Purple mattresses are an exciting innovation that keep you supported, cool, and comfortable.

How do you know when its time to replace a mattress?

Its one of those questions that often gets asked when people learn my background. Far too often people buy a bed and continue sleeping on it well past its usable life. Like any major purchase, you really don’t want to think about it, and will often put up with poor sleep quality to avoid the trip to the mattress shop.

Even though mattresses have warranties as long as 25 years, this does NOT represent the actual expected comfort life of the mattress. It may pass the warranty test for 50 years, but if it is not comfortable, its time to change. This what I call the comfort life, and it may very well be far less than the actual life. I define comfort life as the amount of time you can comfortably sleep on the mattress – which could be as short as months, or as long as a decade. I highly doubt you can sleep comfortably on an innerspring mattress for a full decade. However, a top quality memory foam product may allow you to sleep comfortably for more than a decade.

That ugly black and white tag on your bed that scarily tells you “Do Not Remove Under Penalty Of Law” is your best friend when it is time to mattress shop. Let me give you an example of how it helps you.

Suppose you read online that latex mattresses are the perfect mattress for your sleep needs. You head down to the local mattress megastore and are greeted by Ed, the friendly salesperson. You explain that you want to see a latex mattress. He is most agreeable and takes you over to a wonderful mattress, proclaiming it to be 100% latex. You try it out and it does not quite feel like you expected, but the price is right and Ed proudly boasts that it is “on sale for 50% off!”

Tempur-Pedic® Releases the Tempur-Simplicity™ Line of Mattresses!

Long before I entered the world of marketing and advertising, I had an experience with a brand extension that would stay with me throughout my career. I was a young kid working at a mega grocery store in the produce section. But when things got busy up front, I had to help bag and carry out groceries.

I remember one instance where I carried a basket full of stuff out for a sweet senior citizen who was talking about her brand new Cadillac. Now, I was not a big car person, but at that time Cadillac was the luxury brand to have. It was a status symbol, but also a well built vehicle.

What a wonderful 2011 in the mattress biz. We recently saw the introduction of “flavored” memory foam, double and now triple coils and even an air conditioned mattress. What will 2012 offer? Only the mattress gurus know for sure.

Here are a few tips as we wind down the last week of 2011:

1. Remember, even if your mattress includes fabric made from virgin llamas raised by blind, Tibetan monks, a solid gold innerspring and fur taken, with much toil and effort, from honey badgers that just don’t care; if the mattress is not comfortable, don’t buy it. I have watched people drive themselves nuts trying to figure out specs for a given mattress. It means nothing if the mattress does not fit you. Lie down and try the mattress. Only refer to specs when it becomes time to compare to similar models in other retailers.

It has become a common practice to allow consumers to spend some time on the mattress and return it if they do not like it. I applaud the industry for this practice. You absolutely need a minimum of 30 days on a mattress to truly decide if it is the correct sleeping solution for your body.

All mattresses, just like shoes, need to be conditioned for your body shape and size. This process may only take a day or two on a fluffy soft pillowtop, or as long as a month on a premium memory foam mattress.

While the mattress is changing to fit your needs, your body must adjust to a different level of support and conformance. If you have spent the last 25 years on a substandard mattress with inadequate support, there may be a very long process of adjusting to a new mattress.

Blitzkrieg PT

1200 individually wrapped coils
13 Gauge Steel
3″ Visco
2″ Latex
4″ Really Soft Super Foam

If you saw these specs on a mattress, would you know if it was the right mattress for you? Probably not. You must lie down on the mattress for ten or fifteen minutes to begin to evaluate the support and comfort of any mattress. Always try a mattress on your back, then on your side and finally in your natural sleeping position. At each position, check your spinal alignment. Any bowing of the spine should be a red flag. On your side, if you feel any pain or pressure in your hips, it is too hard.

What I love the most about the big Summer holiday sales season is the people that swear that the grass is greaner at the last mattress shop.

I was at a store during Memorial Day weekend and heard variations of this theme numerous times. Sometimes it was simply confusion. There are thousands of mattresses on the market and product confusion is rampant among consumers who only shop once every decade. Bad information from the previous mattress salesperson, that does not know their product, was another culprit.

Mattress shoppers tend to spend far too much time on issues that really don’t matter. They shop with their eyes (appearance or price). Or they focus on their hands (touch or the feel of the surface material). Or sometimes they focus on emotion (deal, sale or hype). And sadly, they will often rely on history (personal experience) or brand (reputation or recommendation).

None of these are necessarily bad. But if you want to get the very BEST mattress for you, let your body do the shopping. What I mean by that is you must put your body on the mattress in your natural sleeping position. Have your salesperson or shopping partner examine your alignment. Make sure your spine is relatively straight in your natural sleep position, as well as other common ones like back, side and stomach.

I like to provide real life examples of both good and bad customers and sales people. Yesterday, I had the chance to visit a store and witness a doozy.

A couple came in supposedly shopping for a mattress. This particular chain has a pretty good system for matching customers with the correct sleep solution. The husband was agreeable, but the wife refused, saying she would not lie on any mattress because she was a germaphobe and scared of bed bugs.

The salesperson was flummoxed at first, but recovered quickly. He turned his attention to the husband and began the process of finding the right bed. Meanwhile, the wife, with arms tightly crossed in a defensive posture, wandered around the store looking at prices.

I slept on a Tempur-Pedic® mattress once and I hated it!

I sold Tempurpedic mattresses for many years and heard many objections. So, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you, from the salesperson’s perspective, why Tempurpedic mattresses are so good and answer some common misconceptions.

Common Tempurpedic Misconceptions

Tempurpedics Sleep Hot– Tempurpedic was consistently my top selling brand, and most importantly, my least returned brand. In almost a decade of selling Tempurpedic, never once did I get one back because of heat. There is nothing about the mattress itself that generates heat. In fact, the Tempur® material actually supports you so well, you are less likely to sink into the mattress, unlike many lower density knockoffs and traditional soft innerspring mattresses. As long as you allow your body to adjust and rethink your covers and environment, you will actually experience better air flow while sleeping on top of a Tempurpedic, and not sunk deep inside some super pillowtop. But if you are a very hot natured person, that will not change no matter what mattress you purchase. But the benefits of proper alignment, no pressure points and durability may outweigh any heat issues.

True Story – I’m visiting a store and a lady comes in for her college age daughter. She is driving a luxury vehicle that would easily retail over $50k. Not that we should ever make judgements based on cars, clothing or jewelry, but I found it interesting.

She doesn’t want to spend over $300 for a queen set, delivery and frame – tax inclusive. Adding delivery, frame and tax to the equation, means the mattress set needs to be in the $200 range. The delivery will go to a remote college campus that is not regularly served by any retail chain, so the delivery cost will be greater.