Should I Flip or Rotate My Mattress?

Did you know that you should flip or rotate your mattress at least once every six months? If you didn’t know, now you do! Some people even go as far as to do a rotation or flip every three months. Why should you do it? Well, to prolong your mattress’ lifespan (a bit more on that later) of course! However, before you dash off to flip your mattress, read on to be exactly informed as to the when, how and why.

You see, there is a difference between flipping and rotating. Moreover, not all mattresses should be flipped. A lot of the newer mattresses out there are “flip-free” but they should still be rotated.

And while you’re at it, why not give your old friend a thorough cleaning? You spend almost a third of your life lying down on your bed, so you might as well clean it every now and then. Read our blog post on how to clean your bed to learn more about this topic.

Done reading? Good! Now, let’s take a closer look at the how and why of flipping and rotating your mattress.

How to Rotate a Mattress

Rotation is a fairly simple concept. Imagine there is a pole or pillar through the middle of your bed. The pole is attached to the floor and the ceiling. Now, in order to rotate the mattress, all you need to do is turn it 180 degrees around that central pole. Thus, in the end, you have switched where your head would normally be for where your feet usually are. Now you know why we said you should clean your bed, right?

Take note, after you rotated the pallet, its surface is still facing up towards the ceiling.

How to Flip a Mattress

Once again, a simple concept. Imagine you are baking pancakes on a rainy day. You pour the batter into the hot pan, let it solidify and then, depending on your level of skill, you either use the spatula or a neat flip of the wrist to flip the pancake over. The side that was at the bottom is now at the top. Flipping a mattress is exactly the same, albeit you won’t use a spatula to flip it over… Most likely you’ll need your partner to help you.

However, when you flip your pallet, it is also advisable to rotate it. So the surface that was facing the ceiling will end up facing the floor and where your pillows used to be is now at the foot of the bed.

Why Should I go through the Trouble?

It seems like quite a schlep to rotate or flip your mattress, doesn’t it? So a lot of you might probably wonder why you should go through all of that trouble? Well, simply put, it is to enhance your sleeping experience and to prolong the lifespan of your bed. And in doing so, to enhance the quality of your sleep.

Think about it. You sleep in roughly the same position every night, right? So, no matter how smart your mattress is, your sleeping position will eventually leave a permanent impression on the surface of your bed.

Why is this a bad thing?

Well, when you sleep, you want to keep your spine in a neutral position. This will help your back muscles to relax which, in turn, will make it easier for the rest of your body to relax.

Moreover, when you sleep in a relaxed position, your body produces more growth hormone than when you are stressed and this, in turn, leads to better cellular regeneration.

So hopefully you can see why it can be beneficial to rotate or flip your mattress once every three to six months! If you do, your own bodyweight will counteract the permanent impression that will form if you don’t flip or rotate it.

What’s more, what if you share your bed with a partner? Now you have two people, sleeping in different positions. If you never flip or rotate the mattress, it will start shaping up to your bodies and start forming topographic contour lines. Once this happens, it will become more difficult to change positions while you sleep. Thus impairing blood circulation to the extremities of your body, which might lead to you waking up sore and stiff.

Should You Flip or Rotate Your Mattress?

Now that you know how and why to flip or rotate your mattress, the question remains; should I flip or rotate my mattress?

And that is a good question, ladies and gentlemen. As we mentioned previously, not every mattress needs to be flipped or rotated nowadays. If you have an old bed set (15 years or older), the chances that you have to flip it are high. However, if the mattress has a specific design with a pillow top or a layer that insulates body heat on only one of its surfaces, you should not flip it!

Most modern-day mattresses are made up of different layers and materials. For instance, the latest Sealy Posturepedic range all come out with a particular function. Thus the layering in each mattress is geared towards fulfilling that function. A layer of memory foam will serve as the base, with denser foam around the edge and more compact foam towards the central part of the top of the mattress. Did you see that? “towards the top of…”. So immediately you know that this mattress should not be flipped.

The same goes for all of the latest Genessi, Kooi and Serta mattresses. They are made up of various layers of different types and densities of memory foam. So if you own such a mattress, only rotate it. Don’t flip it!

And if you still have an old mattress that needs to be flipped… Well, then you need to get a new one!

To enhance your life, make sleep a priority! At the Mattress Warehouse, we are concerned about the quality of your sleep. That is why we only have the best quality of mattresses for sale! Contact us to find out about the perfect mattress for you.