6 Reasons Why Mattresses Fail To Perform “As Advertised”

Selling You The Sizzle Or The Steak?

Have you heard the term sell the sizzle, not the steak? This is advertising 101 in the bag of gimmicks the mattress industry has shoved down our throats which is enough to make the sleep seeking consumer vomit. The battle to be the number 1 mattress manufacturer is one of the most competitive, but at what price? How these companies get to #1 really doesn’t seem to matter. Mattresses fail to perform. Why is that?

I think it would surprise most of you the number of manufacturer representatives that approach my business to sell me their mattress lines and have nothing to offer me but the sizzle. What happened to the steak? I refer to them as magicians and illusionists. Instead of selling me a steak, they peddle their deceptive sizzle of meaningless features designed to impress you, the consumer. These sizzling “features” have little to no benefit except to influence consumers to buy the sizzle and forget about the steak.

Myths: What We are Told About Mattresses

Gel Foam Cool

Some might call it to a state of the art technology, I call it smoke and mirrors to redirect the consumer’s attention from the real issue of heat retention. They swirl it, add beads, and lord only knows what else. While it is used for pressure relieving qualities in the medical industry, I have not read anything that shows its ability to dissipate heat away from sleepers expect by the magicians of the mattress industry. In many cases, the gel foam is buried in the mattress where even if it did what they promised, it’s useless because of the proximity of the gel foam.

Foundations are better than boxsprings

Rather than get into the debate, learn more about what a boxspring really does. Let’s just look at the facts; mattresses don’t last 10-20 years anymore. Without the flexible springiness of shock absorbers, the mattresses are being smashed and mashed on non-giving foundations and non-flexible bedsprings. It’s no wonder overall life has shortened to only 5-8 years.

Power Adjustable Bases

Sale representative is conveying to me they are being sold with 40% of the mattresses customers buy. Besides the fact that they are huge moneymakers, no one is addressing the pink elephant in the room; the issue of what happens to our mattresses when we bend, fold, and sit on our mattresses on a daily basis and the effect it will have on its overall life and longevity.

It’s Okay to Sit On Your Mattress

If you want your mattress to last, stop using it as a chair. Back in the day mom and grandma knew what was best for us. We didn’t have TV’s in our bedroom, we didn’t sit on our beds, and as kids, we were not allowed to play on beds. Why? It broke them down. Today, salespeople push the use of power bases. They actually encourage us to use them as chairs with no mention of the repercussions of using our mattresses in such a manner. They encourage people to watch TV, read, and play on their computer or iPad. Simply know this, there are many benefits to adjustable bases, ask about the downsides of their use as well.

Today’s Standard Mattresses are Light Weight

New vs old, if there is one thing we have learned from the history of the mattress set, on the whole, old mattresses lasted longer than new ones. Why? The old school mattresses had more overall steel not just more coils (a hyped method equating more coils to better quality beds), durable natural materials like cotton, more wood, thicker wood, and better quality hardwoods. Thick puffy mattresses are full of air and little to no substance.

Cheap Foam

Lower quality foams that fail are perhaps the biggest reason today’s mattresses sink in the center, go down where you lie, sway like a hammock, sag, depress, and break down where we sleep. It’s bad quality foam and while the finished product is impressive looking, mattresses filled with the stuff are layer upon layer of cheap foam infused with air. It’s called foam density and it’s lowered when builders add air. Before buying a new mattress, be sure, and ask about the density of each and every foam layer. Insist on seeing their assertions in writing to back up their claims and the truth shall bare its ugly face.

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