What should we test about mattresses?

I would like choice to provide long term understanding and guidance re the mattress market in australia. How the quality of the internet only brands stack up against the cartel. (In the same way as if I want to buy a fridge or a washing machine, I can noodle around choice online and get an overview and understanding of the appliance, levels of quality and price, etc.)

The key issue for me, before forking out, is how hard wearing a mattress is before sag that is bad for the spine/hips starts.

Years ago there was a factory in the ACt called makin’ mattresses, and their mattresses were very cheap, but declined quickly in quality.

Please include online inner spring mattresses in your research and testing. Thanks.

Biodegradability and durability come top of my list. Futons possibly do better in these areas, especially if wool-filled.

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Yes, and the general population seems to be getting bigger. This is an important factor

Matt,

In realation to sag, body impressions, body signature etc, you have to look directly at the quality, density or mass of the foam or latex used in any mattress. The lower the mass, the more sagging or body signature you will get as it is a low quality foam.

The higher the mass/density, the higher the quality of foam, so the more you will pay.

Mass, or foam dnsity has nothing to do with the firmness of a mattress. Soft or firm is dependant upon how much newton force is required to drop a certain weight from a height of 1 metre to distort the foam by 40 %.

So there are a lopt of issues to look at.

I am a Store owner, have been involbved in the industry for a long time and am happy to give you some important unbiased information.

Regards

Russ France

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Thanks for offering your insight @rjf7560, I’ll pass on your details to Matt :wink:

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LDWoods7

I also have problems with weight. I bought a mattress with the surface the same as used for burn patients and it helps to keep body cool & comfortable-which suits me. (I have fibromyalgia and need to change position several times because of pain). Is it necessary for the mattresses to be so thick? I’m 73 and need help to make bed. I have no footboard so we pull the mattress away from the headboard about 30-40cm so it is easier to get the fitted sheet over the head & foot of the mattress. Then push it back. It is a pain to get the sides tucked in.

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I would be mostly interested in toxins in different mattresses and the different materials that can be used such as latex and wool. Also durability and moveability of these.

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For those sensitive to wireless radiation, springs are likely to act as antennae and rebroadcast some of the radiation.

This is particularly important for teenagers that sleep with their phones in the bed and switched on.

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Could you please cite any study that confirms that? This claim is repeated on many internet sites but the most credible hit I found is

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If the mattresses worked as antennae & rebroadcast radio signals, then surely we would have better Wi-Fi & phone signals when in or near our beds.

I tested this, and it doesn’t work. Phone signal strength remained at -113.0dBm & latency remained at 40.0ms, so the mattress had no effect. :sleeping: :telephone_receiver:

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Well done Meltam6554,
Without a doubt your points are absolute musts of a mattress test/assessment. Far more important than several of the survey options. Unfortunately lifespan is impossible to test so I’d be really interested in finding out just how “factual” the supposed 10 or 15 year guarantee really is. A legal chase that is!
My occupation is in the health (back) industry and it just so happens I bought a new mattress during the “Christmas period 50% off every bed” sale this year. I checked out almost 10 manufacturers/outlets, was pre-educated, knew what to look for, and I found it almost impossible to get through the maze of “spin” the sellers used. What I needed was to see what the inside (construction) of the mattress was, and very few places were capable of showing me this.
I ended up buying from a direct to public outlet, an off-the-shop-floor discounted foam mattress (which I have never had before) at $995, with a supposed 10yr guarantee. So far it’s been great. Long term - who knows?
Paul

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I think I was vaccinated against RF as a child 
 but to be safe, I wrap my mattress and pillows in aluminium foil.

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Curses. Foiled again!

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One would not be able to live on the earth if one was ‘sensitive to wireless radiation’. The natural earth is full of the stuff caused by natural processes on, in and around the earth (lightning or the earths magnetic field for example) and alien sources (from space and the sun).

Some unbiased and factual information on (‘wireless’) radiation can be found on the ARPANSA website.

It is also possible to induce a very small current on a metal object due to slight differences in the earth’s magnetic field. Such currents may generate very small electric or magnetic fields
and is a consideration when designing long distance pipelines. These induced currents can lead to metal pipe corrosion which is why they are considered in pipeline design
however, for such effect to occur in a bedroom is impossible as the mattress would need to be several hundreds of kilometres long. In some respects, there would be greater risks of sleeping next to someone as the nervous system creates very small electric currents and the effect of a person sleeping beside is likely to be greater than any other effect.

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I have a mattress that is not reversible but has to be rotated. The problem is this mattress is very comfortable to sleep on but it is so heavy I need help to move it. So perhaps a weight guage to let us oldies know would be helpfull

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What, no ground strap?

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But then there is Earthing.

A long as the mattress is well insulated, there should be no issue with step and touch potential.

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Environmental impact of disposing of old mattress.
Whether company that sells it takes away old mattress.

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great suggestion @alic021.

None of the charities seems disposed to take away and use old mattresses unless they are in mint condition. I suppose they don’t want to be burdened with a large amount of old mattresses, but I would have thought that there would be a need for cheap or free mattresses.

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In Qld I know they can’t sell used matresses because of health concerns. I think the only way they will stock them is if they have been sanitised and it is certified by a professional business which is prohibitively expensive.

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