How to Actually Choose a Mattress
Most mattress guides hand you a list of types and leave you to work it out. This one does it the way we do it on the showroom floor, after more than 20 years of fitting mattresses to real people. Because the truth is, the mattress on paper matters far less than how it feels under your body, and there are a few things worth knowing before you spend a penny.
Firmness Is Not What You Think It Is
Nearly everyone walks in wanting a firm mattress. They press a mattress with their hand, decide it is too soft, and move on. Here is the problem: your hand and your sleeping body read a mattress completely differently. Pressing with your palm tells you almost nothing about how it will feel when your whole weight is spread across it.
So we have a simple rule: if you will not lie down to try a mattress, we will not sell you one. And firmness itself is personal. What one person calls firm, another calls soft. That is why we always start you on the same reference mattress, our Gel Encapsulated Pocket Sprung, so we can understand what firm actually means to you before we point you anywhere. Once we know how you read firmness, everything else gets easier.
The Base Changes Everything
The same mattress feels different depending on what it sits on. On a flat divan top, a mattress is fully supported and feels firmer. On a slatted frame, it can flex slightly between the slats and feels a touch softer. So before you judge any mattress, know what base it is going on. If you are trying one in a showroom on a divan but buying a slatted frame for home, it will not feel identical when it arrives. Always match the mattress to the base you will actually sleep on.
Lie Down the Way You Actually Sleep
Do not lie on your back for thirty seconds and call it tested. Get into the position you sleep in, on your side, your front, however you spend the night. A mattress that feels fine on your back can feel completely different on your side, where your shoulders and hips need to sink in and be cushioned.
If you are shopping with a partner, feel each other's back and hips, turn by turn, to see how the mattress fills the gaps for each of you. Two different bodies need different things from the same mattress, and a good one supports both. If you are on your own, or your partner cannot tell what is happening underneath you, we will check for you, feeling where the mattress supports your back and hips and checking your spine stays aligned when you lie on your side. It is the part of buying a mattress you simply cannot do online.
Sometimes one mattress genuinely is not right for two people, and that is where a lot of couples get stuck. They compromise on a feel that suits neither of them. Because our mattresses are British handcrafted to order, you often do not have to. On select sprung mattresses you can have each half made to a different firmness, one side firmer, one side softer, tailored to two different bodies in one mattress. Think of it as a 50/50 pizza, your half your way, their half theirs. There can be a small extra cost for splitting the firmness, and it is available on certain mattresses rather than all of them, so just ask and we will tell you what is possible.
Your Weight and the Mattress Have to Match
This is the thing most guides miss. It is not simply that heavier people need firmer mattresses. It is that your body weight and the mattress's support have to match. Too heavy for a mattress and you sink past its support, so you need something more supportive. Too light for a firm mattress and you never sink into it at all, so a softer one suits you better. Getting this match right matters more than hitting a firmness number, and it is the main thing we read while you are lying down.
Tell Us How You Sleep, in Plain Words
You do not need to know mattress jargon. Here is how the things people actually say translate into what suits them.
"I don't like the sinking feeling." You want a mattress you sleep on rather than in. Something like our Cooling Gel 3000, responsive and supportive, with none of the sink of memory foam.
"I don't like how the edge collapses when I sit on it." That is not a fault, it is edge support, and there are ways to solve it. Our hand-stitched and foam-encapsulated mattresses hold their shape right to the edge, so you can use the whole surface.
"I can feel every time my partner moves." You want motion isolation. Our full foam mattresses, especially the Gel Infusion, absorb movement so a restless partner barely reaches you.
"We can only fit a double because of the wardrobes." When you cannot size up, buy a mattress you can use every inch of. Our encapsulated mattresses give edge-to-edge support, so a double sleeps bigger than it measures. As we sometimes joke, if she sleeps like a starfish and you are left clinging to the edge, at least the edge is comfortable.
"I sleep too hot." Memory foam traps heat. You want gel, open cell foam or a natural fibre mattress, all of which let air move and sleep cooler.
The Types of Mattress, and Who Each One Suits
Once you know how you sleep, the type makes sense. Here is the honest rundown of what we make and who each one is for.
Pocket Sprung Mattresses
Individual springs, each in its own fabric pocket, moving independently so support follows your body and a partner's movement stays on their side. The base of almost everything we do. Our Cooling Gel 3000 is the flagship, with the highest spring count in the range.
Memory Foam
Memory foam was originally developed for NASA to absorb impact. It moulds to your shape and cradles you, spreading your weight to ease pressure at the hips and shoulders. You sleep in it rather than on it. The honest trade-off is heat, it sleeps warmer than springs. Our Fresh Memory Foam is the full memory foam option, with a choice of firmness.
