My Mattress Reviews

Welcome to my home for my thoughts on mattresses. I started working on this website when I was staggered at the number of views I was getting on my youtube mattress reviews. 20,000+ views on a youtube mattress review made me realise just how much people were interested in reviews on a mattress. Especially from the online companies such as Simba, Otty, Emma, Nectar, Eergoflex and the like. To be honest the more I learned about what goes into the making of a mattress and the budget decisions that had to be made with regards to materials and the marketing speech these websites use the more I became fascinated with the whole subject. Reading reviews on other websites and watching other mattress review videos had me thinking there was a place for a more technical based approach to inform people enough so they could choose between mattresses in a more informed way. I realised this search for the best mattress is just not possible, even if reviews online suggest otherwise. There is simply no way you can give a mattress an overall score and rate it relative to other mattresses and suggest that makes it the best. The truth is everyone has different needs and requirements. We are all different sizes and have different sleeping positions and different sensitivities to heat, responsiveness and firmness etc. You cannot measure this with any scoring system. People need to better understand their own needs and what a mattress offers to make a decision on what is best for them. On my website I do not make comparative overall scores as this has no real world relevance. I also do not score comfort as this means nothing from person to person. Also know that the most comfortable mattress for you may not be the best in terms of aches and pains down the road.

It all started for me after having an Ikea mattress for over 10 years that needed replacing. I tried some online websites and made use of their 100 day trials and thus began my search for the holy grail of mattresses. I realise now that having a comfortable mattress and having a mattress that will be back and shoulder friendly do not necessarily go hand in hand. That may sound odd but while a comfortable mattress that makes you go mmmmm with a big smile as you lay on it is often down to simply having a lot of give and enveloping your body in a type of hug, that doesn’t mean you wont wake after 8 hours of sleep with a backache, neck ache or some other ache. This is because it is getting the right support in the right places for your particular body weight, shape, sleeping style and ailments that make it ache friendly. The comfort and support are actually two seperate functions of a mattress most usually handled by different layers. A top layer giving the comfort, giving where you press down most (hips, shoulders) but filling areas that don’t press down so much such as the lumbar region and hip area when on your side. The deeper mattress layers having the job of actually holding your body up, the support, and working hand in hand with the top comfort layers. You can of course have a single core mattress that can provide both elements such as a latex mattress. This is due to the high compression modulus. That is to say, the more you press down on the layer and the deeper you sink in, the firmer it becomes and thus you get a transition from both comfort to support. Latex is notable as having this property. One of the reasons its a premium material.
Another problem with finding the right mattress is that as your body gets used to a mattress, it becomes a familiar feel and your brain gives out alert signals when you first start sleeping on a new mattress with a different feel.  In the same way a new tooth filling can be a nightmare the first few days but you forget about it after a few weeks. This is why mattress companies always recommend at least 30 days to get used to a new mattress and give it a fair assessment. This is just a general guide as everyone will be different in how long your brain will take to remap its sense of right and wrong in terms of the feel of the mattress and how it conforms to your general shape. However it does mean deciding if a mattress is right for you is more than just laying on it, even for an entire night.
I will be updating this site as I buy new mattresses or on occasion receive them free and trying them out. So please feel free to keep checking back for updates and extra information to help you choose your perfect mattress. You will also get earlier warning of what is to come by subscribing to my youtube channel. My channel is at youtube.com/alanrossreviews. To just see my mattress videos my dedicated playlist is here  mattress playlist.
I have not been able to update as often as I would have liked as these mattress companies are reluctant to support me meaning I normally have to buy them myself. I do request a review sample but only Bruno, Emma, Ergoflex, Una, Simba, Hugge and Nectar have been happy to let me have a review mattress with no conditions placed on me (Leesa did let me have a couple of mattresses but they have since sadly left the UK). Rest assured I will never accept a mattress for review when the condition is to agree a positive review in return. Yes this really happens, I was shocked too 🙂

I have become a fan of fine tuning a mattress with a topper and for this I prefer using a firmer mattress. Personally I have been using the Ergoflex under a memory foam or latex topper but all firmer mattresses work for me its just  a matter of how much or how little bounce I want.

Now I have to add that after I tried the Leesa Luxury Hybrid for about 6 weeks I went to switch back to the softer Casper. Having spent so long on the supportive pocket sprung Leesa Hybrid mattress Casper now felt as though the middle region where my hips were was now almost void of support having been fine before trying The Pocket Sprung Leesa Hybrid. This just goes to show how you really do adjust over time to a mattress and why it’s near impossible to say one mattress will suit over all others. Your preference will be slanted to what you are used to. I now missed the support of the Leesa Luxury Hybrid Mattress but that mattress had too much push-back for my liking on my tender lumbar region.
I am in the lucky position of being able to fine tune my bedding but I am hoping my experiences will show you how not only do you adjust to a feel but your preference will change with how your aches and pains are at a particular time. I have evolved from only being able to sleep on the firmer mattresses to sleeping on the softer mattresses as my back issues have improved. When I got the Otty it made such a difference to my bad back even though the firmness was uncomfortable the support was just what my back needed.
If asked to recommend a mattress to someone new to foam mattresses my first choice used to be the Leesa Original but Leesa Sleep no longer trade in the UK. I now consider Nectar one of the safest options for something a little on the softer side and the Emma Original for something on the firmer side. Memory foam lovers also have the option of the Ergoflex which has a similar firmness level to the Emma Original but less bounce and better motion transfer properties. It is very individual of course.
In terms of sheer value I have to give a shout out to Otty which has surprised me in what it offers at the price. It provides the most deep support and good point elasticity. The densities of the foams used are a little lower than I might be comfortable with long term but they are CertiPur certified, again amazing at the price. They do a decent pillow too, also certified by CertiPur. Then again Nectar gives you a full year to trial your mattress, quite amazing. Also a shout out to the budget bargain Vesgantti Luxe which I also had a decent sleep on.
Good luck with whatever you choose!