How often should you rotate your mattress?
You have a new bed, you love it! It’s so comfy! Or perhaps you have an older bed which feels fine just as it is. You don’t need to do anything then….. right? Wrong! Part of getting the most from your mattress is rotating it regularly. And when I say regularly, I don’t mean when it crosses your mind every couple of years. This leads us to the golden question: how often should you rotate your mattress?
What’s the difference between rotating and flipping?
Rotating is when you do not turn the mattress over, but you turn it around 180 degrees. This means the end of the mattress that was at your head gets turned around so that it is now at the bottom. This will also mean if you share the bed with someone you will have effectively switched sides.
Flipping is when you turn the mattress upside down and the side that was touching the bottom of the bed, for example the box spring or slats, now faces up to become the side you sleep on.
I am talking about rotating a mattress in this article, not flipping.
Why rotate a mattress?
Rotation is really important to help a mattress perform at its best and last its full lifespan. This is because we tend to sleep in the same spot every night, so we are putting tension and wear through the same parts of the mattress every single time. Rotating the mattress allows those particular spots to get a break and the mattress to wear more evenly. This will help your mattress to support your body the best way possible to avoid things such as a sore back or the mattress starting to sag.
If you have a memory foam mattress, you will be putting less pressure through the same points of the foam all the time if you rotate it. If you have an innerspring mattress, you will be allowing the springs to wear evenly. If you have a hybrid mattress you will be protecting both the foam and the springs.
Unless your manufacturer has specifically advised against rotating the mattress, pretty much all mattresses will benefit from being rotated.
I’ve written an article on the importance of a good night’s sleep, and rotating your mattress regularly plays a big part in that.
The Sleep Physicians at the American Sleep Association also advise regular mattress rotation for the above reasons.
My story
My husband and I purchased a very nice mattress when we first lived together in our own house around six years ago. It was a big purchase for us at the time, made in one of the nicer furniture stores in our town. We bought a nice slat base for it, a nice mattress protector, and new sheets. All very nice, all very comfortable. However, we neglected to regularly rotate the mattress. It even had handles built into the sides to make it easy for us to rotate! We would rotate it randomly, when the thought crossed one of our minds. Looking back, I think we probably ended up doing it once a year.
And do you know what? We have just had to replace that mattress. I was disappointed that we did not get longer from it as I thought it was a very comfortable mattress. But it was starting to sag, and now that I think about it in more detail, our lack of commitment to rotating the mattress definitely contributed to this.
Do I need to flip my mattress?
You should always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, but in general the answer is no. Often you will not be able to anyway, as the interior of many modern mattresses are built in layers that are not designed to be used in reverse.
For example, memory foam mattresses are often made up of a layer of very dense support foam on the bottom, then 1-3 layers of memory foam on top, which may also have cooling properties and gel technology. If you flipped this, you’d end up lying on a very hard surface and lose all the benefits and comfort of the memory foam.
So… how often should you rotate your mattress then?
Always follow specific instructions from manufacturer. Most will recommend somewhere between every three months and one year. So a good rule of thumb in my opinion is therefore to rotate it every six months.
Extra tip: if your mattress is on a box spring, you should rotate that every six months too (but don’t flip it).
Mattress rotating tips:
- Put reminders in your phone or calendar so you don’t forget to rotate the mattress
- Have someone help you rotate the mattress. Mattresses are often heavy, and always bulky. Do yourself a favor and don’t risk an injury.
- Give the mattress and bedding surrounds a good vacuum while you’re in there rotating the mattress. Bust that dust!
Have you enjoyed this article, or have a story of your own to share? Please leave me a comment, I’d love to hear your experiences.