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 can bring a new life to your bed.
Pillow top mattresses have extra padding sewn to the 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 sits right on top of your mattress, held in place by straps. They can range in thickness from an inch to eight inches. The thinner ones are not as supportive or cushioning but can hide lumps and bumps on your mattress.
Memory foam conforms to the body, providing comfort and pressure point relief. It also offers good motion isolation so that partners will not be disturbed as much by each other when changing positions in bed.
This topper is available in six bed sizes and is made in the U.S. using natural latex that’s sustainably farmed. It’s breathable, helping to keep the sleep surface cool and dry. It is encased with a cotton cover which looks and feels luxurious. It’s washable and hypoallergenic, resisting mildew and dust mites. It comes with a generous warranty.
Comfort
This mattress is made with foams which create a plush feeling and a 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 has a layer made of softer latex and a layer made of memory foam.
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’s also affordable and comes with a generous 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 has a thick layer of soft material that is glued or stitched to the mattress cover. It is usually between 2 and four inches thick and made from a variety of 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. This is often unavoidable, but rotating the mattress every few months can help prolong its life. Also, pillow top mattresses tend to be deeper than standard mattresses, so it’s important to select sheets that can accommodate the additional cushioning.
Value
The Allswell mattress-in-a box is the newest offering from Walmart. It offers great value for $699 per 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 is available in a wide range of sizes, including California king and a huge 80 x 76-inch king for heavyweight couples.
As Tom’s Guide’s mattress expert, Claire is responsible for all sleep product testing for the site. She has years of product-testing experience and is a certified sleep coach to help readers find the best beds for them. She has written for The Spruce and Apartment Therapy as well as Livingetc. She loves to help readers find solutions to their sleep issues and wind down at night. Her favorite mattress is the Nest Bedding Alexander Medium Firm.