When I was divorced, I sold my family home and moved to a 3 bedroom brand new house 12 years ago. I got rid of all the memories at a garage sale and started fresh with 3 brand new queen size beds and mattresses. I met my new husband who moved in and together we caused a big dip in the master bed. We don't know which room now has that dippy mattress, but ours is like new, so it must be one that rarely got used in a guest room. I hear that you should change your mattress every 10 years, but I think that was on a mattress commercial...?

I can't answer your question but I have a flippable mattress - it's pillow top and bottom. I love it!!

My experience is that they don't last as long as they used to. We have had our current one about 5 years old (and it wasn't cheap). It's already developing lumps and probably will need to be replaced soon.

Sitting on the edge doesn't help, using a chair is better.

Ours was fairly expensive, $1200 for king size box spring and mattress. We have had it for 8 years and it needs to be replaced soon. I will def look for a flippable next time!

A mattress designed for a platform bed doesn't need a box spring. We don't have a platform but a high 4 poster and use a bunky board with the mattress - or it would be about chest high and we couldn't get in. I know this because I bought the mattress set with a box spring, and box spring went back to the store the next day. The top of my mattress is 31" from the floor on a 2" bunky board.

My mom's last mattress is pillow top one side only, and the store told her it should be rotated top (head) to bottom (foot) every month even though not flippable. She can't move it, I've dragged that mattress around more times than I can tell you ;) but she insists (years now). She's 5' tall and 125 pounds.

Consumer reports will tell you to replace every 7-10 years but to use common sense too. If you aren't sleeping as well, or sleep better away from home, see visible sags or lumps, time for a new one. Mine is 11 years old, we have no complaints about it at all other than it takes such oversized bedding that is expensive.

I, too, think mattresses used to last longer. DH and I bought our first Verlo (local mattress maker) in 1964. We were happy with it until I so brilliantly read somewhere that you should replace your mattress in X-number of years. (I think we lost five good years!)

I think we are on our fourth replacement now. We have always had a pair of extra-long reversible twins that make up as a "European" king. The twin size makes it possible for us to flip these ourselves. (In my experience, a *good* reversible mattress is a *heavy* mattress.)

It's difficult to find a reversible mattress. The non-reversible king we have at the Maui condo will probably only last about four or five years. It's not as high quality, and the tropical climate isn't kind to soft goods. I believe its' weight is mainly in the wood that keeps it firm enough to use without a foundation.

I'll guess eight years for a reversible; less for a no-flip mattress.

pammyfay -- You should still be able to *rotate* a no-flip. (Which leads me to wonder why king mattresses are not *square* so that you could rotate them a quarter-turn.)

I think that I've slept on some that had something like 30 years on the clock.

I've been using the present single for 11 years ... and Lord only knows how long step-uncle and aunt had used them, before that.

No bumps or potholes ...

... so don't feel the need for a new one ...

... replacement, that is: I can use the one that I used for about 15 years in the apartment in the city, currently stored in the unfinished attic (if the mice haven't gotten into it).

ole joyfuelled

Sadly, about 10 years tops (despite the 25 year so called guarantee) - much like a roof.

We're on year 26 with our Cal King, a Sealy bought at Sears at that time, and extra-firm. I have a latex topper on my side and we both are still very comfortable. We're loathe to give it up, and won't until there's a compelling reason.

I've rotated the mattress a handful of times over the years, but with a queen-size mattress, and no fabric handles on the sides, it's big and heavy!

Morz8: Have you seen mattresses that have been specifically advertised as being designed as "platform mattresses"? Only place I've seen them is at Room & Board. If you could share any resources, pls do! Something tells me the only difference is the mattress is thicker so you're up a bit higher and don't feel like you're getting into and out of a futon.

We don't fight doing projects like mattress flipping. We do often get weak with laughter.

My mom just had an auction last weekend.. had a bed frame with a mattress that she no longer wanted. My SIL bid and won the set, she was going to take the mattress until we found the manufacturer's date tag... 1971! That mattress was 44 years old. lol It is headed for the dump now.

I do not plan on keeping any of my mattresses that long. :)

My mattress is 26 years old and since I bought it when I didn't have much money, I'm sure it wasn't top of the line. About 10 years ago, I added a memory foam topper and that completely revitalized the mattress by evening out any lumps. Just last year, I replaced the memory foam. I flip or rotate the mattress twice per year. I sleep very comfortably.

If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a bottom of the line mattress and put a topper on it. I bought an expensive Sealy just a few years ago and it is already showing indentations from us sleeping on our sides of the bed. It has a foam pillow top which is very comfortable but it's on just one side so you can only turn it, not flip it. Neither of us like a hard mattress so we purchased a soft mattress.

