A good mattress is one of the most important purchases of your life. Your mattress not only helps you sleep comfortably, it also can help mitigate health issues when it comes to your muscles or spine. While we do have a list of some of the best mattresses on the market, these can get expensive, and might not be in the price range for those who need a solution right now. As such, these mattresses — discounted in today’s mattress sales — we have listed here are friendlier on the wallet, while still providing health and sleep benefits.
The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress — from $499
Why Buy
- Great for lightweight stomach and side sleepers
- Medium firmness provides both support and comfort
- 12 inches of memory foam
- Great value
The Nectar memory foam mattress is the flagship model of Resident Home, and for a good reason. Being made of 12 inches of memory foam, it provides a lot of comfort and support, and is ideal for those who are light to medium weight or roughly below 230 pounds. The top 3 inches of the comfort layer are made of memory foam, and do a good job of contouring the body and relieving any pressure. Below that is a 1.5-inch polyfoam transition layer, followed by a 6.5-inch high-density polyfoam for the support core. Put them all together, and you get a mattress made to hug you as you sleep while still providing relatively good support for your spine and body shape.
Mid-weight side sleepers will probably enjoy this mattress the most, as it lets them sink in slightly and provide good pressure relief while still supporting the spine and allowing for a healthy alignment. The same applies to mid-weight back sleepers, where the Nectar offers good lumbar support. As for light- to mid-weight stomach sleepers, this bed will be perfect given that it provides enough support for the belly and hips to maintain alignment.
As for other features, the Nectar does a good job of motion isolation, which is something a lot of memory foam beds excel at, although the Nectar is slightly above average. Unfortunately, it does suffer the same problem as all-foam mattresses when it comes to edge support, although given it’s a flagship, it still does better than lower-end or cheaper models, and for most, it shouldn’t truly be an issue. As for heat retention, the use of a gel-infused foam for the comfort layer helps prevent too much body heat-accumulating, especially given that memory foam tends to conform to the body and trap heat.
Layla Memory Foam Mattress — from $599
Why Buy
- Great for those who sleep hot
- Flippable mattress allows you to pick different firmness
- Great for back or side sleeping
- Memory foam that sinks in
The Layla memory foam mattress is unique in the industry, as it features both a firm side and a soft side, meaning that you can flip it according to which size fits you better. The firm side is above average in firmness, so it is great for mid-weight side and back sleepers, while the soft side is below average in firmness and gives that traditional hugging feeling of memory foam, making it better for lightweight side and back sleepers. The total size is 10 inches, and the soft side starts with 3 inches of copper-infused foam for the comfort layer, a 2-inch polyfoam transition layer, another 4-inch polyfoam support core, and then finally a 1-inch of copper-infused memory foam, which constitutes the comfort layer of the firm side.
Given the smaller comfort zone on the firm side, the firmer side is pretty well suited for heavier-set back and side sleepers, as it provides much firmer support to the lumbar support region and help healthily support the spine. Of course, lightweight folks, meaning those at or under 130 pounds, are likely to enjoy the softer side more, while mid-weight side and back sleepers around the 140- to 200-pound mark will find the soft side quite soft and provide more of a hugging feel. If you are a mid-weight sleeper and don’t like the feeling that comes with memory foam, the firm side will provide you with better support and make you feel as if you’re sleeping on the bed rather than in the bed, so to speak.
One thing you may have noticed earlier is the mention of copper-infused foam, and that works well toward dissipating heat and mitigating the traditional issue with memory foam when it comes to absorbing heat. The copper layer also provides great anti-bacterial properties to add that extra level of assurance. The only real downside is the lack of edge support that is common on all-foam mattresses, although you’ll find that the firmer side provides slightly more support than the softer side, and Layla does offer a hybrid flippable mattress, which has foam and springs that might suit you better if you prefer more edge support.
The DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress — from $699
Why Buy
- Has great bounce
- Great edge support
- Luxury brand at budget prices
- Works for any sleeping position
Coming in at a pretty considerable 14 inches, the DreamCloud mattress is considered deep-pocketed, so the usual bedding might not necessarily fit, and you’ll need to get something specific to this size. The top layer is gel-infused memory foam, followed by a polyfoam transition layer and a thick layer of individually wrapped coils. Interestingly enough, the support-layer coils also sit on another thin layer of polyfoam, adding just a little bit of extra comfort to the overall experience.
Speaking of comfort, this mattress’s firmer design and coiled aspect mean that it’s great for nearly any sleeping orientation, whether it’s a side, back, or stomach. For side-sleepers, if you are at or below 130 pounds, you won’t feel as much cradling and pressure relief, but you will feel quite a bit of support, whereas if you weigh over 130 pounds, you’ll find more cradling and pressure relief with less support. As for stomach and back sleepers, regardless of size or weight, you’ll almost certainly find that the support given by the firmness of the coils is just about right and will provide enough spine, hip, or stomach support to promote a healthy spine shape and relieve pressure.
