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What Is the Best Firm Mattress?

Firm Mattress Buying Guide

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1
Solaire Mattress

Solaire Customizable

Solaire is a brand new adjustable air bed from Saatva. If you like to sleep in different positions or have had trouble settling on the right mattress firmness for you, the Solaire may be the answer.

  • Free white glove delivery & mattress removal
  • 25-year warranty
  • Allows for Personalized Firmness Settings
Google Shopping Ratings
4.85
BBB Rating:
A+
96
% Positive
READ EDITOR'S REVIEW
2
Best for Athletes
Molecule Mattress

MOLECULE™ Mattress

Experience MOLECULE Air-Engineered™ comfort and temperature regulation at an affordable price. The perfect combination of value and temperature-regulating features.

  • Lifetime Warranty
  • Responds to body temperature with evaporation and cooling
  • Air-Engineered™ to optimize sleep and recovery
  • Antimicrobial, Non-Toxic, Eco-Friendly Manufacturing
Google Shopping Ratings
2.5
BBB Rating:
NR
50
% Positive
3
Best for Back Pain
Loom & Leaf Mattress

Loom & Leaf (Relaxed Firm)

Loom & Leaf is Saatva’s luxury memory foam line and their answer to companies like Tempur-Pedic. While it’s priced slightly higher than some of those bed-in-a-box competitors, like Casper, the Loom & Leaf mattress far exceeds them in quality, making it absolutely worth the extra cost.

  • Free white glove delivery & mattress removal
  • 15-year warranty
  • Available in Relaxed Firm and Firm
Google Shopping Ratings
4.85
BBB Rating:
A+
96
% Positive
READ EDITOR'S REVIEW
4
Layla Mattress

Layla

Layla memory foam is great for people who want to have that deep hugging, sinking feeling—typically, this is ideal for any style sleepers who want to feel cradled by the conforming foam.

  • Antimicrobial Odor control with copper-infused memory foam
  • Flippable Mattress for Soft/Firm
  • Made in USA
  • 120-Night Trial
Google Shopping Ratings
4.4
BBB Rating:
A+
83
% Positive
5
Most Customizable
Helix Mattress

Helix Midnight Luxe

It’s a luxury, medium firm choice that provides great support and body-hugging whether you sleep on your stomach, back or side.

  • Labor Day Sale - Get Early Access
  • 100-Night Sleep Trial
  • Designed specifically for Side Sleepers
  • 15-Year Warranty
Google Shopping Ratings
4.6
BBB Rating:
A+
89
% Positive
READ EDITOR'S REVIEW

Is a Firm Mattress Right for Me?

Are you a stomach sleeper, back sleeper or on the heavier side, weight wise? If so, you’ll most likely get the best, most pain-free sleep possible from a firm mattress. Or, at least one on the firmer end of the spectrum. Side sleepers may sleep better on a mattress that has slightly more give, for optimal spinal alignment and pressure relief.

Regardless of your sleep type, you may simply prefer the feeling of sleeping “on top of,” rather than “in” your mattress. If that’s the case, a firm mattress is probably the right choice for you, as long as you’re not waking up with back, neck, hip or shoulder pain on a regular basis. The kind of pain that may result from poor spinal alignment or pressure points may be a sign that your mattress is too firm or too soft for you.

Thinking About a Firm Mattress

There are a lot of great firm mattress choices out there. Our favorite is Saatva, which is especially good for pressure relief and customizable support. Pocket coils provide just the right amount of flexibility and motion isolation. Notably, the Saatva is available in a firm option, which is about a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. The Saatva also provides layers of polyfoam, memory foam, and 2 inches of organic cotton. Including a 120-day trial period and a 15-year warranty, the Saatva offers fans of a firm mattress the optimal level of support.

The DreamCloud is another great option that provides superior pressure relief through a system of pocketed coils, as well as layers of foam. Like the Saatva, it is fantastically priced for its luxury quality and is great at isolating motion and keeping the sleeper cool. Unlike Saatva, the DreamCloud comes compressed in a box. But the DreamCloud is no small bed, at 15 inches thick.

If you want a memory foam bed and enjoy the conforming quality of that kind of mattress, look no further than the Loom & Leaf. It comes in a firmer option to provide the support for optimal spinal alignment that meets the needs of any stomach, back or heavier-set sleeper.

If you’re on a budget, a good choice is the medium-firm Nectar foam mattress. It comes with a surprising 365-day trial period, and a lifetime warranty. A layer of gel foam also makes the budget Nectar mattress good for keeping cool at night.

Finally, for an exceptional, firm-mattress sleep in the latex category, consider the luxurious Zenhaven flip-able mattress. The Zenhaven offers a different firmness on each side: a medium-soft, and a firm on the other. Backed by a 120-day trial period and a generous 20-year guarantee, the Zenhaven comes with free white glove delivery service that includes in-home setup and removal of your old mattress.

Tips for Choosing the Right Firmness

The most important factor in choosing the right mattress firmness for you is your size/weight. Whether you are a side, back or stomach sleeper is also important to consider. A side sleeper may want to go with a less-firm bed for more conformity and relief from pressure points. Whereas, a back or stomach sleeper would get better spinal alignment from a firm bed.

For average people between 130 and 230 pounds, a firmness of 5-6.5 on a 1-through-10 scale provides sufficient support. Lightweight stomach sleepers can still get adequate spinal support from a softer mattress (even a memory foam), but can certainly opt for a firmer mattress if they enjoy the feeling of a very supportive bed. Heavy stomach sleepers (over 230 pounds) get the best spinal support from a very firm mattress with a 6.5+ level of firmness.

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