Skip to content
Placemattress — home

Guides

Everything you need before you spend

Mattress shopping is full of terms invented by marketing departments. These guides explain what the words mean, which specifications actually predict how a mattress feels, and which ones you can safely ignore.

We buy or independently request every mattress we test. If you buy through a link here we may earn a commission, which never affects our ranking. How this works.

Buying guide

Trial periods and warranties, read properly

Break-in clauses, return fees, sag thresholds and pro-rating. What mattress trial and warranty terms really commit the seller to, brand by brand.

4 min read
Ownership

When to replace a mattress

Forget the eight-year rule. Three years of sag measurements on 43 mattresses, and the straight-edge test that tells you whether yours is finished.

4 min read
Buying guide

Mattress sizes, and the one people get wrong

Every US mattress size with exact dimensions, the room size each one needs, and why upgrading size beats upgrading price for most couples.

4 min read
Buying guide

Mattress types, explained without the marketing

What each mattress construction actually does, which one suits how you sleep, and the measured differences between them from our own testing.

5 min read

New reviews, once a month

One email when we publish something new or change a recommendation. Nothing else.

Unsubscribe in one click. We don’t sell addresses.