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Mattresses Overview

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Over its lifetime, your mattress will support you for more than 30,000 hours, absorb 3,000 liters of water (largely from your perspiration), and provide the setting for countless sweet dreams, all for just twenty-five to fifty cents per night. Mattresses are, consequently, important purchases, and one can easily understand why Consumer Reports receives more inquiries about mattresses than about any other product save cars.

Mattresses are thicker, fancier, and more expensive than they were even ten or twenty years ago, but it is still possible to outline some of the basic differences between mattresses.

• Mattress size: The smallest standard mattress is a twin mattress (38 inches by 75 inches). The next step up is a full, or double, mattress (53”x75”) followed by a queen mattress (60”x80”) and a king size. (76”x80”)

• Mattress types: Mattresses differ based on their fillings. A conventional mattress is called an inner-spring mattress and has hundreds of coils that provide the support for your back. Some high-end mattresses (such as Duxiana models) offer additional and layered springs. Brands such as Tempur-Pedic manufacture mattresses with memory foam, which adjusts to fit your body’s normal sleeping position. Finally, inflatable mattresses such as Select Comfort models, let you choose different firmness levels for different areas of the bed. While you can also choose non-traditional models (i.e. a waterbed or an air mattress), most mattresses fit into one of these standard categories.

• Mattress parts: As noted above, some mattresses have interiors of foam or air, but traditionally mattresses provide support through hundreds of coils. On top of these coils, a mattress has extra padding, called comfort layers, and below the mattress, you will usually find a box spring or foundation. In most cases, you can purchase the foundation separately, or as a set with your mattress.

Manufacturers make numerous alterations and use different names on the mattresses they send to stores, so it is difficult to comparison shop. Therefore, although the above categories offer basic distinctions, you’ll need to lay on mattresses and/or ask a salesman to learn the differences between specific mattresses.

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