Back pain is one of the most common challenges for aging bodies, and it often wreaks havoc on your sleep. Choosing the right mattress can help you alleviate pain (much like using the wrong one can exacerbate it!). But what’s the right option to enhance your spinal health?

Historically, back pain sufferers have been told to sleep on the firmest mattress available, but this isn’t necessarily the case for everyone. It’s important to note that back pain encompasses a huge range of illnesses and injuries, some of which may be chronic and others, shorter-lived. What’s best for you will depend largely on the nature and location of your pain, as well as other factors like its cause, severity, duration, your age, your body composition, and your overall sleep preferences.

If you’re struggling with back pain, any new mattress is likely to provide some amount of relief, as most people are sleeping on mattresses that are well past their best-by date! But here’s some advice to help you find the best mattress support for your spinal needs.

Latex Bed for Back Pain

The experts at Dreamwool Beds would generally recommend an all-natural latex mattress for most back pain sufferers. This is because latex offers a wide range of different densities that allow for the best conformity out of any sleeping surface, providing customisable support for every kind of body and injury.

The Right Foundation

As important as your mattress is the base underneath it. By pairing your latex mattress with a European flexible slat base, you can achieve a comprehensive level of comfort and support. A flexible slat base allows you to put extra support in the middle with an adjustable tension kit. This enables you to deflect your hip and shoulder for a better fit and greater comfort by redistributing pressure to alleviate pain and improve function . Think of it like putting an orthotic into your shoe; a flexible base helps your mattress do its best work and keep your alignment as straight as possible.

Sleeping Position for Spine Alignment

For most people with back or joint pain, sleeping on their back is the best position to maintain spinal alignment. If you prefer to sleep on your side, we recommend that you use a pillow between your knees to keep them separated and cushion sensitive joints.

Choosing the Right Bed for Your Spine

Don’t be fooled by so-called orthopedic mattresses; the truth is that these are typically just a firmer mattress from within a manufacturer’s existing range. If you do have genuine orthopedic concerns, it’s best to discuss these with your doctor or specialist to get specific recommendations for a mattress that will meet your joint and spinal health needs.

Regardless of the exact nature and circumstances of your back pain, there will be a number of potential options for you, but perhaps just one right solution. While firmer could be best, we wouldn’t recommend jumping straight to a firm mattress – there is no one-size-fits-all answer to curing your back pain. You must also consider your individual characteristics, such as the location of your injury, your body shape and weight, and your sleep preferences. The best way to find out what works best for you is to try a number of options and ask plenty of questions while you shop.

Bottom line – if you’re suffering from back pain, a new sleep set should be a high priority. Any new bed will help. And if you want the best for your spine, an all-natural latex mattress with a firmness tailored for your needs, paired with a European flexible slat base, is the way to go.

Do your spine a favour and come see us at Dreamwool today to find your perfect fit.

Luxury mattresses, such as those made by Dreamwool Beds, last much longer than their budget alternatives because they contain better materials in higher volumes. And while their up-front cost is higher, they can be more cost-effective in the long term, as you won’t need to replace them nearly as often.

When considering the lifespan of your next mattress, the things you should prioritise are premium natural materials and quality craftsmanship by a reputable bed manufacturer. Once you get it home, you should implement a regular care and maintenance routine to maximise your comfort for as long as possible.

How long do beds last?

The average high-street mattress generally lasts only about 5-7 years. This is because cheaper mattresses contain synthetic materials in fewer layers, impacting their comfort as they age. Fewer or lower-quality fillings equal a poorer quality of sleep; this accelerates as the layers wear. You will feel the bed get firmer over time, and you will see it show more signs of wear more quickly, with less resilience and support than when it was new.

The luxury mattress lifespan of a Dreamwool Bed is typically more like 10-15 years. Its plush layers of high-quality, natural materials ensure that it maintains optimum comfort and support for much longer than a bargain alternative. All-natural latex and premium spring systems will always endure better than their synthetic or poorly manufactured counterparts.

In both cases, you must consider the nature of the mattress’s use. A mattress used by a person who is 120 kgs, is going to have less longevity than a mattress used by a couple who are only 70 kgs each.

Choosing for Durability

When selecting a mattress, it can be tricky to tell which one will last. The best way to choose a mattress that can go the distance is to check out the warranty. Is it for 5 years or 10+? What does it include? A shorter warranty, or one that has many exclusions, may indicate a lower-quality product that won’t wear as well.

