Bed & Mattress Buying Rules.
Buying Guides• Choosing a Bed• Choosing the Right Mattress
Hints and Tips for Beds and Mattress:
The bed or mattress you buy will probably last from 1year to 10 years before at least the mattress needs replacing. Dependant on the quality of bed purchased. On average 8 years use is pretty good.
During that period, you will spend up to a third of your life lying on it, so you want to be sure that you’ve chosen exactly the right bed or mattress for you!
This section is here not just to show you how to buy a bed or mattress, but to ensure that you buy the right bed or mattress for you.
Bed buying tips
The following five tips are the ones that we think are most useful when buying beds and mattresses, but there are several other web sites which give more detailed information – our favourite is the Sleep Council’s site.
• Buy the biggest bed you can afford and comfortably fit in your bedroom – the bigger the bed, the better night’s sleep you’ll get.
• Balance firmness and comfort, bearing in mind your weight and build – too firm and it’ll be like sleeping on a board; too soft and you’ll have too little support.
• Buy the best quality mattress you can afford – it will repay you many times over in the quality of sleep you get.
• Buy the right type of mattress for your bed type – some mattresses are designed to work best with a particular type of base. Choosing the right size bed
The right size bed is also dependent on the right size mattress. Choose a mattress that is at least 4 inches longer than the height of the tallest person sleeping on it. Then choose a bed design that will fit the mattress; and finally choose a design, size, and scale that fit the room. The standard sizes for mattresses are as follows:
Bed types Divan beds explained:
The most commonly bought bed type is the divan bed and, while most of the above bed types are pretty much self-explanatory, the divan bed is available in a number of different permutations which require some explanation:
Sprung edge divan base - The sprung edge divan base provides extreme luxury. As the name implies the springs come right to the edge giving real edge to edge support.
Platform top divan base - The top of this divan base is solid and padded, to enhance mattress support and provide a firmer bed. Storage options/drawers - One of the distinct advantages of a divan bed is that its enclosed base allows the use of drawers to hold bed linen or other goods.
Bed and mattress sizes
Most of us are aware that beds and mattresses come in four standard sizes: single bed, double bed, king size bed and super king size. But you’d be surprised at how many people need non standard sized beds or mattresses, either for those odd shaped rooms or simply because they want to enjoy a bigger bed!
Furnish4less specialise in supplying special size beds and mattresses, so please feel free to email them at sales@furnish-4-less.biz with your non-standard sized bed requirements and we’ll happily sort it out for you.
If you want a standard size bed or mattress, you’ll need to measure up the room to see how well the desired size will fit. Bear in mind that, if you intend buying a bed with storage drawers, you’ll need to allow extra room for the drawers to be fully opened. Here are the standard size bed and mattress dimensions:
Bed Size x Width x Length
Single 3ft x 6ft 3in 90 x 190cm
Small Double 4ftx 6ft3 120 x 190cm
Double 4ft 6in x 6ft 3in 135 x 190cm
King 5ft x 6ft 6in 150 x 200cm
Super King 6ft x 6ft 6in 180 x 200cm
Choosing the right mattress
There are Five types of mattress:
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pocket sprung,
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open sprung,
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orthopaedic
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foam.
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hybrid
Each mattress type has its own merits and some types of mattress cannot be successfully used with some types of bed, so please ask for our advice if you’re not sure.
The firmness of the support provided by a bed base can be further adjusted by the firmness of the mattress used in combination with that base. Mattresses come in four grades of firmness: medium, medium firm, firm and extra firm (sometimes call ‘orthopaedic’).
Pocket sprung mattress
One of the most luxurious in feel, offering ideal body support and comfort. Individual pocketed springs are linked together in a honeycomb pattern. They move individually as they compress and expand enabling them to adjust separately to your body shape and weight.
Pocket-sprung mattresses can be filled with all manner of different materials to suit your needs, including wool for comfort and breathability.
Open Coil Sprung Mattress
This is the most traditional type of mattress and has a bouncy, springy feel, These springs are – available with different levels of tension 13 gauge 13.5 and 12.5 gauge being the firmest also now as orthopaedic.
The open springs are all hinged together preventing spring noise and spreading the bodyweight evenly over the complete surface of the mattress.
Some spring systems offer twice the number of springs providing a denser sleeping surface. Than traditional Bonnell open coil spring units.
Continuous coil or open coil
The first is made from a single looped wire, while the latter is made from single springs fixed together with one wire. While these are the most wallet-friendly of all mattresses, they can be uncomfortable – in the worst cases you actually feel the coils – and the whole thing moves if you move, meaning you are very likely to disturb your partner. Coil mattresses also wear out the quickest, and you might well find you and your partner meet in the middle when the sagging makes you roll inwards.
Orthopaedic mattress
An orthopaedic mattress is a bit of a misnomer really. Essentially, it's an extra firm mattress and can be a pocket, open coil and foam etc.
Foam mattress
Foam mattress systems, with their innovative design, provide comfort, performance, shape retention and long term durability.
They generally back this with longer guarantees then you would find on standard open coil mattress. But are not for everyone and can take getting use to.
The foam cells respond independently and exactly to sleepers’ weight and body movement. It is ideally suited to adjustable beds as the mattress freely follows the shape of the bed when adjusted. The sculptured construction of some multizone mattress system aids ventilation too.
Memory foam
These don’t have much spring, instead moulding to the shape of your body, which means that you're less likely to disturb your partner when you move at night. They keep their shape well and many of the ‘new generation’ ones are delivered to your door rolled and vacuum-packed. On the downside, they can hold body heat, making you feel hot and clammy – particularly if they are very soft.
Gel Foam
A gel foam mattress is a mattress that combines gel foam with a sprung or foam base. Gel foam is a viscoelastic foam mixed with gel beads that provide extra support and help to reduce heat build-up.
Gel foam is designed to satisfy the desire for ultimate comfort and rival the popularity of memory foam.
There are many different types of gel foam, the most popular being Geltex, sold by brands such as Silentnight and Sealy. This guide covers all you need to know about Geltex and gel foam mattresses.
Latex
Natural latex is superior to synthetic latex, and it’s also antimicrobial and resistant against mould and dust mites. There are two types of latex – the heavier, denser Dunlop latex, and Talalay latex, which is lighter and softer. These are also available in the "new generation" style, with the downside that they’re similarly prone to holding body heat. Some latex mattresses claim to last more than 20 years.
Hybrid mattress
These combos are mix-and-match versions of the mattress types. For example, pocket-sprung core (so you get the buoyancy) with a foam top layer (so you get the moulding effect).
