How Long Does The Average Mattress Last?

There are few major pieces of furniture that take as much punishment as your mattress, and there is a connection between the quality, health and hygiene of your mattress and your overall health.

As the Sleep Foundation points out, you spend eight hours almost every night on it, and a bad night’s sleep can have huge effects on your mental and physical health.

This is why ensuring that your mattress is comfortable and clean with the help of a dedicated enzyme-based odour remover is so essential. It is also why you should vacuum your mattress and flip it around so it will not wear too much on one side.

At some point, however, it is time to get a mattress replaced, but given that mattresses are expensive, bulky items that are difficult to dispose of, let alone recycle, many people will use their mattresses for far longer than they should.

How long does an average mattress last, and what are the telltale signs that you may need to replace it?

The Seven-Year Rule

The exact time before a mattress should be replaced will depend on the type of mattress, the brand, how you sleep, the materials used to make it and the bed frame it rests on, but in most cases, an innerspring, memory foam or hybrid mattress will tend to last between six and ten years.

The seven-year rule is, therefore, a good time to take stock of your existing mattress, how comfortable your sleep is on it and if you notice any odd smells or discomfort from it.

The more you use the mattress, the shorter its lifespan will be, which is why a guest room mattress might last considerably longer than one you sleep on every night. Similarly, if you regularly travel and thus spend fewer nights sleeping at home, your mattress will often last longer.

What Are The Telltale Signs That It Needs Replacing?

Most of the time, it is less about the exact age of the mattress and more about how it makes you feel which will determine if it needs replacing, although it can sometimes be easy to miss some of the signs.

Sleep quality is the biggest determiner of whether your mattress is doing a good enough job. If you have slept on any other mattress and gotten a more relaxing sleep, your mattress might be causing you more problems than you think.

Similarly, if you toss and turn regularly, wake up in pain or struggle to sleep consistently, it could be a case that either the mattress has aged and started to sink in places that are causing pressure points, or that the mattress was not the right fit for you in the first place.

Finally, as with most fabric and textile products, if it starts to turn yellow, this is a side effect of ageing. Mattresses can absorb sweat and allergens, particularly if they are not regularly cleaned, so if they stain, smell or seem to be causing allergy and asthma attacks, it could be your mattress that is to blame.