A familiar scene: The mattress you tested — poked at and prodded, and perhaps even rolled on for a few minutes — went from, “This is perfect!” in the showroom, to “Why the heck is this thing so firm?” once you got it home.
Since you spend up to a third of your life on your mattress, settling for one that’s too firm and that you find uncomfortable is really just out of the question.
Luckily, there are a number of options available to you for softening up your mattress!
How to Make a Firm Mattress Softer — 4 Things You Can Try
If you’ve come to the conclusion that your mattress is too hard and is affecting your ability to sleep at night, you’re going to want to find a way to make the mattress softer.
Thankfully, there are a variety of things you can try! Here are six of the top methods to make your hard mattress softer.
1) Purchase a Soft Mattress Topper or Mattress Pad
One of the easiest, quickest, and most effective ways to increase the softness of a mattress is through a pad or topper.
A thin pad or mattress topper is essentially just a layer you add to a mattress’s top in order to make it more comfortable.
If you’re really looking to increase both contouring and comfort, the thicker topper is probably going to be a better choice here.
Toppers sell in a variety of thicknesses, and can be made from foam, wool, latex, and even goose down. Foam is by far the most common and popular topper material, particularly for those looking for a softer mattress feel.
For a deeper dive into what a topper can do for you — and what you should be looking for when you buy one — check out our topper guide.
2) Break In Your New Mattress
Much like a new pair of shoes, a new mattress will require a breaking-in period before it starts to feel truly comfortable.
And these periods are real — many mattress companies won’t even consider returns until you’ve gone through the mattress’ recommended break-in period.
So, how long does a mattress break-in last? The length of time that this process takes can vary, depending on the type of mattress you have.
Latex mattresses have the shortest break-in time, usually around two weeks. Next are innerspring mattresses, which can take around 30 days to break in.
The longest break-in times are usually found with memory foam mattresses, which can sometimes take up to 60 days to reach their maximum comfort point.
Hybrid mattresses can vary, depending on the combination of materials they are made from.
One of the best ways to speed up this process is to simply use the mattress. Sleep in it every night, and lie in it to watch TV, read, or even catch up on work, if you can.
Even when you’re not lying in it, you can still help the break-in time along by walking on the bed, crawling on it, or even rolling on it.
If you’d like to know more about the mattress break-in process, we’ve covered this topic in greater depth here!
3) Flip or Rotate Your Mattress
Is your mattress flippable? Fantastic!
Some mattresses are actually made with a different firmness on each side. As such, the key to a softer mattress may be as simple as just flipping it over.
Even if the mattress is not flippable, it’s still a good idea to flip it and/or rotate it 180 degrees occasionally to even out the wear and prevent the mattress from sagging (which is often a result of the mattress becoming too compressed).
4) Warm the Room a Little (For Our Memory Foam Users!)
One of memory foam’s primary features is the way it reacts to your body’s warmth by softening up, which allows it to contour to your body better.
If you find that your memory foam mattress is too firm, you can try this approach with the entire mattress in one of two ways.
First, try raising the thermostat in your bedroom a bit so the overall temperature of the space is a little warmer.
Second, you can try using an electric blanket to heat up the mattress before retiring for the night.
When All Else Fails, Invest In a Softer Mattress
So, you’ve tried all the tips above and you’re still finding your mattress to be too firm. What’s next?
At this point, it may be time to throw in the towel and admit it: you need a new mattress.
The best time for this realization to hit is relatively soon after purchasing your too-firm mattress. This is because the majority of mattresses sold include a sleep trial period, sort of a “try before you buy” that lasts several weeks or months.
During this you can return a mattress, no questions asked.
You should be able to either trade it in for a mattress that better fits your sleeping needs, or get your money back to try again with another seller.
Before you purchase a replacement, it’s important to research the difference between plush and firm mattresses. Armed with this knowledge, you will significantly increase your chances of finding the perfect mattress.
When Is a Mattress Too Firm for You?
If you experience any of the following problems, then you may be sleeping on a mattress that’s better compared to a pile of bricks than a fluffy cloud:
- Joint pain in the shoulders and hips. This is the most common complaint by those sleeping on a mattress that is too firm. Side sleepers who rest with most of their weight on their shoulders and hips are particularly susceptible to this type of pain.
- Muscle pain. Waking with any sort of muscle pain on a consistent basis is a sign that your mattress is not working for you.
- Neck pain or a stiff neck. If you wake in the morning with a stiff neck or any sort of neck pain, it could be a sign that you are sleeping on a too-firm mattress, or that you are using a pillow that is not designed for your preferred sleep position.
- Tension on your pressure points as you sleep. A too-firm mattress can increase the pressure on various points of your body as you sleep, causing misalignment and pain.
- Waking stiffness. Do you often wake with stiffness, but find that you can stretch it out if you work at it for 15 minutes or so? This is a sign that your mattress may be too firm for you.
- No contouring to your body. If it feels like you’re laying atop your mattress instead of sinking into it — at least somewhat — this is a sign that it’s not providing what you need. A common complaint from lighter-weight sleepers on a too-firm mattress.
Get That Good Night’s Sleep You Deserve
Finding the right mattress can be difficult. Sleepers of different body weight and even size will have different ideas about what a comfortable mattress is.
So will those with different preferred sleep positions or even physical ailments — both of which can make a firmer mattress the less comfortable option!
If you find yourself in search of a better mattress after a bad, too-firm experience, we at MattressInsider offer a complete line of mattresses available in custom sizes and of various types — all made to best suit your restful sleeping needs!