Gosh....you all surprise me. Our King Size pillow top, both sides, top of the line set came from Sears in 1992, and is still in very great shape. I can no longer 'flip it" so it has stayed in place for the last 10 years and altho do keep thinking I need to 'flip it', I'm no where near thinking about replacing it. Our 9 year old Motor home Mattress and the one seldom used in the guest bedroom are from Costco....Foam, came in a box. Still good sleeping and we use our motorhome bed very often. The Motorhome came with a "sleep comfort' one with hard side "walls"....didn''t like it one bit. We are heavy-weights....well I am.... not light weights by any means. I do believe DH paid $2,000+ for it, and I thought it was like Cleopatras barge. But, we have had many years of good sleeping on it.... and my side (this last 10 years) has had me spending many more than 8-10 hours a night in it, due to broken bones and surgeries etc.

I also have a flipable pillow top. A Sealy Posturpedic. Maybe.....13 years old. I have no idea how long it will last. Looks fine to me. :0) If it starts to sink or dent, then I'd try a topper on it.

We found out the hard way. Bought a very expensive mattress for our new bedroom set 2 1\2 years later find out it was not meant for the type frame.. platform bed. 4k and the mattress is shot ! The reputable furniture store we purchased from assumes no responsibility? ? :(

So, Arkansas Girl ...

.. if there are bumps and potholes on each of your mattress's sides ... but the cente's O.K.

... how about both moving to the centre ... and sleeping stacked?

Or ... build a frame around it ... buy a new mattress to put on top ... and use the system like a bunk bed.

Who gets the new mattress? Flip a coin!

o j

To Nanny and Nicole and others who have flippable pillowtops: I assume that there's a pillowtop layer on both top and bottom, and while most people rotate their mattresses maybe twice a year, mattresses are so bulky that most don't flip it all that often. Have you flipped your mattress to find that because it's had to bear a normal couple's (or single's) weight for a time, that the not-yet-used pillowtop layer, which has been on the bottom, has already smooshed down? I'd think there's not so much a benefit of having another pillowtop layer waiting down there -- but am I wrong? What don't I understand about this type of mattress?

Our current mattress is 5 years old and we are considering a new one. We've always bought Original Mattress Factory and have been very satisfied. The current one is an ultra firm pillow top that has been flipped and spun on a regular schedule. The bed is a slatted foundation (no box spring). It's still a very good mattress but we're converting to latex foam or some variable of adaptive foam. I'm doing some very careful research at The Mattress Underground. So far Tuft & Needle and Casper are at the top of my list.

We have a 20-year old Spring-Air twin mattress that my daughter still sleeps on. It's great. We have another 15-year old Spring-Air king-size that's still good as new. I bought a Sealy firm-memory foam, and it's still good as new, after 9 years. My mother-in-law also loved her very old Spring-Air mattress.

I don't have much luck with Serta. I bought that brand new one time, and returned it to the store after 1-night of sleep ... it was really bumpy. My friend has Serta for a few years and she's NOT happy. I tried a bunch of Serta this weekend at Sam's Club .. NOT impressed.

We bought a memory-foam topper at Sam's club for an old mattress in the basement, but we HATE it, too mushy, like sinking in mud. I'm shopping for a FIRM latex or foam topper .... spent hours looking at Amazon reviews but could not find any safe bets. Thanks for any recommendations.

Pammyfay......Mines not a really puffy or soft mattress. It's a medium firmness. Thirteen years ago my thought was that I "could" lift it by myself to get the box pleat bed skirt out to wash it. Otherwise the non-flipable pillow top weighed too much. We're really happy with our mattress.

Amazon isn't the best place to gather reviews or make buying decisions. I suggest you take a look at The Mattress Underground and read the mattress shopping tutorial.

i distinctly remember buying a mattress around the time my first daughter was born, and she's now 26. No, we don't still have that mattress. But I remember the salesman saying it had a 20 year guarantee. Hah! It needed replacing in less than ten years. My current mattress is a pillow top and I hate the fact it can't be flipped. I've been rotating it instead. As hubby is bedridden, it means a big dent in his side. I hate when my turn is for that side! Time for a new one, I guess! And I'll buy a separate pillow top bed cover that can be removed and laundered. By the way, we have a queen bed.

vicsgirl -- Two extra-long twins fit together as a king -- under a king mattress pad and bottom sheet. You could then replace only one 'side' as it wears out.

I haven't seen any mention of dust mites. Unless you encase your mattress in a mite-proof cover, won't an old mattress be loaded with mite poop? Or, is that just a story to help sell more mattresses?

They should last longer than the two years my last one lasted. Nothing is good quality anymore. I used to vacuum our mattresses about once a month.

chisue....Do you use a mattress pad? I do. It's a nice 600TC I purchased @ Tuesday Morning. I'm hoping dust mites are kept to a minimum when I wash everything. After that, it's out of my control...