How often should you rotate your mattress? The mistake costing you a good night's sleep

Ensure you're getting the best night's sleep by avoiding this common mistake

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(Image credit: Future PLC/Colin Poole)

Sleep experts reveal that regularly rotating your mattress can lead to a better quality of sleep and mattress life.

There's no denying that investing in the best mattress you can is a crucial component to sleeping better. However, no matter how good of a mattress you invest in, there's some upkeep required from our side to ensure we're truly making the most out of it – and there's a mistake that all too many of us are making.

Data from Next reveals that 47 per cent of Brits aren't regularly rotating their mattress, with up to 77 per cent admitting to sleeping on the same side of the bed night after night. According to Healthline, this can lead to dents, uneven mattress wear, and ultimately a not-so-great night's sleep.

White painted bedroom and window with white bedframe and decorative cushions, bedside table with flowers

(Image credit: Future PLC/Dan Duchars)

How often should you rotate your mattress?

'Most people tend to sleep in the same position on their mattress night after night. It is therefore expected for body impressions to form in your mattress – this is a natural sign of your mattress adapting to support you,' assures Fabio Perrotta, director of buying at Dreams.

'The comfort fillings will settle in the area where you sleep, which can leave a ridge down the centre of the mattress. This can be more noticeable if you have a larger mattress or a pillow top mattress, but it does not affect the comfort or support provided by the mattress.'

'Mattress maintenance plays an important role in extending the life of your mattress, as well as ensuring you enjoy optimum comfort while sleeping.'

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(Image credit: Future PLC)

'We recommend rotating or turning your mattress once a week for the first three months and monthly thereafter to help minimise any settlement and ensure you get the best performance from your mattress,' explains Fabio.

'Depending on the type of mattress you have, some will require just rotating and some will require both turning over and rotating.'

'Some mattresses require frequent flipping to maintain the quality of the fillers, whilst others can stay as is for around three months,' adds Dave Gibson, Founder of thesleepsite.co.uk.

'Typically, it’s the two-sided pocket sprung mattresses that will need more care as they have layers of fillers on top of the springs which can settle into the corners of the mattresses. Turning them increases comfort and mattress life.'

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(Image credit: Future PLC/James French)

Another way to minimise further compression on your mattress is by not making your bed first thing in the morning. 'Allow your mattress to air out daily by leaving the bedding pulled back for a while after you get up,' says Fabio. 'This is to encourage any moisture to dispense and allows the fillings and layers to rise back up.'

Although a little bit of settlement on your mattress is no cause for concern, but you should be weary of knowing when to change your mattress if it's definitely seen better days.

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(Image credit: Future PLC/James French)

After all, it pays to be clued up on how to get the most of a night's sleep – and the solution might've been under our nose this whole time. So go on, go flip your mattress now before you put it off again.

Jullia Joson
Junior Writer

Jullia Joson is Ideal Home’s Junior Writer. She’s always loved all things homes and interiors, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Nottingham in 2022. Previously, she was an Intern Editor for ArchDaily. Now focused on news stories, Jullia can be found down the TikTok and Pinterest rabbit hole scrolling through any new and upcoming trends, hacks, and home inspiration.