A memory foam mattress has a more extended lifespan than most regular mattresses. It can last for 10+ years and still be in good shape to provide the same comfort you get when you first bought it. However, you need to know how to care for a memory foam mattress to maintain its long-lasting durability.
Now, how do you care for your memory foam mattress to keep it in good shape so you can enjoy more peaceful nights for longer? The most obvious answer to this question is to buy a mattress cover and protect your precious mattress from liquid and dust. It doesn’t have to be complex, actually. With some simple mattress maintenance tips, your memory foam mattress will continue to serve you excellently for as long as it takes.
Here are several ways how to care for a memory foam mattress.
Top Tips to Care For Your Memory Foam Mattress
Rotate the Mattress Frequently
Unlike most layered mattresses, a memory foam mattress doesn’t have to be flipped over. Instead, you can rotate it head to toe every three months to prevent other parts from diminishing faster. Rotating your memory foam mattress helps all the parts wear in a uniform manner which can prolong its lifespan.
Put a Suitable Support Under Your Mattress
You should find a firm and solid base for your memory foam mattress to keep it healthy. You can use a box spring in this case, as long as, you ensure that it is of high quality, has a hard surface, and is broad enough to fit your mattress. Also, use a new one for this purpose as spring boxes usually lose their firmness with age.
If you prefer putting a slat at the base of your mattress, ensure there’s no space or gap whatsoever between the slats, as this may make your mattress deteriorate faster.
Use A Washable Mattress Cover on Your Memory Foam Mattress
A washable mattress cover comes in handy in protecting your mattress against stains and spills. It acts as a barrier between your mattress and all the things that can stain it and cause faster wear. You must also wash this protective cover regularly to keep your mattress clean and healthy.
Vacuum Regularly
Cleaning is one easy method of keeping your memory foam mattress healthy. You can do this by using a hand vacuum with a brush. Pass it over the mattress to catch traces of hair, food particles, dust, and any other substance available.
Place Your Memory Foam Mattress in Open Air
You also need to let your mattress breathe. That’s why it’s advisable that you put it out in the sun. Direct sunlight provides so many benefits to your mattress, including disinfecting, killing allergens and bacteria, and drying it off after washing. Additionally, open-air will help eliminate any foul smell coming from the mattress, possibly from spills and sweat.
Use Baking Soda to Dry
You can’t take your mattress outside to dry during the winter seasons after cleaning or when you accidentally pour liquid on it. Baking soda comes in handy in such cases. Pour it on the surfaces with water to dry them off for about an hour.
Since baking soda is a soaking agent, it will soak up all the liquid within this time frame to leave your mattress all dry. Later, you can vacuum the clumped soda particles out.
How to Make Your Memory Foam Mattress Softer
Did you know that a memory foam mattress can mold to take the same contours of your body as you sleep? It does this to give you that extraordinary pressure relief regardless of your sleeping position. It truly works wonders!
However, memory foam mattress doesn’t immediately provide such excellent feature when it's still new. In fact, a new foam mattress feels hard and firm when you sleep on it the very first time. But it gets softer with time as its fiber adapts to your unique sleeping position, body weight, and shape.
The adaptation of your mattress to your body can happen between one week to two months. That means that if you sleep on it continuously for two months, it becomes softer and more comfortable.
Below are a few tips you can use to make your memory foam mattress softer and more comfortable to sleep on.
Sleeping On It Continuously For Two Months
As mentioned above, a memory foam mattress tends to be firm and inflexible when still new and can take up to two months to get softer. For these reasons, it's only right that you sleep on it continuously for these sixty nights to make it softer. But the changes will become noticeable within the first week.
Exposing this mattress to pressure and heat will make its fibers loosen up as it adapts to your physical features. This softening typically begins in the areas that exert pressure the most, where you place your shoulders and in the hip areas. You should look out for excessive sagging, though. If it happens, return it to the manufacturer as the mattress could be defective.
