Top Mattresses For Comfort and Style
Maybe you’re not quite ready for a new mattress, or maybe your old one has lost its comfort. The right top mattress will breathe new life into your bed.
Pillow top mattresses are padded mattresses with extra padding sewn on top of the mattress cover. They are usually comfortable, but not suitable for all sleeping styles.
Support
A mattress topper is an inexpensive way to give your bed a comfortable makeover. It is placed directly on top of the mattress and is held in place with straps. They can vary in thickness from about an inch or two to as thick as eight inches or more. Thinner ones don’t usually offer much extra support or cushioning, but they can help hide lumps and bumps in your current mattress.
Memory foam conforms to the body, providing comfort and pressure point relief. It also provides good motion isolation, meaning partners won’t disturb each other as much when changing positions in bed.
This topper comes in six sizes and is made from sustainably cultivated natural latex in the U.S. It’s breathable, helping to keep the sleep surface cool and dry. It’s encased in a cotton cover that looks and feels luxurious. It is hypoallergenic and washable, and resists mildew and mites. It comes with a generous warranty.
Comfort
This mattress is built with foams that create a plush feel and medium amount of body contouring. It provides a solid support that can promote spinal alignment and relieve back pain. It’s great for those who sleep on their backs, stomachs, or sides.
It’s also flippable, so you can choose between a soft or firm side of the bed. It’s made with a layer of softer memory foam and a layer of firmer latex, so it’s ideal for all types of sleepers.
Comfort varies by person and can be hard to quantify, but this mattress has plenty of positive feedback from our team, including anecdotal evidence like waking up without back pain or never sweating through sheets. It is also affordable and comes a generous 30-day trial period. However, it doesn’t have the same cradling feel as an all-foam model and tends to compress around the edges more than some other mattresses. You’ll also need a deep fitted sheet to properly cover it.
Durability
A pillow top mattress is one with a thick, soft layer that is stitched or glued to the mattress’ outer cover. It’s usually between 2 and 4 inches thick and can be made of many different materials.
The cushioned top helps to reduce pressure at key points such as the hips and shoulders. It also evenly distributes weight for a better sleep. This is particularly important for those with shoulder, back or hip pain.
Unfortunately, pillow top mattresses have a tendency to sag over time. It is difficult to avoid this, but rotating your mattress every few months will help extend its life. Pillow top mattresses are usually deeper than standard mattresses. It is important to choose sheets that will accommodate the extra cushioning.
Value
The Allswell is the latest mattress-in-a-box from Walmart, and it offers great value at $699 for a queen. It’s a hybrid bed with layers of temperature-regulating foam and copper-gel-infused memory foam. It isn’t as plush as the top ten mattresses but is still comfortable enough for most people.
It also has a very good edge support for a foam mattress. It comes in a variety of sizes including California king, and a huge 80 by 76-inch King for heavyweight couples.
Claire is Tom’s Guide’s expert on mattresses. She is responsible for testing all sleep products for the website. She has years of experience in product testing and is a certified Sleep Coach to help readers find their perfect bed. She formerly covered home and bedroom buys for Real Homes, and has also written for The Spruce, Apartment Therapy, and Livingetc. She loves to help readers find solutions to their sleep issues and wind down at night. Her favorite mattress is Nest Bedding Alexander medium firm.