One interesting part about the DreamCloud hybrid mattress is that the cover has sewn-in polyfoam to give an additional layer of comfort. Not only that, but the cashmere cover is excellent at drawing away both heat and moisture from bodies so that you don’t experience the sort of sweat heat that you might with other mattresses. One downside is that, because of the coils, there’s little movement isolation, so if your partner moves a lot, you’re going to feel it. On the upside, it has much better edge support than an all-foam mattress, so you can use the whole surface of the mattress to sleep on.
TEMPUR Cloud Mattress — from $1329
Why Buy
- Ideal for side-sleepers
- A budget Tempur-Pedic mattress
- 10-year warranty
- Excellent pressure relief
If you aren’t familiar with Tempur-Pedic, it has a considerable pedigree, being the first company to offer an all-foam mattress on the market, and opening the floodgates for all the subsequent all-foam products. It’s grown massively since then and is considered on the pricier end of mattresses, and so the TEMPUR-Cloud is a great entry into the Tempur-Pedic line of mattresses. Coming in at 10 inches, the comfort layer is 1.75 inches of TEMPUR foam, followed by a transition layer made of 1.75-inch thicker TEMPUR foam, and then finally, a 6.5-inch layer of polyphone for the support core.
Tempurpedic foam is known for being good at shaping to the body, and for those who enjoy the hugging feel of a mattress, this will be perfect. Lightweight sleepers will find the overall experience quite comfortable, although side-sleeping is a great experience regardless of weight and size. Back and stomach sleepers under 130 pounds will also find a great experience, and those between 130 and 230 pounds will find the back experience great.
A big advantage of the Tempur-Pedic mattress is that it has excellent motion isolation, so if your partner or yourself tend to move a lot in your sleep, this will dampen it much better than even most foam mattresses. Unfortunately, this mattress does suffer from the same issue that all-foam mattresses do when it comes to edge support. Similarly, the Tempur-Pedic tends to grab heat given how extreme the body molding is, and so for those who sleep hot or live in hot climates, this might be a bit of a dealbreaker.
When Is the Best Time To Shop the Mattress Sales?
There’s both good news and better news about timing your shopping for mattress sales. The good news is that mattresses are virtually always on sale. Sometimes the elements of the mattress deals are packages of accessories such as pillows, mattress pads, and sheeting. So anytime you go shopping for a new mattress, even if you don’t get a break on the mattress list price, you’ll still save — potentially a lot — on accessories that you might not have budgeted for but would like. For example, who wants to put an old mattress pad on a new bed? And who doesn’t appreciate a new pillow?
The even better news about mattress sales is that mattress manufacturers and retailers periodically take more significant discounts off list prices and add other deals and bonuses to sweeten the deals — and they run these supercharged sales events simultaneously. It might seem counter-intuitive to run a sale when your competitors are also having a sale. But since mattress sellers compete with each for the same customers based on mattress quality and features in addition to price, they all benefit from simultaneous sales because doing so ramps up the excitement.
If you are shopping for a new mattress from necessity because you’re adding a bed to your home or your current mattress was damaged by fire, smoke, water, or whatever and needed immediate replacement, you may not have much of a chance to wait for a big multi-brand sale.
Mattress sellers leverage the excitement of multi-brand sales that occur around significant events, such as Presidents Day or Black Friday, for two examples, to boost their business volumes by attracting people who might shop because of a desire to upgrade but not a necessity. The extra excitement, and significantly deeper discounts, result in more business for all.
The bottom line is it’s always a good time to shop mattress sales, but with a major seasonal selling event, you can save even more — often much more.
How To Choose a Mattress
We get that choosing a mattress can be confusing. The vast range of materials, construction methods, comfort, and personal fit is compounded by prices that range from “not-too-bad” to “are-you-out-of-your-mind?” But in the end, it needn’t be too difficult to find the right mattress that works for you, providing the support and comfort you need for a good night’s sleep, all at a price that doesn’t lay waste to your budget.
- Construction: The main factors to consider about construction are the design and materials as they contribute to support, comfort, and durability. Traditional box-spring mattresses have given way to layers of memory foam. Hybrid designs include one or more layers of springs or coils with two or more foam layers. Extra attention to firm up the edges with some form of perimeter support can add to the life of the mattress and the ease of getting on and off.
- Comfort: Mattresses need to combine adequate support with enough give for comfort without hugging too tight, so you get too hot. Look for breathable foam layers with airflow contours and gel-infusion that can draw off heat and moisture. Most brands have long trial periods, from 90 to 365 days, so you can return the mattress to try another version of your original purchase that does the job properly. Look for brands that include free shipping both ways (including returns if needed) to save.
- Extras: You can add features such as extra antimicrobial covers, extra layers or extra-thick original layers, and more. Some higher-end mattresses have adjustable firmness for each side.
- Cost: Mattress costs range from a few hundred dollars for a twin size to several thousand for larger mattresses. Hybrid mattresses with advanced cooling and comfort features, including custom or adjustable firmness and adaptable frames, can also add to the cost.
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