Mattress Care to Maximise Lifespan

Once you get your mattress home, there are a few steps you can take to help it last as long as possible. We recommend rotating your mattress once a season to extend its lifespan and reduce wear by allowing you to use your sleeping surface more evenly over time. You should also spot-clean any spills or stains as quickly as possible, and air it out regularly to help with the evaporation of any moisture.

Signs That It’s Time to Replace Your Mattress

Because mattresses often lose comfort gradually, many of us sleep on them for far too long; it’s important to keep an eye on these signs that it might be time to replace yours:

• Ridging or bowing in the middle
• Body impression (beyond what you would consider comfortable, or normal wear and tear)
• Discolouration
• Sagging or lack of support

With a Dreamwool mattress, you can expect optimum comfort and support for 10-12 years. That said, there are many factors that can impact this, including the kind of base you’re using and your individual body composition and sleep preferences.

The key question is how long your mattress can stay in the comfort zone that meets your needs. While a luxury mattress should last you 10+ years, you may need to replace it sooner as your body composition or sleep needs change. Aging, injuries, weight changes, and illness all impact our sleep needs. You should wake up feeling rested and recovered. If your comfort is beginning to suffer – regardless of your mattress’s age – our best advice is to replace it.

With a luxury Dreamwool mattress, you can achieve a better quality of sleep and a higher standard of overall health and well-being for much longer. Book a consultation today and learn how you can experience the sleep of a lifetime.

The mattress materials you choose can have a huge impact on your quality of sleep, affecting temperature, comfort, support, and circadian rhythms. The experts at Dreamwool Beds are here to talk sleep science and how to choose mattress materials that will help you get the best night’s rest.

The Role of Sleep Science

The truth is that sleep science can be as much (or more) of a hindrance as it is a help. The gadgetization of sleep, by adding lots of technological features and devices, is over complicating our sleeping environment. We often cause ourselves more anxiety and apprehension, leading to poorer sleep outcomes. When choosing mattress materials, all-natural is always best, and when considering sleep hygiene, our best recommendation is to declutter your space, put the trackers away, and just get a great night’s rest.

Breathability

One of the most important factors in sleep comfort is the breathability of your mattress. Chemically made synthetic mattress materials, such as memory foam, don’t allow air to pass through. Some modern bed manufacturers are trying to resolve this problem by adding a top layer of gel to absorb excess heat and maintain a stable temperature. But, however you dress them up, these materials still can’t breathe.

This means that they are actually making mattresses hotter, not cooler, even if they might claim to offer temperature control or feel cool to the touch when you first see them in a shop. Sleep on one for a couple of hours, and you’ll quickly feel those gels warm up and soften, trapping heat, losing support, and leaving you with an inferior quality of sleep.

Your Sleep Cycle

Our natural circadian rhythms are intended to help our bodies relax and get restful sleep. If you are sleeping on a hot mattress made with synthetic materials that aren’t breathable, you’re more likely to feel anxious as you struggle to achieve and maintain a good quality of rest. Your heart rate will increase as your body temperature rises, resulting in a disrupted sleep cycle.

Conversely, the breathability of natural mattress materials, such as those used by Dreamwool, helps to control your bed’s microclimate and achieve temperature neutrality. This allows you to better weather external temperature changes or hormonal fluctuations and achieve an undisturbed sleep cycle. By stabilising the temperature of your sleep environment with all-natural materials like Merino wool, your body doesn’t have to adjust to changing temperatures through the night. Your heart rate can remain consistent, allowing you to achieve a deeper, more restful sleep with fewer disruptions.

Natural is Best for Temperature, Comfort and Health

When it comes to sleep science, if a mattress has lots of add-on features, you should be asking why they’re needed. In many cases, the cooling mechanisms you see in high-tech mattresses are addressing problems created by flaws in the original mattress design. While you may be able to briefly cool down an inferior mattress, if air can’t move freely through it – which is impossible in a closed-cell synthetic foam – you’ll never really be able to keep cool. This is because synthetic foams and gels don’t maintain their support overnight, eventually trapping air flow and preventing breathability. As the night wears on, you’re likely to feel the bed get hotter and more uncomfortable.

Don’t be taken in by buzzwords or new technologies that tick boxes but don’t deliver on their promises. Great sleep is simple. And the healthiest, most comfortable mattress will always be one that is made with high-quality, all-natural materials in meaningful volumes.

There is nothing better or more luxurious than a mattress made with the simple goodness of natural Merino wool.

Book a consultation at Dreamwool today to experience one for yourself.

