Choosing A Heavy Duty Mattress (Look For These 4 Things)

A heavy-duty mattress is a requirement for anyone who weighs 250 and up. These mattresses are built differently than bed-in-box or other cheaper brands of mattresses. Although they’re oftentimes a bit pricer, you’ll often end up saving money in the long run due to their superiority in performance and durability. You’ll also get many more nights of quality sleep which is something you can’t put a price on! Choosing a heavy duty mattress can be difficult, so we will help you.

The hardest part is choosing the right one. We’ve put together 4 things that you should always look for when choosing a heavy duty mattress.

Use Our Heavy Duty Mattress Guide

1) Double-Sided Mattress Or Two-Sided Mattress

What makes a double-sided mattress heavy duty? Unlike the major brand names that seem to all start with “S”, Therapedic remains one of the few manufacturers that still believe that 2 sides are better than one.

Bedroom Critic told us that “Mattresses with two sleep-able sides give owners a 50% more useable bed for their money. Why? Because owners over the lifespan of the mattress can utilize both the top and bottom sides of their mattress as usable sleeping surfaces. For just a few dollars more, you can purchase a mattress with a 25% longer lifespan.”

Body Impressions Be Gone!

This way of building beds is disappearing and is one of 4 major contributing factors to a troublesome problem called body impressions. Double-sided mattresses have been specifically engineered to be more resistant to the uneven wear that causes discomfort and premature sagging. We recommend regular rotation and flipping of two-sided versions per the mattress care instructions to maximize life, perform better, and be significantly more resistant to irregular wear.

2) More Steel

Big mattress manufacturers train their sales staff to talk about and hype up their high coil counts (often 1000-2000 coils or more). Their goal here is to imply that more coils equate to longer life and less sagging.

Remember the saying “built like they used to build them”? Well in the 1960’s up through the 1980’s coil counts of 575 or less in king-size beds were common practice. These old-time mattress sets gave comfort, great support, and lasted for 10-20 years.

In fact, according to Consumer Reports, coil count doesn’t actually matter. What we are really looking for is more total steal. More steel is what equates to longer mattress life, better support, and even mattress wear.

3) Higher Density Foams And Upholstery

Getting the right mattress means knowing what kind of foam you are getting. It also means selecting the precise foam density. The density of the polyurethane foam used is the weight of the foam used per cubic foot. It is an important measurement in any given mattress, and it has a lot to do with how much height the mattress can lose.

Again, in this business greater weight equates to a longer life. A higher density foam will last significantly longer providing much-needed superior support over the lifespan of the mattress.

Yes, it usually costs a little more because you are getting more and this high-performance foam is a must if you are plus-sized or just simply want your mattress to last longer with fewer body imprints. Very little to no fiber filling is better, but if the mattress includes it and a lot of it, they are simply dressing up the mattress and you can bet it is a cheaper budget or economy type of mattress.

4) Heavy Duty Box Spring/Foundation

Your box spring/foundation is unarguably the most important part of your set since it’s the supporting base of your sleep system. If you were to turn a house onto its roof it would not support the weight of the house.

When it comes to box springs/foundations nowadays, builders have gone cheap. Most brand names do not have a center I beam running head to toe. Instead, they are built using only one 1 3/8-inch-wide board to carry the total weight of mattress and sleepers.

How Is A Heavy Duty Box Spring/Foundation Better?

• Our Heavy Duty HD uses an I-Beam. This is like the steel support beam found in the basement of a home. It is constructed with two 2 1/2 inch each board that measured 3/4-inch thick. Additionally, the center of the I Beam is made up of 2 x 4 buffalo designed blocks to round out the center support bracing of the I-Beam(s).
• Competitors typically use 8 wood slats measuring 1 3/8 inch wide and 5/8 thick. Medicoil HD uses nearly 3 times the wood slats. 20 slats measuring 2 1/2 wide and 3/4 inch thick.
• Competitors don’t use perimeter/side support. An HD version supports their sides and middle “I-Beam” and is reinforced with 2 x 4 blocks.
• Weight is a sign of quality and strength. Example of the difference: Twin size, each of the brand names we tested weighed about 26 pounds vs. the heavy-duty we weighed at 66 lbs. (Weight equates to more building materials, overall strength, support, and overall life).
• Extra diagonal boards in the upper right and lower left corners are anti-sway braces that are added for extra strength and to reduce racking. Additionally, staggered cross braces reinforce and add additional strength not found in brand name box springs.

In Conclusion

At STL Beds Our goal is to “Deliver Dreams”. This starts with getting the right mattress set for the customer. We expect that mattress to last for many, many years to come, give the very best support, and most importantly stay comfy. Apply these four ingredients to you your mattress purchase and your wish for a dreamy night of sleep will be fulfilled no matter who you buy from. Remember, the above information will put you on that path if you do your homework and compare apples to apples.

Similar Blog Posts