Talk:Mattress/Archives/2013

Doctor Recommendations, Sleeping Position
"Additionally, there are some other misconceptions as far as coil count and firmness are concerned. Doctors once said that a firmer mattress will give better support. This was actually only true with a small percentage of people, back and stomach sleepers. Most people sleep on their side, and as the side of the human body is not flat like the back, better body conformity provides better support. Usually this is achieved with an individually wrapped coil system" Anyone have a source for this? Slimdavey 19:38, 11 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Sounds like an ad. I've removed it. IrisWings 06:51, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

US Centric
"Now that we know that a majority of Americans sleep mostly on their side, further research tells us that a mattress that conforms better to the shape of the body provides better support."

Glossary?
Is there any particular reason for that huge glossary? I'm planning on deleting it entirely.
 * And who are you?--AAAAA 21:10, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree. It's extraneous, and it doesn't give definitions for most of the terms. I added the relevant ones to the See also list. IrisWings 06:51, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

External links section
Why is one link titled "Bad advice from another ex-mattress salesperson on buying mattresses"? Can we be a little less vague as to what specifically is bad about it? —Slicing (talk) 23:10, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Incorrect and conflicting box spring info
The "Foundations" part says: "a good box spring can help prolong the life and comfort of the mattress" but later on says: "Research showed that boxsprings had too much give to them and caused coiled mattresses to sag prematurely". Please make up your mind.

Also, it says: "Today, the boxspring is all but extinct", which is incorrect. Most mattresses in North America are sold with a box spring.


 * Actually, a boxspring (in mattress jargon) is only that system that has give to it. Foundations, which are those systems that have no give, now make up the majority of the two. (What I mean by give is that the foundation/boxspring either has springs and absorbs impact, or has no springs and does not react) Off the top of my head I know Simmons, Select Comfort, Sterling, and Tempur-Pedic use foundations. Sealy (Stearns & Foster) uses boxsprings with all of its beds excepting it's alternative bed systems (True Form, SpringFree). Prem 03:04 am 27 November 2006 (EST)

Under "What to look for" wire gauge size is confused: "lower gauge (thinner)" should be either "higher gauge (thinner)" or "lower gauge (thicker)" and "higher gauge (thicker)" should be either "lower gauge (thicker)" or "higher gauge (thinner)" but I'm not sure which is correct for the statement.Vectorspaces 13:24, 6 December 2006 (UTC)


 * This seems to have been dealt with in the current article: The lower the number, the thicker the spring. In general, higher-quality mattress coils have a 14-gauge (1.63 mm) diameter. Coils of 14 to 15.5-gauge (1.63 to 1.37 mm) give more easily under pressure, while a 12.5-gauge (1.94 mm) coil, the thickest typically available, feels quite firm. --trevj (talk) 11:11, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Table Cleanup
I did the "table cleanup" edit. What do you think? I hope everyone likes it.


 * I like it; it's very useful. Does it still look okay with the photo so close to it? IrisWings 06:51, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The table looks great, but the content in it leaves something to be desired. I believe "Super Single" (a common waterbed size) should be there and there's a lot more sizes at Bed Sizes & Information as well. --Wkrick (talk) 03:19, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

I believe the table would be a lot clearer if we "pivot" it. Ie, make a single column for sizes and then multiple columns for what different countries call these various sizes. That would fix the "UK:" parenthetical remarks and make things a lot clearer when some countries use the same label for different sizes. 213.155.151.239 (talk) 13:52, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

How-to's
I removed most of the advice about buying mattresses because it doesn't really belong and because several of the external links already provide advice of that nature. I also attempted to make the maintenance and care section sound a little more encyclopedic. IrisWings 06:51, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Scientific definition of a sham?
The article on memory foam links to this study of mattress toxicity (original article) which refers to "sham mattresses." Interestingly a google search on "sham mattress" primarily provides links to yet other scientific studies referring to sham mattresses. Yet none of these seem to define what they mean by "sham" and I'm not finding other references to shams except in reference to pillow encasements: this Mattress article doesn't mention sham mattresses at all, the Sham article is about the geographic region, and the Bedding article only mentions pillow shams. Are these scientists just using the wrong word, or can someone provide a definition of "sham mattress?" Thanks. — Epastore 04:12, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Still ads in there
reads like a commercial: "Tempur-Pedic is the leader in the foam bed industry, due to highly-recognized TV commercials and direct mail pieces advertising its Swedish Foam Sleep System." The original material was designed to relieve the pressure experienced by astronauts during lift-off. Fagerdala World Foams of Sweden spent a decade and millions of dollars in research before perfecting a new advance formula, Tempur." 134.76.3.44 21:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

"Sleep number bed" date to be added to the list of dates provided on page.
If anyone knows the date those Sleep number beds were introduced, to be added to the one section, that would be greatly appreciated.

