You are a person, not a number. So why does the mattress industry insist on treating you like one? As an individual, you have your own combination of traits and sleep preferences — weight, height, age, body shape, weight distribution, medical history, health concerns, sleep position and more. That being the case, why do many mattress retailers and review sites try to boil your comfort down to a simple number on a scale in order to tell you how firm or soft of a mattress to buy? Is the mattress firmness rating just a sales gimmick?
At Woodstock Furniture & Mattress Outlet, we’ve been selling mattresses for over three decades. A large part of our success over the years is our desire to educate and empower the customer. We care about your furniture and mattress buying experience and want you to make the decision that’s best for you. That’s why we feel the need to tackle common misconceptions, including today’s topic — mattress ratings.
Both in our mattress stores and on our website, mattress shoppers continually ask our mattress experts questions like, “What is the firmness rating on this mattress?”, “How firm/soft is this mattress?” or “How do you rate this mattress?”.
The answers to these questions are much more complex than mattress reviewers or retailers have led you to believe. By the time we’re done today, you’ll understand why mattress ratings are generally inaccurate and why mattress feel is different for every single sleeper.
Why Mattress Firmness Ratings Are Misleading
Retailers and mattress review sites regularly put mattress ratings on a number scale, as if every sleeper will perceive the firmness or softness of a mattress the same exact way (Hint: they don't). Rather, every single sleeper experiences (and describes) a mattress differently. What one person may consider to be "medium", could be "soft" or "firm" to their spouse.
Between the multitude of factors that cause sleepers to perceive mattresses differently and the words they choose to describe them, mattress feel is a very hard thing to nail down.
Mattress Feel Is Different for Every Sleeper
A petite, 120lb woman will likely have a very different opinion than a 325lb, six-foot-five offensive lineman — regarding the exact same mattress.
This begs the question, which shopper is that 5/10 or 6.5/10 mattress firmness rating based on? The average? What if you’re someone on the fringes of the graph? Does some average mattress rating really represent you? You see, that is exactly the issue. You are an individual, not some nameless, faceless, point on a graph.
But it’s not just the size of the sleeper that impacts perceived mattress feel. Let’s say that Sleeper A sleeps on a concrete slab at home. Literally anything feels soft to that person. By contrast, perhaps Sleeper B has been sleeping on a sunken-in, 35 year-old mattress and there’s zero support left in that ragged, old thing. Anything would be firm by comparison, right?
When a customer comes in and tells us, “I want something firm”, sometimes they just mean, “I want something more supportive than what I’m sleeping on right now.”
Additionally, how should you rate an innerspring mattress with a thick pillow top? The springs may lend themselves to a supportive and responsive feel. But the same mattress also has a plush memory foam pillow top that you can really sink into. So which is it? Soft or firm? Could it be both? Usually the feel comes down to personal factors like weight, body shape, and sleep position.
A lightweight back sleeper may feel like the above mattress is quite firm because they sleep flat and aren’t heavy enough to sink into the pillow top. Meanwhile, a heavier side sleeper with broad shoulders or larger hips may find the mattress too hard for the exact opposite reason because they sink through the foam layer and bottom-out on the springs. However, someone in between may feel the mattress is plush since they sink into it just the right amount.
What’s the Alternative to Mattress Ratings?
Ultimately, every person in these theoretical scenarios is likely to rate these mattresses differently. Because mattress feel is entirely subjective. As you can see, a score like a mattress firmness rating is way too simple to accurately represent a wide range of mattress shoppers and their preferences.
This is why we don’t use numerical mattress ratings at Woodstock Furniture & Mattress Outlet. So what is the solution then?
How We Categorize Our Mattresses
Here at Woodstock Furniture & Mattress Outlet, we divide our mattress selection into three categories — firm, medium and soft. However, we always make it clear that these comfort levels are merely a jump-off point for your own mattress discovery journey. When we categorize a mattress as firm, medium, or soft, this is either the comfort level advertised by the manufacturer, or it is the consensus of our own diverse team of in-house mattress experts.
Even so, we understand that when it comes to what is comfortable to you, only you know what feels best. Just like some comfort level or mattress rating doesn’t exactly know your needs, neither does your salesperson. You should guide the process. You deserve to make your own determination about the feel of any mattress you’re considering. That is why we always recommend trying your mattress before you buy.
So what’s next? Before you embark on your very own mattress journey, here are a few quick tips to make your mattress shopping experience easier and more productive. First, check your measurements and determine which size mattress fits your needs. Next, come up with a budget to see what you can afford. Lastly, take note of the age of your current mattress and list exactly what it is that you don’t like about it.
For more resources to help you get started, check out the helpful articles below:
