As Wirecutter's Mattress Reviewer, I Sleep for a Living. It's Harder Than It Sounds.
Before we call in mattresses to test in person, we narrow down a list of hundreds of potential contenders. To do this, we build massive spreadsheets and sort them for about a dozen key specifications depending on the kind of mattress we're testing, such as memory-foam densities, polyfoam densities, coil counts, coil gauge, height, weight, materials, and price, to name just a few.
Foam density is one of the most important factors we consider before we start testing, and it's a good example of how these specs help us focus our testing.
This metric, expressed in pounds per cubic foot, or PCF, can apply to two kinds of foam used in mattresses. Memory foam is the dense, body-contouring foam that lets you sink into the mattress. Non-memory-foam polyfoam, which is lighter, springier, and less body-contouring than memory foam, is usually used in the mattress's topmost layer or in a transition layer between the top comfort layer and the firmer, more supportive core at the bottom. For both of these foam types, we typically look for denser foams, with a minimum memory-foam density of 3 PCF and a minimum non-memory-foam polyfoam density of 1.8 PCF. Wirecutter journalists visit mattress factories and showrooms. Caira Blackwell, Lisa Fischer, and Hali Potters/ NYT Wirecutter
We consider only those mattresses with denser foams for a couple of reasons. First, as we've learned from foam engineers, denser foams are more durable. That means they can withstand years of use without forming those uncomfortable permanent indents and impressions of your body over time. Second, many people who shop for foam mattresses want a certain sensation. The denser the foam, the more you feel like the mattress is hugging you — it melts slowly like butter under your body's weight, and it takes more time to recover when you move. In contrast, a mattress with light-density foams is bouncier and recovers faster than a mattress with denser foams.
Other factors that help us narrow the testing field include company return policies and warranties. We don't recommend any mattresses that can't be returned or exchanged. Even though we highly recommend trying a mattress before you buy it, we also understand that doing so isn't always a possibility. (Mattresses all too often end up in landfills because they're difficult to donate or recycle, which is why we hope our vetting helps you avoid a return in the first place.) So we look for manufacturers with return or exchange policies that allow you to try a mattress for at least a month and have warranty coverage for at least 10 years.
Last, we consider customer service and online reviews. We don't move forward with testing mattresses that have consistently bad reviews. Some mattress companies have reviews only on their own websites, which makes it hard for us to determine how authentic their online feedback is; when that happens, we also look for any reports to the Better Business Bureau.
In going through all of that, we narrow our list of hundreds of mattresses to about half a dozen newcomers to test against our favorites.
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