How To Firm Up a Mattress? 6 Tips To Firm Up a Mattress
According to a 2009 study, new, medium-firm mattresses increase sleep quality while significantly reducing back pain.
But what if your mattress is broken down and you don’t have the budget to replace it yet? What do you do? Or, more importantly, how do you firm up a mattress?
There are several ways to make your mattress feel firmer - let’s check them out.
How to Firm up a Mattress
If you don’t have time, here’s a quick rundown:
- Adjust your thermostat
- Install a firmer mattress topper
- Occasionally flip your mattress
- Replace your box spring
- Slip plywood beneath your mattress
Some of these tips and tricks may keep your mattress firm for a longer period of time, saving you some time and money.
How to Stiffen a Sagging Mattress: Tips & Tricks
Flatten Your Bedding to Make Your Mattress Firmer
The first and foremost step towards firming your excessively soft mattress is to use a sheet that is nothing but a perfect fit. Tightly tuck the fitted sheet to put pressure on the mattress, which will marginally harden your bed surface.
Watch Your Room Temperature
Cranking up the heat in your room can bring about additional unwanted softness to mattresses. Thanks to their most authentic characteristic, temperature sensitivity, which allows it to contour to our own bodies due to heat, this becomes increasingly evident with memory foam mattresses.
As such, your memory foam mattress is prone to growing soft in warmer conditions and firm in colder temperatures. In order to firm up your mattress, consider opening some windows at night, changing the thermostat in your bedroom to lower the temperature, or installing a dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air.
Try a Firm or Medium-Firm Mattress Topper
Many people use mattress toppers to protect their mattresses from wearing or tearing, but a few also see it as a cost-effective way to alter the feel of their mattresses.
Even though most mattress toppers are designed to give a plusher feel to your mattress, there are some great mattress toppers that can firm it up. These include latex or foam and memory foam combination toppers that are firm and thick enough to provide you with sufficient support.
Try Flipping It
Excessive use can cause your mattress to look worn out. Luckily, you can prolong its lifespan by flipping it regularly. This will even out the wear and tear, distributing equal pressure to both sides of the mattress.
What you should know though is that companies nowadays produce one-sided mattresses, which would make flipping impractical. Try rotating the mattress in such circumstances instead to achieve the same effect of use distribution. For best results, rotate it every three to six months.
Check Whether It’s Time for a New Box Spring
Your box spring provides adequate support for your mattress, prolonging its lifespan for quite some time. But if it’s not in good shape, it may do the opposite, so make sure you replace your box spring when necessary.
The best time to do so is after ten years of usage, but you can check whether your box spring truly needs changing by taking your mattress off the bed frame and lying directly on it. If it feels uneven, then the answer is definitely yes.
Bring a Plywood Board Into Play
Aside from pushing up the mattress in the weaker area, a plywood board might even prevent it from sagging. Slip it between your bed frame and the mattress as the solid surface will help keep your mattress elevated.
Place the Mattress on the Floor
If you don’t feel as if following the above-mentioned steps, then you might want to consider placing your too-soft-mattress on the floor.
However, it’s questionable whether this will help improve your sleep quality, as the floor isn’t an ideal place to sleep on due to sanitary reasons. This means increased exposure to dust mites and other allergens that might disrupt your peaceful sleep.
How to Know That It’s Time to Get a Brand New Mattress
The tips and tricks in this article are meant to make a mattress firmer for a certain period of time, not solve the core problem that made your mattress sag in the first place (probably a lengthy period of use and time). This means that you should eventually purchase a new mattress if you notice signs of wear and tear, noisy springs, if it’s way past its eight-year life expectancy, or if you are experiencing muscle stiffness.
Go With a Hybrid Mattress
When considering buying a new mattress, you want to make sure it’s comfortable and durable. That’s why we recommend that you try a bamboo hybrid mattress, which is a spring and memory foam fusion. Hybrid mattresses are brilliant due to their lack of sagging which can occur with 100% foam mattresses. The springs help retain the integrity of the mattress over time while the foam provides reliable comfort.
Final Takeaway
Did you know that the effects of constantly waking up due to an uncomfortable mattress extend beyond your sleeping hours?
That’s right.
Adjusting the right mattress firmness might even help you reduce the chances of obesity, depression, or dementia as they are correlated to bad sleep habits. Though this sounds like a bit of a stretch. Though what can be said for sure, optimising or changing your mattress entirely should very likely lead you towards a better sleep.