There’s A Body in My Mattress!
Do you have a body imprint or impression in your mattress? If you have purchased a mattress and foundation in recent years you probably do. You will also notice something very different about today’s mattresses when comparing them to mattresses of the past. Mattresses built today tend to be extremely thick. Why is that? Perception of value is one reason. By constructing a mattress that is 12,14,or even 16 inches thick, the industry implies to the shopper that they are getting more mattress for their money. However what they aren’t telling you is how the mattresses are stuffed till the seams are about to burst with cheap foam, padding, and fibers. It is because of this, a person should expect their mattress to sag excessively where they lie. This sagging of the mattress is called a body impression.
A body impression develops from the use of many layers of low grade polyurethane (PU) foam or other materials which are layered directly on top of the spring unit. The typical coil spring units measure 6 to 7 inches thick. If your mattress has a total thickness of 14 inches you can expect nearly all of the remaining 7 to 8 inches to be cheap PU foam. One factor for determining foam quality is measuring its density. Today the mattress industry standard that only exists in theory is far below the recommended minimum of 2.0 lbs., which is typically considered a minimum standard in sofas.
Another contributing factor to a mattress wearing prematurely is that most manufacturers have gone to a one sided mattress design. In doing this, the industry eliminated your option to flip your mattress and extend its useable life. Most one sided mattresses continue the practice of adding low grade materials such as PU foam and cheap polyester fibers to the top side or the mattress surface. This leaves head to toe rotation as the only care option for a one sided mattress.
The mattress industry has a history of not standing behind mattress warranty claims. They often cover themselves by acknowledging in the warranty card itself that body impressions are a normal occurrence. Most warranties state clearly that before warranty rights can be exercised and exchanged for new that the mattress, you must have 1½ to 2 inches of compression. By clearly posting this in their warranty card the manufacturer is plainly telling you that the foam is going to wear out. They also suggest that the huge body indentation that is making your mattress uncomfortable may not be covered under warranty. The warranties go on to say to reduce the speed at which this will occur, you should occasionally rotate the mattress from end to end and flip if applicable.
As if that is not bad enough – many people meet the company’s minimum measurement standards but end up not getting their mattress replaced under their warranty because of a stain. There is a frequent practice that manufactures and dealers reserve the right to refuse a warranty claim if the mattress has a stain on it. This was originally designed to protect those who handled the mattresses from fluids such as blood and urine. Many manufactures and dealers have abused this part of the guarantee by refusing to take back mattresses that have something as simple as a dirt mark claiming it falls under the guidelines of a stain.
Warranties 10,15 and even 20 years are not an indication of a mattresses life. They are a guarantee against defects. It is unfortunate that there are so many in the industry that do not know what a defect is.
