Everybody knows that a good mattress is essential for a good night’s sleep. A night on a bad one can make you wake up feeling uncomfortable, and with a really bad one you might hardly sleep at all. Yet for some people, a great mattress still isn’t enough. That’s where mattress toppers come in.
These add an extra layer of cushioning to your mattress, and they are popular with people who are looking to upgrade their sleep quality with paying out for a top-of-the-range new mattress.
Like mattresses, toppers come in a range of materials and finding the right one for you requires a bit of thought. Here’s everything that you need to consider.
The material
The material that it’s made from will have the largest impact on your mattress topper experience. Here are some of the common choices.
Memory foam: This is probably the most popular material for toppers. People love the way it feels like a soft cushion that you slowly sink into. Of course, with memory foam the idea is that the impression your body creates in the foam remains there even after you are done sleeping, helping you easily slip into your natural resting position night after night.
However, memory foam has its disadvantages. One is that it tends to trap heat, so if you are somebody who gets very hot at night this might not be ideal. Some manufacturers add materials to their foam, such as graphite, gel, and even copper, which are all meant to stop the heat from being trapped. Whether these truly make a difference is unclear.
Other foams: There are other foams on the market which are less dense and supportive than memory foam, but they’re also less pricey and less hot. These include egg-crate foam, polyfoam, and convoluted foam.
Latex: You might think that this will feel rubbery or like plastic, but that’s not the case. Latex can be turned into soft and cool toppers that come in at around 300 AUD for a queen size, although it’s harder to find smaller sizes such as a single mattress topper made from the material.
Natural fibres: Fibres such as wool and cotton are not very springy and so provide little support, but they are certainly soft enough to sink into. They are also breathable and good for regulating heat. The same goes for feathers such as down.
The thickness