How Often Should You Flip or Rotate a Mattress?
A high-quality mattress can last for over a decade, when taken proper care of. Providing that you want to prolong their lifespan - you may want to upgrade your bed with a supportive bed frame or box spring, rotate, or flip your mattress regularly, or use a spill proof mattress protector.
Regardless of the quality of your mattress protector or box spring, your mattress will eventually lose its original comfort, which means you’ll need to flip or rotate it to take advantage of its less worn-out side.
To help your mattress age more evenly and reduce the chances of premature sagging, you should learn the nitty-gritty of how often you should flip or rotate a mattress.
Flipping vs. Rotating Mattresses
Before we get into whether you should flip or rotate your mattress, let us first discuss the differences between these two terms. While rotating is turning the mattress around by 180 degrees so that you sleep on the same surface except the head-side is now at the toe-side and vice versa, flipping means completely turning it over, so the side that faced the bedframe before will now be on the topside, facing your body.
How to Flip a Mattress
Once you confirm that your mattress is flippable, remove all the bedding to begin the process.
- Rotate the mattress 90 degrees so that it hangs off your box spring, with its long sides facing the head and foot of the bed. If there are handles, make sure to use them as these will make the entire process easier.
- Tip the mattress up on one edge towards the headboard so that you can lay it against the head of the bed.
- Lower the mattress until its bottom-side is now on the top.
- The last step requires you to turn your mattress once again by 90 degrees.
How Often Should You Flip Your Mattress?
There is a wide array of mattress types out there, meaning that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. While some manufacturers recommend flipping every three months, others might say that once a year is often enough. As this can be easily forgotten, we suggest marking your calendar or setting a phone alert to do this in a timely manner.
What you should know, though, is that most modern mattresses aren’t flippable, which makes reading the manufacturer’s care instructions a highly important responsibility for consumers.
What Mattress Types Are Flippable?
While you can rotate most modern mattresses, not all of them are flippable. For instance, if you possess a pillow top mattress model, you don’t have to worry about the problem of lifting a heavy mattress. Some traditional mattresses, or double-sided beds, on the other hand, can and should be flipped, which requires you to pay special attention to the care instructions.
Hybrid Mattresses
Most hybrid mattresses aren’t flippable because of their unique construction of three layers, including the base, support core, and top layer, each serving a different purpose. The top layer, for instance, provides contouring while the base layer gives padding to the mattress. As the upper layer is specifically designed to support your body, it should always be on top.
Innerspring Mattresses
In order to prolong the lifespan of your traditional innerspring mattress, most companies recommend flipping it every six months. This may reduce the wear and tear of their steel coil springs as you won’t distribute pressure on the same side every night.
Memory Foam Mattresses
Even though you can rotate most memory foam mattresses, some manufacturers don’t recommend flipping. This is mostly because of their multi-layer foam design that consists of a supportive base on the bottom and a contouring memory foam layer on the top. Flipping it will come at the price of losing the comfort that the top layer provides.
Conclusion
When it comes to flipping, a rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t flip any mattresses unless the mattress company specifies otherwise. As the majority of hybrid, memory foam, and latex beds are one-sided, you might want to double-check the instructions because flipping these can cause irreversible damage to the mattress. This is why some manufacturers void warranties when they notice unusual activities such as flipping a one-sided mattress.
FAQ
Are flippable mattresses good?
Not really. You may want to look for an unflippable mattress as according to Sleep Advisor, these are more durable and reliable - the less reliable it is, the more you’d have to flip it so that it can maintain its shape.
Can you damage one-sided mattresses by flipping?
Yes. Flipping these mattresses leads to extra pressure on the top layer, which is usually memory foam, and distorts its shape.
How often should you rotate your mattress?
Unless the mattress manufacturer advises otherwise, you can rotate most mattresses to prevent premature sagging. Companies suggest rotating an innerspring or memory foam mattress every three months, whereas your latex or hybrid mattress should be rotated once every six months.
What mattress types should not be rotated?
You can’t rotate mattresses that are designed with unique features such as zoned support. These mattresses consist of different zones that provide support for specific body parts, like the back, stomach, hips, and shoulders. If you rotate such a mattress, you won’t reap the benefits of these integrated features.