, etc. Again this reduces the total usage per year.
- The owners only sleep in the bed for short periods of time such as six hours per night. Some people spend substantially more time in bed watching tv, eating, playing video games, nursing hangovers, etc.
The video below is pretty cool as he cuts open a 20-year-old mattress which is interesting and worth watching. He also shows him opening and installing his new foam mattress in a box.
Maybe you will also laugh along at a couple of his brain crap moments like when he cannot understand the third picture in the instructions.
And when he finally clues in to cut the plastic the super tightly and air-free foam starts sucking in the air… but he thinks the expanding foam is magically spewing air while defying all laws of physics by growing while expelling air.
What is the lifespan of an expensive mattress?
The lifespan is usually similar depending on the quality of materials, hours of usage each year, and the weight and activities.
| Quality | Cost | Sleepers | Hours/ Day | Life Years* | Cost/ Year |
| Poor | <200 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 40 |
| Poor | <200 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 33 |
| Decent | <400 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 58 |
| Decent | <400 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 50 |
| Good | <600 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 66 |
| Good | <600 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 60 |
| Excellent | 600+ | 2 | 10 | 10 | 60+ |
| Excellent | 600+ | 1 | 8 | 11 | 55+ |
* Approximate
Based on the information in the chart above a buyer can make an informed choice of the price range they wish to spend on a mattress as long as they truly get what they pay for.
Check the weight of some of the most popular models in the chart in an article I recently wrote here.
Fix your squeaky bed frame with simple and cheap with easy to implement tips in my article here.
