When should you replace your mattress?

We recently found this question on Quora where reader Michael Rasmussen contemplated the question and added: “The only references I find are tied to mattress manufactures and sellers. Their interests and mine are not aligned.”

We wanted to help him out:

We understand your reservations, but how is this for an independent opinion:

The University of Oklahoma conducted a study back in 2006 that compared the perceived sleep quality of 69 test subjects before and after replacing their own personal bedding system with a new medium-firm mattress.

There were two parts to the study: Phase one – the baseline phase – had subjects rate their individual perceived back pain, stiffness and sleep quality for each of 28 consecutive days while sleeping in their own bed. The mean ago of the personal bedding used was 9.73 years.

Phase two had people rate the same three markers each night after sleeping on new medium-firm bedding for 28 days.

The result, in a nutshell, was that all participants — whether they had rated their baseline sleep quality as good or poor — described their sleep quality as significantly improved during phase two. They also reported significant improvements in regard to back pain and stiffness.

Now, as to the exact time frame for change: This study shows that sleepers saw significant improvements replacing mattresses with an average mattress age of under ten years; from that you can deduct that you will reap plenty of benefits if you replace your mattress before ever reaching that benchmark.

My two cents: It is, of course, easy to assume that mattress manufactures only have their own interest at heart when they recommend to replace your bedding at certain intervals. But you could also conclude that some of us simply want to give you an honest answer and the best recommendation for your health and well-being when we suggest five to seven years as an ideal replacement time frame (as I do when I am asked). We do that in the same vein as the manufacturer of my running shoe wants me to replace them well before the shoe has a hole in it, to make sure I always get good support and the necessary cushioning.

We all warranty our mattresses for longer than five to seven years, but please remember that there are plenty of reasons to break with the longstanding, ridiculous mattress industry habit of offering 25-year or even lifetime warranties on a product that gets used more than your car, your shoes, your couch, your washing machine or really most anything else in your life.

Mattresses aren’t heirloom items – even though they used to be thought of as such in the old days; instead they are a piece of performance equipment with a huge impact on your daily life and thus the same rules apply:
Buy the best you can afford and replace when you feel it is time.

Read our original reply to the question on Quora

When should you replace your mattress?

What Your Interior Designer Knows About Mattresses

ASID-designer Rebecca Ward is our featured Design Voice this week on Pillow Talk. She’s a Sacramento-based designer who joins us today to answer the question “Why let your designer choose your mattress?”

Counting Black Sheep

The bedroom — a place to relax, regroup, rest, love, and laugh. From a lovers’ retreat to family time of kids jumping in to their parent’s bed on Saturday morning, the bedroom needs to be designed with skill.

You might not realize how important your bed is in your daily routine. This is where each day begins. A good night’s sleep will make all the difference in the world for tackling the day ahead.

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A Night at The Museum: 5 Amazing Museum Sleepovers

The popular movie franchise ‘A Night at the Museum’ is getting a whole lot more personal.

Iconic museums and aquariums across the country are offering sleepover programs for kids and adults. The late-night adventures let curious participants experience the wonder of science and history in the silence of an empty museum.

We’ve decided to compile a  list of five awesome museum sleepovers:

Camp Boo and Goo: La Brea Tar Pits’ Museum Sleepover

The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum is ready to scare the tar out of kids this Halloween with an overnight family program Oct. 24-25. The Camp Boo and Goo adventure includes a nighttime flashlight tour of the tar pits and a Trick-or-Treat scavenger hunt. Kids are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes. All participants will receive a special Natural History Museum badge for their participation in the program. For more info, call (213) 763-3499. Reservations can only be made by phone.

Walk amid the tar pits at the La Brea Tar Pit museum sleepover

Tusk-or-treat…a fossil at the La Brea Tar Pits museum (photo courtesy of tarpits.org)

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The USWNT celebrates their 2012 London gold medal

You Snooze You Win: The Winning Sleep Habits of Superstar Athletes

Oh, January. Where did you go?

Even though our New Year’s resolutions are barely visible in the rearview mirror anymore, there are still three months left to turn ourselves into the lean, mean workout machines we set out to become in 2014.

The key to a strong finish could be hidden between the proverbial sheets where LeBron James, Roger Federer and other world-class athletes sleep like the dead and recover like champions.

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Three Sleep Tips for Easing Back Into the School and Workplace Grind

With the long and balmy days of summer coming to a close, we say ‘So long’ to our trove of Instagram vacation photos and bid ‘Hello’ to a fall full of work. The kiddos face an equally unceremonious return to the most infamous of six-letter words, S-C-H-O-O-L.

Diving back into the non-vacation world  of our jobs and studies also means it is time to ditch our summer habits of rising late and hitting the hay way past our bed time. Take heart, fellow slumber lover, we’ve got a few suggestions to make your transition from summer fun to fall’s ho-hum a little easier.

Say goodnight to your iPad before you say goodnight

Did you know that 89% of adults and 75% of kids have at least one electronic device in their bedroom? Even more sobering is that 68% of adults and 51% of children have two or more.

Bringing your electronics to bed can hamper your sleep.

A habit that’s hard to resist (photo courtesy of The Telegraph)

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The Rockabye Baby bear, part of the Somnium blog series about sleep songs.

When Babies ‘Move Like Jagger’ it’s Sleep Song Heaven

We’ve never been shy to admit that a little bit of good xylophone goes a long way. That’s why we wholeheartedly enjoyed immersing ourselves in a unique sleep song this week: Rockabye Baby’s lullaby cover version of the Maroon 5 hit Moves Like Jagger.

Who knew this song was so well suited to put little babies to sleep? And tired adults. And exhausted athletes. And on top of that, the YouTube video of this song includes a little bear in diapers living out his rock star fantasy. What’s not to love?
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arnold somnium mattress

A Better Bench Press: Hit the Pillow, Help the Pecs






We’ve discovered through the wonders of Twitter that Monday – the mother of all bad days – is officially known as #BenchDay, the 24-hour period in which fitness fanatics and bodybuilders heft insane amounts of weight repeated times through the power of their rippling upper bodies.

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Postal Service: A Dreamy Sleep Song

Sleep is more than just snoring, science and a little pillow drool. We’ve decided to dive into the world of sleep songs like a kid diving under the covers after discovering the boogie monster.

Today’s masterpiece is “Sleeping In” by The Postal Service.

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Sleep Quiz: Are You a Giraffe or a Bat?

Seems like there are qiuzzes for everything today. What famous movie star would you be? If you were television show, which one would you be? What’s your personality type?

We woefully admit that Somnium isn’t immune to the quiz craze. This week we went through our top-secret list of sleep facts and turned up a pair of zoological nuggets that will determine your sleep style.

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Snooze Now, Thrive Later: Brain Clears Alzheimer’s Plaque During Sleep

“Glymphatic clearance”.

Yep, we thought the same thing: What the heck is glymphatic clearance? You might be surprised to know that this cryptic phrase points to the ever-important principle that amazing things happen to you when you afford your body a good night’s rest.

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