Are expensive mattresses worth the money?

Cost no guarantee of comfort when it comes to mattresses

A good bed is essential for a great night’s sleep, so nobody wants to scrimp when it comes to buying a mattress.

But the truth is there is little relationship between mattress price and quality. In fact consumer group CHOICE says the misconception that cost equates to comfort is the No.1 mattress myth.

At Sleep Republic, we’ve been making premium mattresses for over 20 years, so we know what makes a mattress great. See our list of the 5 key components of a good mattress below.

It’s no surprise so many people think spending more will help them to sleep better, because traditional mattress manufacturers and retailers have worked hard to promote this idea.

Indeed, CHOICE found they deliberately confuse consumers in many ways, such as making minor changes to products and then giving them very different names and prices.

5 key components of a good mattress

So, if price is no guide, then how do you choose the best mattress for you? At a minimum, a quality mattress should include 5 key components:

1. Pocket springs

Pocket spring mattresses are far superior to foam core and other spring types. This is because each spring (of which there should be over 1000 in a high-quality mattress) is free to move individually, so your bed can respond to you without disturbing your sleeping partner. And pocket springs can be configured to provide optimal support for different zones of your body, such as your head, shoulders, hips, legs, and feet.

2. Memory foam

Memory foam is an amazing NASA-developed product that relieves pressure in muscles and joints by contouring to your body and providing a soft, snuggly surface. However, plain memory foam can retain too much warmth and lead to overheating, so look for quality gel-infused memory foam that wicks excess heat away to provide temperature stability.

3. Natural latex

A layer of natural latex adds outstanding support and recovery capabilities to any mattress. And because it contains thousands of tiny ventilation holes it also provides added air flow, reducing moisture build-up within the bed.

4. Edge support

Cheaper mattresses tend to sag at the edges, forcing sleepers to hug the middle of the bed to avoid the feeling that a sleeper might ‘roll off’. Always look for a mattress with added support around the edges.

5. Quality guarantee

Any reputable mattress dealer will stand by their products with an extended no-questions-asked comfort guarantee, and at least a 10-year warranty. If they don’t, you have to ask the question — why?

What’s too cheap, and what’s too expensive?

Mattresses start at under $100 and can easily range up to over $20,000. So, how much should you expect to pay for a quality mattress?

Very cheap mattresses generally contain coil springs and/or polyethylene foam, materials which don’t provide a great night’s sleep. They are not supportive and tend to sag or, on the flip side, they can be far too firm — and poly foam causes overheating. These products are also not durable, so cheap mattresses don’t last long.

High-quality materials cost more than those used in bottom-of-the-range beds, and, as a result, you’re unlikely to find a premium queen mattress with pocket springs and the other 5 key mattress components for under $1000.

But, the good news is you shouldn’t have to pay much more than that. Cut through all the hype, avoid the traditional bricks-and-mortar mattress stores with high overheads, and you’ll find you can have a top-quality queen mattress delivered to your door for well under $1500.

The Sleep Republic mattress

At the Sleep Republic, we don’t waste your time or ours with confusing product ranges and price promotions. We produce one superb mattress that we believe is the best it can possibly be.

We’ve been in the mattress business for over 20 years, and our mattress is the culmination of our decades of experience in designing, manufacturing and selling over 100,000 mattresses across Australia.

Designed by us in Melbourne using the best technologies available, ours is a hybrid memory foam mattress. This means it combines several different quality materials to create the ultimate sleep experience:

• A top layer of knitted cashmere — a natural fabric that is soft to the touch yet extremely durable
• Gel-infused memory foam for body contouring and temperature stability
• Natural latex foam for support, recovery, and airflow
• High-definition pocket springs (2,250 in our king size mattress)
• Dynamic edge support to prevent roll-off
• 3D spacer fabric side panels to let air circulate throughout the bed

The result is a medium-firm mattress that provides the ultimate in both comfort, and support. Not too soft, not too hard — the best of both worlds.

As a result, over 20 per cent of our customers are either repeat, or are referred to us by existing customers, and we have hundreds of independently verified positive customer reviews.

We’re so confident in our mattress that it comes with both a 12-year warranty and a 100-night comfort guarantee.

If you buy a Sleep Republic mattress and you aren’t completely satisfied within 100 nights, we’ll simply pick it up free of charge from anywhere in Australia, and you’ll get a full refund. No questions asked, no worries.

Need help, or have a question about how we design and make our mattresses? Call us on 1800 753 371, chat with us online, or see our FAQs.