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How Often Should I Flip My Mattress?

Knowing how to take care of your furniture is essential to ensure it lasts long. One of the oldest dilemmas about how to properly handle your mattress is how often it should be flipped, if at all. If you’re wondering ”How often should I flip my mattress‘?’, this article might surprise you. We’ll tell you how to properly handle your mattress to ensure it always looks as good as new.

The History Behind the Advice

The common idea that we should flip your mattress every once in a while has been around for decades. People say it extends the lifespan of the mattress and improves comfort. However, it’s important to ask yourself: Is this applicable to all mattresses?

When looking at new, modern mattresses, the reality has changed. Today, certain designs don’t demand that you flip it or rotate it at all. Mainly because their functionality works on one side only. By flipping it, you’d be jeopardizing its structure and its ability to provide comfort.

Flipping or Non-Flipping Mattress?

The idea that you should always flip your mattress, no matter which type you have, comes from old habits. Our parents and grandparents had mattresses that demanded this type of care. However, with the evolution of times and technology, reality changed. Today, most modern mattresses no longer need to be flipped.

Find out if your mattress should be flipped frequently, flipped once in a while, or not at all.

How to Identify a Non-Flipping Mattress

Nowadays, you shouldn’t flip your mattress unless advised by the manufacturer itself. If your mattress was designed to be one-sided, by flipping it you’d be limiting its purpose.

The construction of non-flipping mattresses is easy to identify. Usually, at the bottom, you’ll find a thicker layer, made of dense foam or metal springs, or even a mix of both. This is the most important part of the mattress in terms of support and sturdiness.

The following intermediate layers are built with comfort in mind. This is reflected in a combination of materials with different levels of firmness. At the top layer, you’ll find the cover, which can be cushioned or not, as well as other sewn-in foams that add comfort.

With this said, the answer to ”How often should I flip my mattress?” if you have one of the described ones, is never.

The whole purpose of your mattress is lost by flipping it. This is because each layer has a specific function that simply doesn’t work if turned upside down.

That’ll lead to a mattress that is no longer comfortable as there’s no back support for a good night’s sleep. Since your mattress is subject to wear and tear, when you flip you’re also shortening its lifespan.

How to Identify a Flipping Mattress

There are certain exceptions in modern mattresses that make them a reason to flip. This is because they offer distinctive firmness levels on each side.

As a result, you’ll be able to choose the best type of back support for you and that suits your needs. In such cases, it’s important to know how to identify a mattress you flip so that you know how to make the most of it.

They’re usually identified with a level of firmness on each side. This means that, in the same mattress, you might have one side with 6 out of 10 firmness, while on the other end it’s less firm. Usually, there’s a 2 to 3 point difference in firmness from each side.

Knowing ”how often should I flip my mattress” is a doubt that can be best answered when you purchase it. After all, if the manufacturer advises you to flip it, it means you should do it to increase its durability.

What Are the Benefits If I Flip My Mattress?

There are different benefits to flipping a mattress. For starters, it promotes its longevity. Also, it avoids any bending areas due to daily body pressure. This is because we tend to sleep in specific ways that apply more pressure on one side of the mattress.

What Are the Benefits of Rotating My Mattress?

A lot of people ask ”How often should I flip my mattress” but tend to forget it can also be rotated. In fact, this is something that can be done on most mattresses.

There are plenty of benefits associated with rotating your mattress. It has to do with the same reason that you’ll tend to sleep in a similar position each night, which leads to damage over time.

By rotating your mattress you’re balancing weight and pressure on it. If you don’t rotate your mattress, it will look visibly snagged.

How Often Should You Rotate Your Mattress?

Each mattress demands different timeframes for being rotated. For example, memory foam and latex mattresses should be rotated once or twice per year. The same applies to newer innerspring mattresses. On the other hand, if you have an older innerspring mattress, it should be rotated more often. Ideally, two to five times yearly.

It’s also true that there are a few, very specific examples of mattresses that shouldn’t be rotated. It’s the case of mattresses with a zoned system designed for comfort.

With this said, more important than knowing when to flip or rotate your mattress is to know when to replace it. The lifespan of a mattress is usually six to eight years, depending on its quality and use.

If it’s time to swap your mattress with a new one, visit Kaplan’s mattresses store in Elyria. You’ll be amazed by the level of comfort our mattresses will provide you!

Serving North Ridgeville, Lake Wood, Olmsted Falls, Amherst, and Lorain areas.