Don’t try the mattress in store

Germ-O-Phobic considerations aside, there are some very good reasons not to try the mattress in the store. It is nearly impossible to get a fair and accurate feel for a mattress when you are actualty in a mattress store.

Many of us have been there. We lay on a mattress in one setting, maybe at a hotel, a friend’s house or in the store and we fall in love with the feel of the mattress. The next step is to go buy that very same model and bring it home. Unfortunately, the first night on your new bed, in your own bedroom, you notice that it just feels wrong.

What happened?

The context changed. As humans we are so intimately influenced by our psychology and the setting in which we try something new that if any one of those elements changes, the entire experience feels completely different. This is one of the main reasons that buying a new mattress can be such a daunting challenge.

When you lay on a mattress in the store you are surrounded by factors and stressors that are completely different from your home. When the context, in which you enjoy a bed, changes you must expect your feelings about that bed to change.

1. In the store, you are laying on a mattress, with no sheets and a foot protector.
2. At home, you lay in you bed, with sheets and a comforter.
3. In the store you are wearing street clothes and possibly shoes
4. At home you are in your pajamas and barefoot
5. At the store, there is a salesperson that may or may not be actively pressuring you to make a purchase.
6. At home, you can relax and unwind
7. At the store it is the middle of the day
8. At home it is nighttime
9. At the store you usually lie on your back and stare up at the bright store lights and industrial store ceiling.
10. 10. In your home you can curl up in the dark with your blanket, pillow and relax.
11. 11. In the store you are on a mattress the has been used by many other people. You are (or should be) concerned about germs and the cleanliness of the mattress.

The 2 environments could only be more different if the you and the mattress were not the common factors. With such vast differences, it’s a wonder you even recognize the mattress you tried when you finally get it home.

For this reason, we strongly recommend that you do not “lay on” the mattress before you try it. The in-store trial creates expectations for a mattress that the in-home experience cannot match. It is nearly impossible for the mattress to seem the same when you finally get it home.

We believe that you should select a mattress based on a set of criteria for the feel and the construction but then sample the mattress with a fair and unbiased opinion in your own home, with an open mind and uninformed opinion. This is part of the rationale behind our 90-night in home trial. We want you to make a fair and honest judgment of the mattress in your pajamas and in the comfort of your own home.