$2099 mattress vs $14 air mattress with foam topper: A surprising outcome

Finding a comfortable mattress seems to be a bigger challenge than I thought it should.

Our first mattress was a foam mattress made of several pieces of different types of foam bonded together. It lasted many years and I remember it as being very comfortable. It’s been difficult to find anything as comfortable since. Perhaps it was just an ordinary mattress and it felt good because I was much younger and my body didn’t ache as much then.

Since then we have been using much more expensive mattresses with pocket springs. My current one is a king single pocket spring mattress that sells for AU$2099 (US$1450). While it seemed comfortable in the store, at home I usually wake up with my arms aching. I just assumed it was me or the way I sleep.

Last year we went on holidays for a week and stayed in a nice apartment. We wanted an extra bed and thought one was included in the price. It wasn’t and found out it would be an extra AU$44 per night. They offered to do a special deal of about $100 for the week, but when it was delivered, we were very disappointed. While the accommodation was very nice there is nothing good I can say about that bed. It was a rollaway fold-up bed of a type that is apparently popular in hotels. They fold up in half and have wheels in the middle of the bed. Doing a google search I found they are usually sold with a foam mattress, but this one had what appeared to be an old worn out inner spring mattress. The outline of the springs could easily be seen and felt under the thin covering.

In desperation I headed off to a nearby Kmart and bought a cheap blow up air mattress, a fluffy mattress protector and a set of sheets. I also got a small 240v air pump. Our son lived nearby and supplied a thin egg shell type of foam topper. My wife used the bed and was surprised at how comfortable it was and how well she slept on it.

One thing we did quickly discover is that the sizing used for these air mattresses does not match that used by regular mattresses. The single bed mattress we bought was very narrow. A king single size is closer to the size of regular single bed mattress. We eventually purchased a king size air mattress for $14.

I needed to set up a temporary bed at Christmas time. I experimented with a 4″ foam mattress and even 2 4″ foam mattresses on top of each other, but neither was very good. These mattresses started off feeling ok, but after a while they sagged and I could feel the hard floor underneath. So, I got out the air mattress, thin foam and mattress protector and tried that. I slept well and woke without much soreness for the remaining 6 weeks I used it. After going back to my usual $2099 mattress I woke up with sore arms again.

This is the setup I used for six weeks at home. It was summer so having it near windows allowed a cool breeze. It doesn’t look much but it was surprisingly pleasant and cozy in there.

This is the air mattress, foam topper and mattress protector packed up. It really doesn’t take up much space. Easy to store at home and fits in the car on a trip.

We went away on a short break to the coast and I set up the air mattress again. It immediately felt comfortable. At 2:00am I half awoke feeling something was wrong. 3:00am I could feel the floor and the mattress was limp. It had sprung a leak. Fortunately there was a Kmart nearby. I guess this is the downside of air mattresses, particularly cheap ones.

I’ve since bought a 5cm foam mattress topper for my main bed which has greatly improved that one. I’ve also repaired the air mattress and I’ll do short post about that soon.