You might have heard a family member or friend tell you that you should flip or adjust your mattress every so often. But do you really need to do this, and if so, why? As we explain in this article, yes, you should be rotating or flipping your mattress, and more often than you might think. We also discuss the different ways you should be adjusting your mattress, the reasons why adjusting your mattress is important, and if the type of mattress you have matters.
Mattress Care
Adjusting Your Mattress
Before we get into frequency, we have to distinguish between different sorts of mattress adjustments. Rotating or turning your mattress involves spinning it 180 degrees so that the top left is now the bottom right and vice versa. The mattress shifts, but the top stays on top and the bottom remains the bottom.
Flipping your mattress, on the other hand, involves rotating the top and the bottom such that they switch places. After you flip your mattress, you lay down on what used to be the bottom portion.
The main reason that adjusting your mattress is recommended is because it helps care for your mattress and ensures it lasts as long as possible. Consistently adjusting your mattress helps fight against sagging in any one portion of the mattress by spreading out the load more evenly. By reducing sagging, you’re more likely to maintain a consistent level of support in your mattress, and, as a result, enjoy comfort throughout the entire mattress, for a longer period of time.
How Often Should I Adjust My Mattress?
So, how often should you flip, turn, or rotate your mattress? The answer is that it depends on the type of mattress that you have, but generally every 3 months or so.
For a particular model mattress, the manufacturer will often provide guidelines for how often they recommend adjustments, ranging from every 3 months to once a year. We recommend following the manufacturer’s recommendations, but if you’re unsure or no recommendations are provided, use your discretion and take stock of how it’s doing every 3 months. Have you noticed any changes in comfort, wear, or visible signs of dips or sags? If so, it’s time to rotate or flip your mattress.
If you have a double-sided mattress, it usually needs to be flipped at least every six months and rotated every three months as well.
If you have a single-sided mattress, you should not flip your mattress. It needs to stay on the same side throughout its life because it’s designed to only have a single top and bottom. These are mattresses with a top comfort layer stacked on top of the base layers (whether it’s spring, foam, or other materials). However, you should typically still rotate it about once every 3 months.
Mattress Usage
If you feel like your mattress is sagging when you lay down at night, or if you can see dips developing on the top surface of the mattress, use your own discretion and rotate and/or flip it, so that a different part of the mattress gets more use. If needed, you could do this more (or less) frequently than every 3 months. Many brand-new mattresses, for instance, likely won’t need to be flipped or rotated right away, while many older mattresses will probably need to be adjusted more often.
When considering whether and when to flip your personal mattress, keep in mind that how you use it will partly determine how often it will need to be adjusted. For example, if you are using a mattress consistently every night, it is more likely to sag quickly, and you should probably adjust it every 3 months. Compare this to the mattress in the guest bedroom that gets used sparingly, which will not need to be adjusted as often (maybe every 6 or 8 months).
In addition, are you the only person sleeping on the mattress, or do you share it with a partner? If you’re the only one sleeping on it, you may start to notice dips or wear on the only side that’s being used. In that case, it’s important to rotate it to ensure that support and comfort don’t significantly diminish on that side.
Even if you do share a mattress with a partner, it’s possible that they are not the same weight as you, or they may sleep in different positions. In either case, rotating and/or flipping your mattress can help ensure a more even amount of wear on each side.
Mattress Adjustments
Adjusting your mattress, either through rotating or flipping it, helps add to the lifespan of your mattress. It aids in maintaining the quality of the mattress, by ensuring that support and comfort are not lost. If you’re suspecting that the lifespan of your mattress has come to an end, refer to this guide to choosing the best mattress to serve your needs.
