Can you restore a failing bed or mattress?

In some cases there are certain things that can be done to revitalise a mattress, however, there is a point beyond which any mattress cannot be repaired and you should never try to do so.

So what can be done and what are the choices.

• To start with no mattress can be repaired or made realistically usable if any of the following are the case –
  
• The mattress is broken or has collapsed.


• The ticking is torn or ripped.


• Some of the springs have failed, are not functioning, or have broken.


• There are significant and noticeable deflections in the mattress.


• There are noticeable lumps or hard points in the mattress.

When can remedial action be taken

Once a mattress has started to fail that is the end of its life. However, if a mattress is still flat and appears to have no problem with its springs, there is a life enhancing and possibly extending option that some people choose to take. This option is to place a mattress topper over the mattress. Most people who buy a topper do so primarily to change the feel of the mattress rather than to try and renovate it.

Importantly, a mattress topper will not make an old mattress feel like new, nor will it make a low quality mattress feel like a much more expensive one. Even so, many people believe that a good quality topper can improve the feel of an older mattress and, by using a material like memory foam, the mattress can actually be made to feel quite different.

What is a mattress topper

Mattress toppers are really nothing more than additional layers of foam, feathers, or natural wool that work like an extra layer added to an existing mattress. In other words they supplement the mattress by giving it an additional thickness of padding and support. The topper will normally sit on top of the mattress and is held in place by elasticised straps that fit around the mattress corners.

Toppers come in different thicknesses and with different material fillers and they are made to standard bed sizes. Many of the most popular toppers are filled with visco elastic memory foam which may be in sheet or shredded form. Duck feathers and goose down are another popular choice and latex and organic wool toppers, whilst less popular, can also be found.

The price of toppers varies considerably with cheap foams being the cheapest and memory foams, with a thickness of 2 ½ to 3 inches deep being the most expensive. Which type of topper to buy is the big decision. An expensive topper “may” improve your sleeping, however if it does not it may also have cost you as much to buy as a cheap open coil mattress. For this reason buying a topper to rejuvenate an old bed or mattress is always a bit of a gamble.

On the plus side, you do not need to discard a topper when you throw away the mattress. Equally, if a topper is very comfortable you can transfer it to any other bed, or even take it with you when you sleep away from home.