Monday, June 21, 2004
Judging by the glut of tv and print ads these days, it would appear that choosing the perfect mattress has become an obsession in our culture. What used to be a simple choice of twin or full and soft or firm has evolved into such a complication of sizes, firmness, type of material and whatever fills the mattress that one almost needs to take at least several courses in mattress education to have any hope of being able to choose one that might serve the purpose.
Mattress 101 would cover size I think. After all you would have to keep in mind the dimensions of the room the mattress occupies as well as whether to allow sufficient space to walk around the bed rather than climb over it to reach the other side. Then of course there is the decision of adding other furniture to the room such as bureaus, dressers and nightstands. One could probably do without the nightstand or even the dresser but I would think at least one bureau would be essential unless your clothes also have a room of their own. So here we have to choose between twin (not bad if you sleep alone & don't move much), full ( a better option yet, even for one person), queen which is great unless you're taller than the average person or my personal favorite, the King size. King allows for all manner of sleeping positions, sharing the bed with a partner or your favorite pet, or both, and less possibility of getting shoved off the edge of the bed in the middle of the night. So, Mattress 101 is an easy course for most of us.
However, on to the advanced class in choosing the type of mattress. The sheer numbers would make even a PHD hold his head in agony. Not only do you need to decide on firmness which seems to come in as many choices as the population of a small town, you also have to figure out whether to go with the usual mattress filling or water or air or foam that molds to the body. Then there are the manmade fillers, the natural fillers such as down feathers, and add to that the pillow top or springs, heated or unheated and on and on and on........Excedrin please!!!
The advent of the waterbed wasn't too difficult. You chose regular, meaning constant sloshing as if on a rough sea or the waveless which only moved for a short time after you were settled. Heat was preferable unless you were fond of sleeping on a block of ice. The only drawback to a waterbed was if by some stroke of bad luck the bed developed a leak. You could awaken thinking you possibly didn't quite make it to the bathroom soon enough if the leak was small or you could be wishing for an ark to rescue you if it all gushed out at once. The latter could cause extreme discord with your downstairs neighbors if you happened to live in an apartment. I assume this particular problem occured on a regular enough basis since many apartments banned waterbeds from all but the bottom floor apartments.
The air bed seems to be gaining in popularity since each side of the bed can be adjusted to suit it's occupant. One person may enjoy sleeping on something resembling an overfilled balloon while their partner prefers something more marshmallow like. Although it does seem possible that the marshmallow person could get crushed in the middle of the night if the other guy falls off his balloon. My husband and I chose the air mattress in King size of course and luckily we tend to keep our levels close enough to avoid a middle of the night 911 call. This particular type of air mattress has air chambers in what resembles a regular mattress with air hoses and a pump attached to the upper end. The remote control makes adjusting easy unless you happen to hit the wrong button and inflate or deflate the other side of the mattress. Well, how can you tell if left and right refers to when you're laying down or just facing the bed...it's a common mistake don't you think?
The newest thing out is the space age foam type of mattress that is supposed to conform to each person's contours when they lay down. This brings to mind pictures of laying on a giant sack filled with jello that oozes into spaces that ordinarily don't lay flat when you do. I wonder if this conforming foam poses any particular problem when couples attempt to do what couples tend to like to do. Think I'll leave that up to the imagination of the reader.
By the time one does all the research and travels to a variety of mattress stores to lay on every mattress type available, someone will have come out with another new mattress and we'll have to start all over again. And, after all this strenuous study, we're likely to just go home and collapse on our old double bed, firm mattress and sleep just as soundly.
All this makes one wonder if perhaps it's easier to decide on which new car or which house to buy than it is to choose the perfect mattress. Maybe I'll just lay on the couch and forget the whole thing.
Mattress 101 would cover size I think. After all you would have to keep in mind the dimensions of the room the mattress occupies as well as whether to allow sufficient space to walk around the bed rather than climb over it to reach the other side. Then of course there is the decision of adding other furniture to the room such as bureaus, dressers and nightstands. One could probably do without the nightstand or even the dresser but I would think at least one bureau would be essential unless your clothes also have a room of their own. So here we have to choose between twin (not bad if you sleep alone & don't move much), full ( a better option yet, even for one person), queen which is great unless you're taller than the average person or my personal favorite, the King size. King allows for all manner of sleeping positions, sharing the bed with a partner or your favorite pet, or both, and less possibility of getting shoved off the edge of the bed in the middle of the night. So, Mattress 101 is an easy course for most of us.
However, on to the advanced class in choosing the type of mattress. The sheer numbers would make even a PHD hold his head in agony. Not only do you need to decide on firmness which seems to come in as many choices as the population of a small town, you also have to figure out whether to go with the usual mattress filling or water or air or foam that molds to the body. Then there are the manmade fillers, the natural fillers such as down feathers, and add to that the pillow top or springs, heated or unheated and on and on and on........Excedrin please!!!
The advent of the waterbed wasn't too difficult. You chose regular, meaning constant sloshing as if on a rough sea or the waveless which only moved for a short time after you were settled. Heat was preferable unless you were fond of sleeping on a block of ice. The only drawback to a waterbed was if by some stroke of bad luck the bed developed a leak. You could awaken thinking you possibly didn't quite make it to the bathroom soon enough if the leak was small or you could be wishing for an ark to rescue you if it all gushed out at once. The latter could cause extreme discord with your downstairs neighbors if you happened to live in an apartment. I assume this particular problem occured on a regular enough basis since many apartments banned waterbeds from all but the bottom floor apartments.
The air bed seems to be gaining in popularity since each side of the bed can be adjusted to suit it's occupant. One person may enjoy sleeping on something resembling an overfilled balloon while their partner prefers something more marshmallow like. Although it does seem possible that the marshmallow person could get crushed in the middle of the night if the other guy falls off his balloon. My husband and I chose the air mattress in King size of course and luckily we tend to keep our levels close enough to avoid a middle of the night 911 call. This particular type of air mattress has air chambers in what resembles a regular mattress with air hoses and a pump attached to the upper end. The remote control makes adjusting easy unless you happen to hit the wrong button and inflate or deflate the other side of the mattress. Well, how can you tell if left and right refers to when you're laying down or just facing the bed...it's a common mistake don't you think?
The newest thing out is the space age foam type of mattress that is supposed to conform to each person's contours when they lay down. This brings to mind pictures of laying on a giant sack filled with jello that oozes into spaces that ordinarily don't lay flat when you do. I wonder if this conforming foam poses any particular problem when couples attempt to do what couples tend to like to do. Think I'll leave that up to the imagination of the reader.
By the time one does all the research and travels to a variety of mattress stores to lay on every mattress type available, someone will have come out with another new mattress and we'll have to start all over again. And, after all this strenuous study, we're likely to just go home and collapse on our old double bed, firm mattress and sleep just as soundly.
All this makes one wonder if perhaps it's easier to decide on which new car or which house to buy than it is to choose the perfect mattress. Maybe I'll just lay on the couch and forget the whole thing.
