How often should you replace your mattress?

Upcycled garden furniture with custom fitted wardrobes from DIY Homefit

Once you are a homeowner your life is never the same! There is always something to do. It may help to realise that you will never get to the end of your To Do list; because when you do, it will be time to start all over again with some of the things that were originally at the top of that list!

No:  home maintenance is an ongoing process and the best thing to do is relax and just accept that you will always be doing something and will never get to the point where you have finished everything.

One thing that often escapes the attention of our To Do list is our mattress. It’s one of those things that gets very much taken for granted; we don’t really think about it that much. Yet, according to the experts we should really change our mattress every 8-10 years. These experts do not just include mattress manufacturers – after our business – but consumer organisations such as Which and the American Consumer Reports magazine.

So why is it important to change our mattress? Fundamentally the older a mattress gets, the less comfortable it becomes. Mattresses tend to lose their shape and can become saggy or lumpy. Getting a good night’s sleep is so important to our overall well-being. We need to listen to our bodies and if you wake up feeling uncomfortable or achy then it may be time to change. It’s also a sad fact of life that we become more intolerant to pressure as we get older, so our mattress may need changing even more often than 8-10 years once we get past the age of 40.

Another good reason to change your mattress is hygiene. Mattresses can harbour dust mites and all kinds of bacteria. These include mould spores which can be especially problematic for people with allergies, rhinitis (runny nose), breathing difficulties and skin conditions.

How to clean your mattress
So even if you are not ready to change your mattress, it is a good idea in the meantime to flip and clean your mattress regularly. The image below – courtesy of Which – really brings this home!

Ideally you should aim to flip your mattress (or rotate if it’s one-sided) at least every three months and, as part of this clean both sides of the mattress along the following lines

• Check for stains on the mattress and use stain remover to tackle them.
• Gently vacuum the surface of the mattress using the upholstery attachment on your vacuum cleaner.
• Then vacuum again to ensure you get dust and dirt out of all the nooks and crannies.
• Some people like to deodorise the mattress at this point by sprinkling bicarbonate of soda over the surface of the mattress. You can also add some essential oils to this to fragrance it. Our recent article Cut the Cost of Spring Cleaning contains more tips about how to use everyday household products to clean and fragrance your home.
• Let your mattress air for a few hours – ideally overnight if you are able – to let the fabric breathe.
• Remake the bed using a mattress protector beneath the bottom sheet for additional protection.

Time for a bedroom makeover?
Of course, no matter how important, your mattress is only one small part of your bedroom furnishings. If you are replacing your mattress you might want to work out how long it is since you have replaced anything in your bedroom. Perhaps your To Do list could combine changing mattress with a new bed or other item(s) of bedroom furniture?

Refurbishing your bedroom need not cost a small fortune. At DIY Homefit we have a wonderful range of bedroom furniture which tones in with our range of wardrobe doors. So if your existing wardrobe carcasses are in good condition but you just want to update them, then you could fit replacement wardrobe doors onto them, and perhaps buy a new bed to give your room a completely new look.

If you want to do something a bit more ambitious then we also supply custom fitted wardrobes which can totally transform the look of your bedroom and make use of every inch of available space, providing you with increased  storage facilities and less clutter on show! Why not browse through our range of bedroom pictures now to get a better idea of how good a DIY Homefit bedroom makeover could look!

So yes, you will never reach the bottom of your To Do list – and once you accept that you will feel less stressed about home maintenance. But DIY Homefit – a company of real people – is here to help you every step of the way.