Gel and Cool Gel
Gel foam was developed to solve memory foam's two problems, heat and, for some, the sink-and-stay feel. It gives responsive comfort that springs back when you move and sleeps far cooler. Our Cool Gel range pairs a gel layer with pocket springs.
Encapsulated Mattresses
The springs are sealed inside solid foam walls, so support runs right to the edge with no roll-off, and you can use the whole surface. Ideal for couples and anyone who cannot size up. Our Gel Encapsulated is the best all-rounder we sell.
Open Cell Reflex Foam
Unlike memory foam, open cell foam works with pressure, not heat, so it breathes, sleeps cool and springs straight back when you move. It ranges from a soft, floating feel to a firm, supportive one. Our HoverRest gives a floating, pressureless feel that side sleepers love.
Natural Fibres
Cotton, wool and silk over pocket springs, with no foam at all. Naturally breathable and hypoallergenic, and wool regulates temperature through the seasons. Hand stitched and dual sided to last for years. Our Natural Cotton Wool Silk range is the traditional, no-foam choice.
Latex
The premium natural option. Real Talalay latex is milky in colour with a rubbery feel, and it should be the layer you actually sleep on, not buried under synthetic foam. It responds to pressure instantly, sleeps cool and lasts for years. Our Natural Talalay Latex sits directly beneath the cover, where you sleep on it.
Orthopaedic
A word worth clearing up. Orthopaedic means supportive, not hard. Our orthopaedic mattresses give firm, level support that holds your body evenly, but they are not the firmest thing we make. If you genuinely want firm, that is a different mattress again. Our Deep Orthopaedic is one of our best sellers.
How Much Should You Spend?
Honest money advice, because more expensive is not always the right answer.
Spend where it matters. The mattress is the part you actually sleep on, so if budget is tight and you are buying a bed too, consider a simpler divan base and put the saving into a better mattress. The frame matters far less than what is on top of it.
Do not replace what does not need replacing. If your current bed still supports a mattress properly, keep it. Buy the mattress now and the bed later. There is no rule that says they have to be bought together.
And if you are not in a rush, there is no harm in going away to think, or saving a little more and coming back. We would rather you got the right mattress than the quick one. But if you need one now and budget is fixed, we will show you the honest options and tell you what each does well and where it compromises, whether that is less edge support, or memory foam instead of gel but dual sided so you can flip to the cooler side in summer. Every mattress has a job it does well.
Getting It Into an Awkward Room
A big mattress and a tight staircase do not mix, and this is where a made-to-order mattress has a real advantage over a standard one. If you have a loft room, narrow Victorian stairs or a tight landing, we have ways around it.
Zip and link. On some mattresses we can make a large size as two halves that zip together into one. Easy to carry up in pieces, and as a bonus each half can be a different firmness, another answer for couples who want different feels.
Roll packed. Our Gel Infusion mattress can be roll packed, compressed and rolled for delivery, which makes even a large size easy to get through a tight doorway or up an awkward staircase. It springs back to full size once unrolled.
If access is your worry, tell us about your stairs and doorways before you order and we will point you to the option that will actually fit.
The Things Customers Get Wrong
After two decades on the floor, the same misunderstandings come up again and again.
"Firmer is better for you." Not true. A firm mattress is not right for everyone, and the wrong firmness for your body causes more problems than it solves. The right mattress is the one that matches your weight and how you sleep, not the hardest one on the shop floor.
Judging a mattress by pressing it with your hand. Your hand and your body read a mattress completely differently. This is exactly why we will not sell a mattress you have not lain down on.
"Memory foam is the best money can buy." Memory foam is excellent at what it does, cradling and motion isolation, but it sleeps warm and it is not for everyone. Plenty of people are far better suited to gel, latex or a natural fibre mattress.
Sizes and Spreading the Cost
Every mattress comes in Single, Small Double, Double, King Size and Super King, and because they are handmade to order, bespoke sizes can be made too. Read more about UK bed sizes if you are unsure which you need.
And because every mattress is made fresh when you order rather than pulled from a warehouse, we can tailor it to you, your size, your firmness, split firmness on select mattresses, zip and link or roll packed where you need it. That is the real benefit of a British handcrafted mattress over anything off a shelf: it is built for you.
If you would like to spread the cost, finance is available through Snap Finance as one way to pay. And if you are local, come and try them properly. Reading about a mattress only gets you so far. Lying on one tells you everything.
Browse the full range of pay weekly mattresses whenever you are ready.
