Why Do I Need To Change My Mattress?

Posted on - 29th April 2021

Do we really need to change our mattress every 8 years? Here's a few good reasons why

It is widely known that it is recommended that we change our mattresses every 8 years. With many people believing that this is a ploy by the mattress industry to keep regular sales coming in. However, there is some science behind why this recommendation is there, and even some reasons why it might change.

The Main Reasons

While there are a number of reasons as to why the advice is to change your mattress every 8 years, we want to ensure that you are aware of the main reasons why scientists have put this advice in place.

• Bacteria - While we sleep our bodies shed cells. From dead skin cells, hair and even the bacteria that live on our skin. All of this finds its way through your bed sheets and into your mattress. Good bed sheets can help to reduce the number of bacteria that remain behind.
• Wear and tear - For a good nights sleep your mattress needs to be supportive. Over time general wear and tear will deteriorate the structure of your mattress, meaning that it will no longer be as supportive.
• Mould - Older mattresses can be the perfect breeding ground for mould. Dampness from our skin as we sleep can work its way into the centre of your mattress, and combined with the warmth of your home and the bacteria creates the perfect place for mould to grow.

What Decreases Your Mattresses Life

There are a number of things that can mean you need to invest in a new mattress earlier than the recommended 8 years. These include:

• Sharing with pets - sharing your bed with pets greatly increases the level of bacteria that can be found in your mattress, making it less hygienic to use over prolonged periods.
• Lively Sleepers - If you or your partner move around a lot in your sleep, you might find that your mattress is wearing much quicker than the 8 years.
• Cheap Mattresses - You often hear that you get what you pay for. This is very true with mattresses. Cheaper mattresses aren't made to withstand nightly use over long periods and thus will need changing more often. They are fine for guest beds that are scarcely used.

Keeping A Healthy Mattress

While we do still recommend regular mattress changes, there are a number of things that you can do to help improve the life of your mattress:

• Regular cleaning - this includes hoovering when you change your sheets, and periodic wipe cleans with disinfectants.
• Only Sleeping - only using the mattress when it comes to going to sleep means that there is less wear and tear on the mattress. This includes stopping the kids or dog from using it as a trampoline or staying in bed longer than necessary.
• Mattress protectors/toppers - The use of a protector or a mattress topper can greatly improve the life of your mattress as they do exactly what they say. This helps to reduce wear and tear and also the level of bacteria that they store. However, these should still be changed regularly otherwise the bacteria and wear will work their way through.
• Rotate your mattress - depending on the style of mattress you have, some just need rotating whereas other need flipping to help them to wear evenly.

For more information on purchasing mattresses with Dial A Mattress, please contact a member of our friendly team today who will be happy to assist you. You can also head over to our knowledge hub for answers to frequently asked questions.