Spring and memory foam mattresses differ in various ways, but perhaps the most significant one is that they have completely different feels. You can expect a spring to be responsive and bouncy, while memory foam will typically hug your body and let you sink into the mattress, rather than lie on top of it.
Personally, I hate the ‘hugging’ sensation of traditional memory foam – I want to lie on top of my bed, not in it. Despite this, I still ditched my spring mattress and opted for the Nectar Luxe Memory Foam. And I’m so pleased I did.
Many of this year’s best mattresses combine both materials in a hybrid construction, offering both pressure relief and adaptive support. But the Nectar Luxe is an all-foam mattress, with 3 layers of dense foam, standing at an impressive 14”. Since I’ve started sleeping on it, my sleep has changed drastically, and for the better.
While innerspring mattresses tend to have a cheaper price tag than memory foam, the Black Friday mattress deals have reduced prices across our top-rated brands, so it’s the perfect time to invest in your next bed. But should it be spring or foam? Here’s what I think…
My old spring mattress vs my new memory foam
For context, I was sleeping on a fairly new Ikea spring mattress. It was a budget option, medium-firm, pocket sprung mattress. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, but my husband regularly got the dreaded dead arm when sleeping on his side and very occasionally you could feel the springs.
So, when the opportunity came our way to test a memory foam mattress, we gladly jumped at the chance. The mattress in question was the Nectar Luxe Memory Foam, and with Nectar being the brand behind this year’s best memory foam mattress, I had high hopes. I wasn’t disappointed.
Like the best mattresses in a box, the Nectar Luxe is vacuum packed and sealed in a box for easy transportation. It has a standard structure seen in many memory foam mattresses. It’s made from three layers, consisting of 3” pressure relieving foam, 3” of responsive support foam, and 8” of foundational foam. To top it off, it’s got a cooling soft-touch cover to help sleepers regulate their temperature throughout the night.
The brand describes it as a medium-firm feel, designed for sleepers to stay on top of the mattress with their spines aligned, rather than sink into it. This was good news for a claustrophobic sleeper like myself.
My first impressions of sleeping on a memory foam mattress
The first night sleeping on the memory foam mattress did take me by surprise. It’s a completely different feel to springs, and I had to become accustomed to the slow moving surface. If I turned over, I didn’t just settle into another position instantly – I had to wait for the foam to gradually contour to my new position. But when it did, it was incredibly comfortable.
The medium-firm feel also meant it wasn’t a million miles away from what I experienced with my old mattress, and once I had gotten into position (side sleeping for me), I enjoyed feeling my hips and shoulders gradually sink into the mattress just enough to relieve the pressure, but not enough to throw off my spine alignment. As a result, I fell asleep very quickly. For a more detailed report on my experience, head to the Nectar Luxe mattress review.
3 ways my sleep changed when I swapped to a memory foam mattress
After over a month of sleeping on a memory foam mattress, my sleep has changed drastically for the better. Here’s how.
I have stopped waking up in the night
Memory foam is notoriously good at isolating motion. Thanks to the dense foam, movement is not transferred from one side of the bed to the other. As my husband and I have very different sleep schedules (him being a night owl, me being an early riser), we’re used to waking each other up at all hours of the night.
However, on more than one occasion when sleeping on the Nectar Luxe, I have woken up and been genuinely shocked to see him sleeping next to me. I rarely feel a thing when he climbs into bed nowadays, meaning I don’t wake up. Similarly, I’m no longer disturbed if he’s tossing and turning during the night.
The overall result of nights with less disturbances is that the quality of my sleep has improved. I wake up feeling well rested and my energy levels remain stable and consistent throughout the day.
I sleep deeper
I had always thought that I was just someone who naturally moved around a lot in their sleep, switching sleeping positions constantly throughout the night. But, with a memory foam mattress, I've found I don’t need to keep changing the side of my body I'm sleeping on.
I now realize that I was only tossing and turning because of the pressure build up in my hips and shoulders. As a side sleeper, I need maximum pressure relief to sleep comfortably throughout the night, and the Nectar Luxe provided that. The 3” of pressure relieving foam perfectly contoured to my body, meaning I could stay sleeping on one side of my body the whole night, without any pain or pressure build up.
The feel of memory foam also makes it more difficult to keep switching positions, which I suspect had an impact on my habitual movements. The result? A deep and restful sleep with no aches and pains.
Sharing a bed is easier
Sharing a bed with someone you love is great, but sometimes it can feel like you’re sacrificing quality sleep for the opportunity to have a cuddle. Something that makes a huge difference is good edge support, and the Luxe does edge support superbly.
Because the mattress feels supportive right up to the perimeters, rather than falling away, sinking or collapsing, the bed feels a lot bigger than it is. My husband and I can both spread out, because we're able to sleep right up to the edge.
Good edge support also makes such a difference in the mornings. Sitting on the edge of your bed to get ready is easy, and climbing in and out of bed is a breeze.
Should you swap to a memory foam mattress?
Of course, memory foam mattresses aren’t for everyone. If you’re someone who tends to sleep particularly hot, it can be difficult to regulate your temperature throughout the night on a memory foam bed, as some can trap heat. However, there are more advanced foam beds with cooling tech built in. Check out our best cooling mattresses guide to find the right choice for you.
Similarly, if you’re a combination sleeper who enjoys changing position in the night, then the slow-moving nature of the material might be frustrating. Some cheaper memory foam mattresses can also sometimes produce a potent odour when first unpackaged. This is called off-gassing. If you’re particularly sensitive to smells or have asthma, you might be more sensitive to this so it's an important factor to be aware of. That said, most quality memory foam mattresses are unlikely to off-gas strongly, and any odor will dissipate quickly.
Aside from this, memory foam mattresses can be suitable for nearly all sleepers. Coming in a range of firmness levels, heights, and responsiveness, there’ll be a memory foam mattress suited to your sleep needs. And, switching to memory foam can help ease back pain and pressure points, leading to better sleep and better physical health. If you’re still not sure, read about what to expect after buying a memory foam mattress.
If you can’t decide, why not consider opting for both? The best hybrid mattresses combine springs and foam to create the ultimate supportive surface.
Is Black Friday a good time to buy a new mattress?
The short answer is yes. Black Friday is generally the best time to buy a new mattress as many top-rated brands offer their biggest discounts of the year. While some mattress companies can increase their MSRPs, meaning sales may not be as good as they seem, many of the offers are the best prices we’ve seen this year.
It’s also a good time to buy a new mattress because you’ll often get freebies thrown in with a bed purchase. Bedding bundles or additional discounts on sleep accessories are common, so even if the discount isn’t the biggest available, the value of your purchase will still be high.
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