Flipping Your Memory Foam Mattress Won’t Help (This Will!)
A new mattress can be a very expensive item to put your money into at a time when the going is tough.
Every little thing you can do to prolong the life of your existing gel memory foam mattress (or any type of memory foam mattress for that matter) is going to be helpful.
Whether you can flip a gel memory foam mattress is a question countless many have asked at some point in their ownership of a memory foam mattress. The answer is pretty straightforward though.
No, you cannot flip a gel memory foam mattress. As with other types of memory foam mattresses, it is designed from the bottom up with layers of varying foam density in a particular order that provides you with optimal performance. Furthermore, the layer of gel or gel-infused beads reside at the top layer of the mattress. Flipping the mattress would invalidate the benefits of the gel memory foam design.
Why can’t you turn a memory foam mattress over?
A typical memory foam mattress is designed to provide you a degree of the sinking feeling that it is so popular for.
Upon contact with your body and heat, the layer of memory foam softens and molds to the shape of your body thereby providing comfort and support. As you move out of bed, the foam rapidly returns to its original shape.
However, a memory foam mattress made up of only a single layer of memory foam cannot provide you with near enough support for the entire duration of your sleep.
As such, a memory foam mattress typically consists of a number of layers (from top to bottom):
- A knitted cover
- A layer of gel memory foam
- A layer of sub-memory foam
- A layer of high-density foam as the base
The construction of layers in such a specific order provides you with the performance that you paid for. Flipping your memory foam mattress simply means you are sleeping on the supporting base foam which is harder.
The traditional innerspring mattress was typically designed to be double-sided and thus flipping was encouraged to even out the wear on the mattress and prolong its life.
How to Care for Memory Foam Mattress So It Lasts Longer?
Instead of flipping your memory foam mattress, there are a number of other things you can do to make it last longer, and perhaps postpone the need to get a new one:
- Skip the flipping, go for rotating
For a mattress that shouldn’t be flipped over, rotating it from head to foot every 3 months can help to distribute the wear across the surface of the mattress.
As you sleep in a particular position over an extended period of time, pressure points start to develop in certain places on the mattress.
Rotating the mattress, therefore, becomes a means for it to ‘rejuvenate’ itself so it can serve you longer.
- Get a strong, supportive bed base
Although a good bed base or bed frame is another expensive item on its own, it is worth investing in a quality bed base. It is the foundation on which your mattress rests on for years to come.
From an investment point of view, when you do eventually purchase a new mattress (not because of damage to the old mattress due to the lack of good base support), the bed base usually gets re-used.
A strongly-built bed base can typically outlive the natural lifespan of the mattress it supports, and at the same time, prolongs the life of the mattress.
- Keep your mattress off the floor
Placing the mattress on a bed base and off the floor can help prevent it from getting wet due to accidental spillage of water, or moisture from the ground.
Having it elevated on a base also helps to ventilate the mattress ensuring that moisture can escape in all directions.
- Use a mattress cover
In order to keep the mattress clean and avoid the burdensome task of cleaning it, use a mattress cover.
The mattress cover is easier to wash, thus making the maintenance of your mattress easier and also something you are more likely to do.
- Avoid eating or drinking on your bed
It can be fun and convenient enjoying your favorite meal in the bed. But beware that drink spillage can make cleaning the mattress a nightmare.
Moreover, food crumbs that fall into the corners of your bed is an open invitation for bed bugs and insects to join you in your sleeping space.
- Keep your mattress ventilated
It is good hygiene to provide natural ventilation to your mattress so it stays in optimal condition.
Firstly – when you make your bed every morning, keep the top half of your mattress exposed so that any moisture trapped in it (due to your perspiration) can escape.
Secondly – keep the bedroom windows open whenever weather permits. This helps to ventilate the room naturally thus preventing any buildup of humidity in the room and moisture in the mattress.
Thirdly – take the mattress out to the yard to enjoy some sun. it is good for drying as well as killing germs.
