How to choose the best air mattress for everyday use
Blow up air mattresses have come a long way since they were simply a thin layer of air that barely hovered off the ground. Air mattresses are traditionally known to not even be full of air the following morning. Too many people have woken up laying on the ground after a night on air mattresses and luckily, the narrative for air mattresses has changed in recent years.
The primary use of air mattresses is that they’re easy to store, easy to set up, and simple to pack up on the go. If you have an air mattress stashed away in the closet, all of a sudden when family come over to sleep, you have an extra bed.
There are various types of air mattresses to choose from and they depend on the owner’s style and comfort levels. While it’s rare that somebody would sleep on an air mattress on the regular, they’ve become comfortable enough in the past decade that it wouldn’t be insane to blow up a mattress and sleep on it for a lengthy period of time. Raised mattresses are a type of air beds that are easy to set up and they sit low to the ground. Raised mattresses look very similar to traditional beds once inflated and tend to be very comfortable. Other options include the convertible air bed, which can inflate into the same shape of a couch or a large chair. These are ideal for if you have a lot of people over and maybe not so much furniture. They’re also very popular with kids to set up during movie night as a perfect option to doze off on with a movie playing (not to mention, they’re great to build forts with!) Other air mattresses to consider are self-inflatable mattresses that have a pump built in, which makes it a clear advantage when needing to inflate them. The self-inflatables have a tiny pump and motor and can be blown up with the simple flick of a switch.
Generally, the comfort level of an air mattress will be related to how thick the beds are and it’s something you need to consider when choosing. You’ll want some thickness when sleeping on an air mattress, specifically because they can deflate a bit while you’re sleeping on them, especially during cold nights. Nobody wants to wake up on a cold floor, those days should be over. Because it’s inevitable that air mattresses deflate, you’re going to want to start off your sleep with a mattress that is as thick as possible. While being a touch more expensive, memory foam air mattresses have become more popular throughout the industry. You still blow it up with air but the make-up is with foam and helps to contour your body which helps to alleviate aches and pains. Obviously, a memory foam air mattress won’t be as effective as its traditional counterpart, but they tend to be a lot more comfy than old-school plastic air beds.
Just like regular beds, inflatable beds come in a variety of different sizes which range from twin to king. When choosing an air mattress, you’ll need to decide what its primary use will be. If you’re just looking to choose an air mattress for when you go camping, a twin or full size bed might come in handy. But, if you’re looking for an air mattress to be able to pull out when you have guests sleeping over, a queen or king size might be best. If you can’t offer your guest prime comfort like regular beds, you might as well offer them size.
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The most common air mattress size is the queen. It’s big enough to comfortably sleep two adults and it won’t take up as much space as the king size.
When it comes to choosing an air mattress, it’s most difficult chore is the actual pumping up of the mattress. After a few glasses of wine near bed time, you don’t exactly feel like preparing your bed for sleep. With that said, while choosing an air mattress, you’ll want to get a pump that makes inflation convenient. Most models will require a foot or hand pump and if you don’t feel like putting in sweat to go to sleep, you can consider choosing models that have electric or built-in pumps. Some use batteries and some need to be plugged in to pump in the air. Automatic pumps are great choices because some provide the ability to pump air back into the mattress during the night which is optimal for people who don’t want to wake up on the floor.
When choosing an air mattress, you’ll also want to consider your pets. Figure that sharp claws and air mattresses don’t really go together and a hole in your mattress will effectively make it useless. There are always patches that you can buy and heavy-duty adhesives but once you start putting chemicals onto your mattress, you might want to just ditch it altogether.
You’ll also want to consider mattresses that have good air holding ability because getting as much air between you and the ground is the number one priority for comfort when it comes to sleeping on air beds.
In the end, be sure you’re choosing an air mattress that can provide enough comfort, comes in a size that fits your needs, and can hold a lot of air. It’s always a bonus to get a mattress that comes with a warranty or some time of protection, especially considering if it gets a hole, it’s done for.
To make air mattresses feel like regular ones, a topper is a great way to add more comfort on the top layer.
Just remember to never overfill your mattress and put it in a spot that is free for sharp angles. Again, your goal is to always sleep comfortably and a popped mattress won’t do anyone any good.
