What Happens To My Mattress In the Cold – And How Does The Cold Affect Sleep?

What Happens To My Mattress In the Cold – And How Does The Cold Affect Sleep?

Everyone loves the cool side of the pillow, right? It’s the cool embrace after a long, hard day –  the gentle hand that helps guide you to sleep. But did you know that the cold can dramatically affect your mattress?

In this short knowledge hub article, we’ll discuss the ways that your mattress is changed by the cold weather – as well as the ways that cold can both help and hinder your sleep. Dial a Mattress have been in the bed and mattress industry for over fifteen years, providing first-class mattresses in Shropshire and Shrewsbury. 

Memory Foam Mattress

No doubt the most dramatic of changes occurs in memory foam mattresses.

Instead of spring systems – like most other mattresses –  memory foam mattresses use foam in order to cushion your body and provide comfort and support during sleep – thus ensuring a good night’s sleep. This material is notoriously temperature sensitive, and in colder temperatures it’s very common for it to cool into hardness. As a result, when you lie down on a cold memory foam mattress, it’s very common to be surprised  just how hard the cold mattress is.

However, while this cool hardness is no doubt a surprise, it doesn’t last because, as a temperature sensitive material, it quickly warms up and becomes malleable once again. As the memory foam ages, it will become much less susceptible to changes in temperature. Because of that, if you find that you’re consistently with the firmness of your mattress when you get into it, it’s a good idea to wait a few weeks before deciding whether or not to send your mattress back. 

Traditional Spring Mattresses

The changes that occur in traditional spring mattresses are much less noticeable than in memory foam mattresses. Indeed, the effect of lower temperatures actually has the opposite effect in traditional mattresses: while memory foam mattresses get tougher in the cold, traditional spring mattresses actually get weaker. 

This is due to the way that traditional spring mattresses are constructed. Traditionally, these were made using metal springs which, in combination with material, supported the sleeper. As metals expand when heat is applied, in colder temperatures these springs shrink – causing a loss of tension. As a result, the mattress will become somewhat more malleable. However, owing to the ways that spring mattresses are designed, this malleability is much less noticeable for most people. 

As a result of this, it’s best to think of spring coiled mattresses as being unaffected by the heat beyond everyday considerations of comfort. However, if you find that your mattress is perhaps a little too weak, you could warm it  up a little by lying on it or placing an electric blanket over it and seeing how it feels once it’s been warmed up a little. 

How Temperature Affects Sleep

While the preferred toughness of the mattress in relation to your comfort is entirely subjective, the ideal temperature is not. 

According to most scientists who study the subject, the ideal temperature for getting a good night’s sleep is between 65 to 72 degrees fahrenheit. The reasoning behind this is relatively simple: when we go to sleep, our body temperature drops naturally in order to aid the slowing of our metabolic processes. By bringing our body temperature down to those same temperatures, falling to sleep is made much easier and a deeper, more restful sleep is more likely. 

Contact Dial a Mattress Today

Having worked in the mattress and bed industry for almost twenty years, Dial a Mattress has gathered a deep understanding of how to help people get to sleep. 

We’ve channeled that understanding into our curated catalogue of beds and mattresses. We’ve curated this catalogue for the quality of the pieces therein. 
Browse our catalogue to find your ideal sleep today.

If you have any questions, get in touch with us.