Leggett & Platt
Please list us as an external link:

http://www.adjustablesbyleggett.com

We are the world's largest manufacturer of adjustable beds.

204.80.222.11 (talk) 21:16, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

75 year lifespan?
In the Maintenance and care section of the article, it says

"The Better Sleep Council suggests that a quality mattress should provide 75 years of good support and comfort."

As far as I am aware there is no mattress that lasts even close to 75 years. Even latex mattresses, which are the longest life mattresses, only have a lifespan of around 20-25 years. Is this supposed to read 7.5 years? Would it be better to say 7-8 years to avoid any confusion? Bricker (talk) 03:53, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Maintenance section is spring mattress oriented
The first paragraph of this section distinguishes between mattress types. After that all paragraphs speak generally. However much of the advice only applies to spring mattresses. You do not need to rotate or flip foam mattresses. Folding and bending foam matresses is not a problem. --Ericjs (talk) 03:56, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Size diagram of UK Beds
The comparative diagram of UK Mattresses appears to be incorrectly drawn. The mini is listed as having the same length as the twin (wrong), The double and double XL are listed as having the same length as the King (also wrong). I don't have the ability to re-render the diagram, but would someone like to double check and re-do it? 92.239.227.211 (talk) 10:18, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

How to choose a mattress?
I would expect that sleeper weight matters. 85.76.51.247 (talk) 07:41, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The section on "self-inflating air mattresses" is completely faulty
The reason Therm-A-Rest camping pads have a foam core is not so you can leave home your air pump, as if most people wouldn't blow up a single air mattress by mouth anyway, the foam is there to prevent conductive(?) heat loss from the ground which is a problem with hollow swimming pool type air mattresses and why they're not recommended for camping in cold areas, because you'll be cold. 76.191.157.35 (talk) 19:55, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Health Issues
Since most Mattresses are made of petroleum-based products, I’ve seen many people reporting of health issues related to these kinds of mattresses. For example, it is a common for people to report that Memory foam mattresses have a chemical smell when new. Many of those same people say that health concerns such as puffy eyes, nausea and other side effects are attributable to the mattresses. Of course, this might sound as hearsay without providing sources but it also looks like an area with potential for expansion/inclusion.

Any thoughts on this? Likeminas (talk) 15:59, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Mattress dimensions (UK)
UK mattresses have metric dimensions and are now slightly smaller than the quoted sizes.

Imperial dimensions are sometimes, inaccurately, quoted. However the imperial dimensions are usually arrived at using the "metric foot" of 300mm - 48mm shorter than an imperial foot.

So, for example, a double mattress - nominally 4'6" by 6'3" is in fact 135cm x 190cm.

It is wrong to take the approximate imperial dimensions and convert them to metric. Metrication left our beds slightly smaller than they used to be.

Sizes from the John Lewis website http://www.johnlewis.com/Magazine/Feature.aspx?Id=9

81.129.10.206 (talk) 13:17, 11 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Small single	W75 x L190cm
 * Single	       W90 x L190cm
 * Small double	W120 x L190cm
 * Double	       W135 x L190cm
 * Kingsize	W150 x L200cm
 * Super kingsize	W180 x L200cm
 * Super kingsize zipped and linked	W180 x L200cm
 * Unfortunately no, that is just John Lewis policy to use metric equivalents. The formal position is stated by the [UK] National Bed Federation at http://www.bedfed.org.uk/guidelines_standard_bed_sizes.cfm which confirms that manufacturers are still stuck in the past and are still working with imperial machine tools. [I made this mistake too!] --Red King (talk) 14:37, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

Spring Gauge?
The metric measurements and link in the spring mattress core section imply that the ‘gauge’ used to describe mattresses in the US is American Wire Gauge. Is this actually the case? As the AWG article puts it, AWG is typically used for “nonferrous, electrically conducting wire. [...] The steel industry does not use AWG and prefers a number of other wire gauges.” kpschoedel (talk) 23:29, 9 March 2012 (UTC)