Choosing Your Mattress Type: Part 1

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

26 Sep 2007 06:44 AM

I remember when choosing a mattress was a matter of making a choice between hard and soft. Nowadays, there are so many great choices, and choices within choices, that it is enough to give you bed spins.

When it comes time to choose a new mattress, you first want to narrow it down to which type of mattress you need. There are four general types of mattresses today:

• Traditional Inner Spring Mattress
• Air Mattress
• Foam Mattress
• Waterbed

In this series, I'll share some information on all of them to help you make the right decision. For this first part, we'll talk about the first two types of mattresses: the traditional inner spring mattress and the air mattress.

Traditional Inner Spring Mattress

In a traditional mattress, the support system of the mattress, or the core, is made up of innersprings, also known as coils or coil springs. These are composed of steel wire. Coils are available in different types or thicknesses of wire, called the gauge of the coils. The gauge and type of steel use determine the firmness, support and strength of the mattress. The lower the number of the gauge, the firmer the bed. Coils can be connected by interlocking wires or reside separately in pockets.

Air Mattress

With an air mattress, pockets or chambers of air are used to support your body. There really is a wide range of air mattresses out there, so keep that in mind when you are choosing. On the low end are cheap mattresses that are lightweight and used mostly for camping or sleep overs. On the high end, are luxury mattresses intended for daily home use, such as the patented Select Comfort Beds. These mattresses are sophisticated enough to allow the firmness to be altered and re-altered by valves in the mattresses, with the ability to maintain different settings for each side of the bed.

Next up: The foam mattress and the waterbed mattress.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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