How often should you turn a new mattress? This actually depends on the type of mattress and its usage. Let’s review how often you should turn a new mattress, taking these various factors into account.
Turning Mattresses
If you have a one-sided mattress, one way to even out wear and extend its life is to turn the mattress. You should only turn the mattress 180 degrees, head to toe. Don’t sleep on a mattress sideways. Many mattresses put the recommended turning interval on the warranty. The standard advice is to turn the mattress every three to six months.
If you’re putting mattress pads and extra foam layers on top of your mattress, you could eliminate the need to turn it altogether unless you’re actually wearing down the springs or the memory foam retains your body imprint long after you leave bed. One of the attractions of the two sided mattress is that you could flip it over and sleep on the “clean” side if a child had an accident on the top.
You can eliminate this issue by putting protective covers on the mattress, and then you should replace that when it is stained instead of trying to flip the mattress to cope after the fact.
Turning Over a Mattress
Turning over a mattress by flipping it over is a time-tested way to extend its life and counter sagging. Unfortunately, most new mattresses are not made to be flipped over, a trend that began in 2000 with the Simmons’ brand no-flip design. This trend accelerated when 2007 fire safety regulations required mattresses in the United States to meet strict fire safety standards, and it was simpler (and cheaper) to create a one sided mattress that met these standards instead of a two sided mattress.
This means that most modern mattresses are not made with two surfaces that you can sleep on. You can still find a few 2 sided mattresses. For these models, the warranty actually suggests turning and flipping the mattress over four times a year. If you own one of these mattresses, flip it every few months.
If the foam and padding on the “top” of the mattress has been worn down on both sides of the bed, the solution isn’t flipping it or turning it but replacing the mattress. And if you’ve worn down the padding on a one sided mattress, you won’t be comfortable sleeping on the support layer, so replace the mattress.
Solutions Other than Turning and Flipping Mattresses
A new mattress that is sagging heavily in the middle may not need to be turned but actually need proper support in the middle of the bed. Leaving out those middle supports will cause new mattresses to sag in a way that turning it cannot fix. All types of mattresses can sag on the edges if you sit there while getting dressed.
Turning the mattress to reduce the load on those spots extends the life of the mattress and can be done as soon as you notice the sagging, but the better long term solution is to sit in a chair by the bed to put on your shoes instead of the corner of the bed. And if your kids are jumping on the bed, get them a trampoline instead. They’re wearing out the coils in the mattress in a way that turning and flipping the mattress won’t fix.