Mattresses are a beautiful thing. They allow us to get an amazing night’s sleep {or not} each night. I love my bed {and mattress}, although I don’t spend much time sleeping on it! I’ve learned through the years that investing in and taking care of a good mattress makes all the difference!
All our mattresses came from Costco, and they are between 5-10 years old and still working great. I try and rotate them twice a year, which is a pretty standard recommendation for my mattress type. I know my parents did it more frequently than that growing up, which got me to thinking. Does flipping really matter? Does it make a difference? Come to find out, it depends.
Why flip? When a mattress wears unevenly, it must be replaced more quickly. Simple as that. If you sleep in the same spot on your mattress constantly, it’s easy to assume that spot on the mattress will wear down quicker than the rest of the mattress. According to many mattress makers, flipping a bed at least once a year can make it last 5-7 years longer. You can more than double its life! Flipping also helps prevent sagging and dips int he mattress for a more comfortable sleep.
All mattresses? Not all mattresses require spinning. Some beds are designed for extended use and actually become more comfortable the more you sleep in them. Most manufacturers recommend you flip most coil mattresses and many foam mattresses. Springs wear down if you sleep on the same spot for a prolonged period of time, as does the foam, so flipping can significantly increase the life of your mattress.
How and how often? At the very least, most flippable mattresses should be turned at least twice a year. If there is increased weight on the mattress or two people use it, it’s recommended that you flip more frequently. Some mattress companies recommend a once-a-month flip for couple mattresses, but that seems a bit excessive to me. If the mattress seems to be developing a groove in it where you sleep, do it more often. The actual flip itself is pretty basic. Simply spin your mattress end for end so that the end that was at the headboard is now at the foot board. It really is that easy. It should be turned over so the bottom becomes the top, about once per year, unless you have a pillow topper.
So there you have it. Flipping 101. Do you flip your mattress? How often? And how often do you replace your mattresses? How old is the mattress you are sleeping on? Inquiring minds want to know!
Sweet dreams,
~Mavis
Em says
I have one they said does not need flipping. It’s about eight years old.
Teckla says
Also, for older mattresses anyway, they should be flipped over, as well as end to end, at least once or twice a year. Mine is somewhere around 12-13 years old and doing well. It is an especially hard mattress, so it may wear differently from one that is softer, though. Mom taught my sister and me to flip the mattresses way back when we were learning to do housework in our pre-teen-early teen years, so that would have been ’59-’61, somewhere around in there. Mattress technology has changed a lot in those years. I also vacuum mine occasionally, usually at a time when I’m washing the mattress pad to make it easier. Yeah, maybe I’m OCD too!
Cheryl says
Yeah, many of the new mattresses say not to flip them. I, however have a mattress that sits on the floor now granted it is about 18 inches thick, but I turn it each time I change the sheets. My hips, legs, butt begins hurting after a while and turning the bed gives the support I need….and makes the dog take up residence elsewhere!
Gigi says
I alternate between flipping and rotating. I do one of these about once a month. I can see a definite sag where my butt goes and that’s when flip or rotate. Our mattress is about 14 years old and is doing great. I can’t believe people buy in to the hype about buying a new mattress every 6-7 years like some retailers say. That’s absurd. I dread the day I need to mattress shop.
Mona says
I have always flipped my mattress in the fall when daylight savings time ends and spun the mattress in the spring when daylight savings time begins. My cues are the changing of the clock and fall (flip) and spring (spin).
Lisa says
Our mattress is 25 years old! We were thinking it might be time to go mattress shopping (waking up stiff with achy hips…I’m a side/back sleeper) but decided to try the MyPillow mattress topper instead and WE LOVE IT! We sleep great and get up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to go. Otherwise we would rotate and/or flip our mattress about every three months.
Lisa Scot says
I flip my mattress about 1-2 times a year. My mattress is different though. I have to take it apart and rebuild it to flip it. I start with a zippered “Bag”. Once unzipped I remove a 1″ thick layer of memory type foam. once removed, there are 4 side panels that I rotate from side to side and top to bottom. Then, in the middle of the side panels, I have 6 large squares of foam that are each zippered in their own bag. 2 Head-2 middle-2 feet. I rotate them front to back and then mix them up. Take the middle and now use it at the head, feet now becomes the middle and so forth.
Its a nice mattress and its extremely comfortable. And I paid more than I expected to pay but got an incredible deal because it was purchased from a friend who sold it to me at almost cost! So I want to extend the life of this baby as long as I can!