Gentle Apply Pressure
Applying pressure on your new memory foam mattress is one excellent way to break its fibers fast to make it softer and comfortable. You can do this using your knees, hands, and body for thirty minutes daily until you achieve your desired comfort.
Be careful not to cause indentations on your foam mattress by standing on it. Instead, you can do the following to apply that necessary pressure on it.
- Pushing it gently down on your two palms to relax its fibers. Do it across the entire mattress surface to achieve an even fiber relaxation.
- Kneeling on it if it feels too hard and stiff.
- Rolling on your new memory foam mattress can also help make it softer faster.
Add a Soft Mattress Cover or Topper
Not everyone is patient enough to wait for two months for their mattress to get softer. If you belong to this group of people, a soft mattress topper is precisely what you need. It will quickly soften your mattress without waiting for its fibers to relax.
Also, a soft topper can increase airflow, heat dissipation, and breathability, hence, provides a completely different sleeping experience.
Increase Your Room Temperature
A memory foam mattress is temperature-sensitive, meaning that it can get firm or soft depending on your room temperature. Increasing your room temperature will make your mattress expand as you also apply gentle pressure on it.
But you shouldn’t use localized heat sources like electric blankets, hot water bottles, and heating pads on your foam mattress. These products can damage the materials used in making the mattress, hence deforming and reducing its lifespan. The recommended temperature for these mattresses is between 68 to 72 degrees.
How to Cool Down a Memory Foam Mattress
Most people complain about their memory foam mattresses retaining heat. Sleeping warm causes sweaty nights and restlessness. Heat gets trapped inside these mattresses because of their unique structure. Although they have tiny bubbly spaces inside and are penetrative, these mattresses are not well interconnected to allow enough airflow.
If you want to know how to cool down a memory foam mattress, here are some tips for you:
Use Covers
If you'd like to lower the temperatures of a memory foam mattress, consider buying a mattress cover made out of breathable materials. Besides cooling your memory foam mattress, these covers can also help protect your mattress against stains and odor.
However, don’t just buy any mattress cover out there. Go for those specifically designed for memory foam mattresses since they have an increased airflow. Additionally, these foam covers can draw moisture from your body to spread it equally on themselves, keeping you cool all night long.
Get a Cooling Mattress Topper
Aside from making your mattress softer, a mattress topper also has pads to cool it down to your desired temperature. These toppers have a nice layer inside for a suitable airflow, cooling you down as you sleep.
Getting natural cotton or a gel foam mattress topper will surely do the magic.
Creating a Space beneath Your Foam Mattress for Air to Flow Freely
Keep in mind that the structure of a memory foam mattress is solid, so it’s impossible to change its airflow. But, you can create an open space beneath your mattress to allow air to be trapped and accumulate your body heat temperature.
If your bed has only one plywood beneath, then it's about time you modify it to create more space. You can use wooden boards with lots of spaces between them instead of that one plywood.
Know that heat helps soften a memory foam mattress, but you wouldn’t want to soften it so much as it will make your mattress even more uncomfortable. That's another reason why you should create space beneath to cool it down a bit.
Can I Flip a Memory Foam Mattress?
You don’t need to flip your memory foam mattress. Memory foam mattresses have a no-turn design since the soft foam layer is only on the top. The bottom parts of these mattresses have a solid support base form designed to be excessively durable.
Therefore, if you flip it, it means that you will no longer enjoy its design features and benefits. You will also not feel soft and comfortable sleeping on a flipped memory foam mattress.
Instead of flipping, you can rotate your mattress at least once in three months to keep your memory foam mattress in excellent condition. Rotating means moving your mattress from head to toe. In that way, you can evenly distribute the comfort fillings.
Verdict
There you have it! We have listed some of the best tips on how to care for your memory foam mattress. Proper handling and caring for your memory foam mattress will not only ensure it lasts for two decades or more, but also look and feel good throughout your usage years.