I want a firm pillow top mattress!

Unfortunately, the combination of those four words cause way too much confusion in mattress stores. The reason for this is that the mattress customer and salesperson are not talking the same language. Most likely when a customer comes in asking for a “firm pillow top mattress,” they are reacting to a bad experience, either poor alignment or excessive body impressions in their current mattress.

When the average salesperson hears “firm pillow top mattress,” they probably don’t even hear the word “firm.” Instead, they immediately begin showing the customer pillow top mattresses that they claim are firm, but will cause the very same issues that brought the customer in there in the first place.

Let’s review exactly what a pillow top mattress is. A pillow top simply means an extra pillow on top of a mattress. I like to define it as having two seams on top. A pillow top mattress will often have the exact same support as comparable firm and plush model. The primary difference is that the pillow top version will have additional comfort layers that will make it even softer. And more likely to experience greater body impressions.

Think of it this way, there is no greater/harder support than the floor. If you started stacking pillows and blankets on the floor, at some point, it would no longer be hard at all. In fact, it will soon become too soft to sleep on it. This is essentially what happens with pillow tops. If they get too thick, you may have issues with it being too soft and your body will not have correct support, or even worse, you have a far greater potential for uncomfortable body impressions.

A typical scenario starts like this. A couple comes in frustrated because they spent several thousand dollars on a “firm pillow top” that now has two big valleys in the mattress. They aren’t deep enough for a warranty and the couple feels misled and angry for not having a comfortable mattress. What should have happened, is their salesperson should have analyzed their sleeping position and alignment. And then recommended one that actually “felt” firm, but not hard. If they truly could only be comfortable in a super pillow top, then their expectations should have been managed properly – recommending regular rotation and reminding them that body impressions are natural with any innerspring mattress.

If that is not confusing enough, some mattress manufacturers now make a mattress that they call a “firm pillow top.” What they have done is substitute a much firmer coil system underneath the same comfort layers. The challenge with that is that if there are not enough comfort layers – especially for side sleepers, you will be laying on a brick wall and tossing and turning all night long from pressure points. And even if you add more comfort layers to negate the pressure, you are more likely to see body impressions. There is a very fine line between perfect support and poor alignment. And of course this will be different for everyone.

Firm Pillow Top – An oxymoron just for the mattress industry.