Best Mattress Brands

What is the Best Rated Mattress?

Anyone who has ever suffered from insomnia knows that the best mattress brands hold the key to that elusive good night's sleep.

Mattress designers know how desperate sleep-deprived consumers can be and have responded with a dizzying array of mattresses!

Each brand touts its own special features, guaranteed to deliver a wonderful night's sleep. However, where do you start? How do you narrow down the seemingly endless list of mattress brands and avoid wasting large sums of money on such a significant piece of furniture?

Although no one mattress brand is perfect for everyone, the best mattress brands will offer you a comfortable and durable mattress at a good value, with great customer service and a fair warranty.

Here's how you can find out what is the best mattress for your needs.

Decide on Size

Any mattress purchase decision has to have size as the starting point, as size will help determine price.   Most people think Twin, Queen and King, but that's only a short list. Mattresses actually come in six sizes!

A Twin mattress is 39 inches by 75 inches. The X-Long Twin adds five inches to the length to keep feet from dangling and is 39 inches by 80 inches.

The Full size runs 54 inches by 75 inches, a Queen 60 inches by 80 inches, a King is 76 inches by 80 inches and the California King is 72 inches by 84 inches.

Measure the bedroom before buying to ensure there's sufficient space to accommodate the new mattress and still allow room for other furniture. A great idea is to mark out the dimensions of the mattress with string on the floor, then lie inside the box and roll around to see if there's enough room.

For more on this please see our Mattress Size Charts.

Decide on Price

The price of a mattress can run anywhere from $300 for an inexpensive one to $7000 for some of the best mattress brands. However, this is no time to be frugal! Most people only buy one or two mattress in their entire lifetime, so try to buy the best mattress possible, even if it means skipping eating out or next season's new wardrobe.

A great mattress can give a great night's sleep and make a significant difference in physical and psychological health. Since advertisers appeal to the emotions and sometimes desperation of sleepy consumers, setting a maximum price range will reduce the chance of an impulse buy and paying too much. Look for sales and always remember that mattress prices are negotiable.

Decide on Needs

Those who have trouble sleeping can usually describe in detail why they dislike their current mattress. The most frequently heard complaint is back pain, followed by movement caused by the other person sharing the mattress.

Allergies plague many sleepers.  Some people start a sleep journal in which they'll keep by the bed and jot down what's uncomfortable at that moment.  Making such a list while lying in your uncomfortable bed, unable to sleep, is the best way of narrowing down the "must have" of a new mattress!

Take a Rest Test

Just like buying a car, trying out a mattress is a good way to get started. The best mattress brands will have many sample displays available in either major department stores or specialty mattress stores.

Smart mattress buyers aren't embarrassed to be seen reclining on a store mattress.  Don't rush this part of the purchase process!

Spend no less than 10 minutes on each mattress. Roll around, stretch out, and really relax into it. Bring a notepad to jot down pros and cons of each mattress. Note the brand and price. This will help with remembering which mattress was the most comfortable and why.

Who Makes the Best Mattress? - Price Ranges by Brand

The following list may help when it comes to deciding which brand to focus on. These are retail prices, which no one should ever pay. Nevertheless, it's a good way to get a general idea how much the best mattress brands run.

The list below gives Queen mattress prices as a middle price range. Twins cost less and Kings cost more. These prices can vary depending on the supplier.

According to Consumer Reports, all mattresses are priced with a large markup which is even larger for the more expensive mattresses.

$3,000 to $7,000

Tempur-Pedic and Beauty Rest rate up in this higher price range. Tempur-Pedic is best known for its unique memory foam. Tempur-Pedic mattresses boast of a proprietary breakthrough in the technology of sleep through the elimination of the pressure points that most mattresses aggravate.

Tempur-Pedic encourages consumers to make a well-informed decision by offering free information kits complete with mattress material samples, a DVD presentation and a certificate for an in-home test of any mattress.

Some consumers have expressed concerns about the health effects of memory foam because of the strong chemical outgassing of the mattress, and because some people have developed health problems after using a memory foam mattress.

Beauty Rest, designed by Simmons, boasts of its eco-friendly, green design mattresses in their Natural Care line. These are made of natural materials such as rubber tree based latex, which is created using biodegradable materials. The hypoallergenic foam is said to help allergy suffers sleep better by breathing better.

Simmons Comfortpedic is one of the better reviewed Simmons mattresses we found, it is very expensive but consumers seem happy with the value offered, and overall report good pain relief, no offgassing or slepeing hot, and durability.

Essentia natural latex memory foam mattresses also fit into this category, which claims to offer a unique form of organic latex that behaves more like memory foam and offers some of the pain relief benefits similar to memory foam, but without the chemical offgassing.

Essentia is a relatively new company which began in 2006, and consumer reviews of their customer service are mixed, although the majority of customers are satisfied with their beds. Essentia mattresses are very heavy, like latex and memory foam beds, and like memory foam some people find the mattress traps heat and can be uncomfortably warm.

$1,000 to $2,000

Some of the best mattress brands in this price range are the King Koil, Silent Night, and Kingsdown brands. The King Koil brand, which tops the price range, advertises its endorsement by The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research.

Kingsdown brand comes next and uses a technology called BodyDiagnostics, which uses statistics and calculations to recommend the best mattress within their line.

Silent Night is a mattress produced in the United Kingdom and has a double layer spring system for extra support, plus a "Cirrus Airflow" which prevents overheating.

You will also find higher end mattresses from Sealy, Serta and Stearns and Foster in this range.

$300 to $1,000

This price range offers a respectable list of some of the best mattress brands such as Spring Air, Stearns and Foster, Sealy and Novaform.

Spring Air emphasizes its eco-friendly design without sacrificing quality and comfort. Sterns and Foster's mattresses use a "Variable Response Technology" to help consumers select a balance between support and desired firmness.

Sealy offers Posturepedic mattresses that are designed by their "Orthopedic Advisory Board" made up of doctors, orthopedic surgeons and clinicians.

Novaform has a similar foam design as the more expensive Tempur-Pedic, so is worth considering for those who like that material but are put off by the higher price.

Get Recommendations from Rested Friends!

Probably the last and best suggestion for selecting the best mattress brands is to talk to people who love their mattress. Anyone who has gone from tossing and turning to a restful night's sleep will be happy to give a recommendation.

Another great way to find out how you like sleeping on different mattresses is to try them out when you are traveling. Make a note of the types of mattresses in your favorite hotels, motels or your family or friends homes!

Use these recommendations as a way to narrow down the list of best mattress brands. All that's left is to brush up those negotiating skills and start shopping! 

If you know of another mattress brand which you would like to add to the Best Mattress Reviews website, then please let us know using the contact form below: