Weight Guidance and Heavy Sleepers

Do you like a firm mattress or do you prefer a softer setup for sleeping? The answer to this question seems simple; however, it may be a little more complicated than you might expect. In this post we talk springs, upholstery, weight and, of course, personal preference to explain all.

Redefining Terms

Among the many terms of nocturnal nomenclature, it is perhaps ‘support’ and ‘firmness’ that are least understand. Often considered synonyms, the reality is that these pair of adjectives are rather less aligned than they initially appear.

Support, in the context of the bed industry, relates to the weight tolerance of the springs of a mattress; or the forces required to compress and extend the springs. Just to add a little more confusion into the bargain, the support of a mattress is relative – more on this later. Firmness meanwhile, describes the upholstery layers of a mattress, such as foams, fleece wool and cotton.

It’s All Relative

As we touched on before, the support provided by your mattress is relative. It is an aspect that will almost always be dictated by your weight and how the bed aligns to you when you lie on the bed. The following  real life example illustrates this perfectly. We have two people “J” who is 12 stone and 5’11” and “E ” who is 18 stone and 6’7″they both try Kaymed Mighty Bed which provides a very firm feel. For “J” the Mighty Bed feels perfect as it aligns perfectly to his body mass, however for “E” the mattress is just too firm for his mass and he finds the bed  extremely unforgiving.

As we always recommend the only way to identify which bed will provide the correct level of support is to actually go into a bed store and physically lie on the beds.

Personal Preference

While support may be relative, the firmness of a mattress is a matter of personal preference. The firmness generally alters depending on the levels of upholstery used in the mattress, as well as the materials used. For instance, foam upholstery may provide a firmer feel, while a fleece wool mattress topper would likely offer a much softer feel. This can result in two mattresses of similar levels of support, feeling very different.

Click on the following link to find your nearest Kaymed stockist.