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Sleep hygiene: is the wrong mattress affecting your sleep quality?
If the extra daylight and season change means you're keen for a spring clean of sorts, what better place to start than with your sleep quality. We've pulled together top expert tips to spruce up your sleep hygiene routine - and compiled the best deals in the latest mattress sales.
Given we spend on average 26 years of our life asleep, according to retailer Dreams, if your mattress is old you could potentially be sleeping on years and years of sweat, dead skin cells or bacteria. Not to mention a mattress that may not be giving you the best support for your back.
A new season is a great excuse to invest in a new mattress and take the time to sort out a good sleep hygiene routine. While a mattress can be an expensive purchase, our tests have found that the most expensive mattresses aren't always the best.
Mattress deals are on offer throughout the year, so how do you know when's good to buy? We've put our unique expertise into a new guide on the best mattress deals for 2021. Here you'll find the lowdown on the best deals on offer, which ones represent real savings, and when is the best time to buy - and you can check back every month to see what's on offer.
Plus, we've pulled together top tips on how to buy a mattress and handy NHS advice on creating a good sleep hygiene routine. We've done all the hard work to help you get a good night's sleep.
Our best mattress deals for 2021 guide reveals how to get a bargain in the mattress sales.
What is sleep hygiene?
There are many benefits of getting a good night's sleep, but some of us can only dream of achieving a full night's slumber, especially if you've got a new baby, have a house full of small children, or pets.
This aside, if you have trouble falling asleep, creating a good bedtime - or sleep hygiene - routine can help. The NHS has tips on how to create a better bedtime:
- Sleep at regular times Creating a bedtime routine can help to create healthy habits when it comes to sleep. Setting a regular bedtime and getting up at the same time, should help set a routine for your brain and internal body clock.
- Skip screen time There are many reports about the negative effects on electronics and screen time before bed, so ditch these and spend time concentrating on winding down before bed.
- Wind down The NHS suggests many different ways to wind down, including a warm bath, reading a book, relaxation exercises or meditation, such as the Headspace sleep wind down meditations - which you can leave running while you close your eyes and relax.
- Give your bedroom a makeover If your bedroom isn't the most relaxing place, the NHS lists a number of things which can cause issues in your bedroom including TVs and other electronic gadgets, light, noise, and a bad mattress or bed.
- Our top tip would be toinvest in a new mattress A bad mattress may only add to poor sleep. If your mattress is a few years old and doesn't offer the support you need anymore, now could be a good time to make the most of the mattress sales.
See our top buying tips below if you're ready to buy, or head to our mattress deals page.
Just want a mattress now? Head to our Top 10 mattresses for 2021 where you'll find our top-scoring mattresses.
We'd always recommend trying a mattress out in a shop to get a real feel for it, but if shops are shut due to local restrictions, or you're not quite comfortable venturing back out just yet, we've pulled together our top tips for buying online.
- Research When you buy online you're protected by consumer law. But do your research first - read our mattress reviews and opt for a model that best fits your sleeping style. We have picks for front, side and back sleepers, people who fidget a lot, and those that tend to get too hot or cold.
- Use trial nights offers Find out whether your chosen mattress has a trial period, how long this lasts and how you return it once the trial is up if you're not happy. Look for any hidden costs involved, and whether you have to return the mattress back in the original packaging or not.
- Read the T&Cs Yes, we know this isn't the most exciting thing to be doing with your time, but it's so important to be absolutely clear about what may affect your purchase. Check what's included in the terms and conditions, and see if anything could affect you, for example is there a weight limit for the mattress you've chosen?
- Know your rights If you change your mind, you're entitled to a 14-day cooling-off period from the date you receive goods, meaning you can cancel your order at anytime from the moment you place your order up to 14 days from the date it arrives.
- Measure up Measure your bed frame's base, especially if you've had it for a while. Dimensions can vary, so don't rely on a new double mattress being exactly the same size as your old one. It's worth getting your tape measure out to avoid a troublesome error.
Easter is a traditional time for mattress sales to crop up, but don't panic if you're not ready to buy just yet. We've been tracking mattress sales for a few years, and we've spotted you'll tend to see a flurry of special offers and discounts as we approach key sales periods - such as Easter, bank holidays, Black Friday and offers in the January sales.
Whatever you buy, it won't matter how much money you've saved in a Black Friday deal if the mattress you end up with isn't suitable for how you sleep.
We test mattresses for front, back and side sleepers, and we reveal how breathable, warm or cool a mattress is. Plus, we put them through tough durability tests, simulating 10 years of use, to find out whether they'll maintain their support for years to come.
That's why it's always worth reading our mattress reviews and comparing test results to make sure you invest wisely.