Merino wool is a natural, lightweight fibre renowned for its exceptional softness and breathability. At Dreamwool Beds, we know that Merino is the best mattress material because it far outperforms synthetic (and nearly all natural) alternatives.

Here, we break down some of the key benefits you can expect from a Merino wool mattress and why you should choose one when purchasing your next bed.

How is Merino wool sourced, and why does it perform so well?

Dreamwool’s Merino wool is responsibly sourced directly from select high-country farms in New Zealand’s South Island. Merino sheep thrive in the high country due to their natural ability to withstand a huge range of temperatures and climate conditions. This makes their wool uniquely suited for bedding due to its superior temperature regulation and moisture control, keeping you comfortable all night and in any season.

Key Benefits

Breathability

Merino wool excels in terms of breathability. This means that it offers many thermophysiological benefits, including superior moisture control and temperature regulation, as well as antimicrobial properties that make it uniquely suited for a fresh, dry sleeping experience.

Marrying Softness with Durability

Merino wool is supremely soft and luxurious due to its natural elasticity and high fibre density, both of which also make it especially strong and durable. It is naturally stain-resistant and long-lasting, making it an excellent choice for longevity and resilience.

Comparing Merino Wool with Other Materials

When choosing between Merino and synthetic mattress materials, the truth is that there is no comparison. Chemically made synthetic materials like memory foams, gels, and glues trap heat, causing discomfort, night sweats, and interrupted sleep, whereas lush, breathable, all-natural Merino provides unparalleled microclimate control for a truly restful sleep.

But how does Merino stack up against other natural mattress materials?

Wool vs Cotton

Cotton (particularly organic cotton) can be a versatile and sustainable natural material, but it doesn’t have the same ability as wool to absorb and disperse moisture. Merino offers superior moisture-wicking benefits, and it is more durable over time than cotton.

Merino vs Other Wools

The fibres of the Merino sheep grow longer, with greater density than traditional wool. They don’t stick to each other and felt down, which means that they don’t compact as much or as quickly as other types of wool. This translates into a mattress with exceptional softness and comfort, greater longevity, and a longer period of optimal support.

Quality AND Quantity

It’s important to remember that it’s not just the quality of your mattress materials that counts. For Merino wool to perform its best, you also want to look for a high volume of material, such as you will find in Dreamwool’s generous, natural comfort layers. For instance, our Queen Size luxury mattresses contain more than 9.5kg of all-natural, locally sourced Merino – that’s more than 10% of their overall weight.

Why You Should Choose Merino

Temperature neutrality is the key to sleeping soundly in all seasons; this is where Merino wool really thrives. The ability of Merino sheep to weather huge fluctuations in temperature and moisture translates into a mattress that will keep you sleeping soundly all year round. By using thick, plush layers of Merino, Dreamwool mattresses effortlessly maintain your ideal temperature and draw humidity away quickly, ensuring a dry, breathable sleep environment throughout the night.

Here at Dreamwool, we know that this exceptional material is second-to-none for comfort, support and breathability, and we’d love to show you how an investment in a luxury Merino mattress can boost your wellbeing and help you rest easier tonight.

Book a consultation at Dreamwool today to learn more.

Every sleeper is different, and there are a lot of factors that can determine what mattress will be best for you: age, body shape, weight, sleep preferences, sleep position, injury, illness, partner comfort, and more. So, how do you choose the right mattress for your sleep style?

The expert team at Dreamwool Beds has put together this handy mattress comfort guide to help every sleeper know where to start when selecting their next mattress.

The Right Materials

Your first priority when choosing your next bed should be to find one that is filled with high-quality, natural materials at meaningful volumes. Synthetics like memory foams can trap heat, leading to night sweats and sleep disturbance. For maximum breathability, look for materials like natural latex and Merino wool.

Then, you should consider whether you would prefer a pocketspring or a latex mattress; these options offer two different but equally luxurious sleep experiences. Pocketsprings provide a flatter style of firmness, with latex offering a bit more contour and deflection.

What firmness should I choose?

There really is no such thing as an ideal firmness or a one-size-fits-all solution; the only way to know for sure what you need is to lie down on the mattress and try it for yourself. We recommend spending at least a few minutes trying it on both your back and your sides. If you’re tossing up between two options, go with slightly softer; a bed will always feel firmer after eight hours of rest than it did after a 10-minute test on the shop floor.

As you’re weighing up which firmness could be right for you, here are a few factors to consider:

Age

Most of us will find that our sleep preferences change with age, often leaning towards a softer mattress as we get older.

Injury

Injuries and chronic pain can affect your choice of firmness, particularly if you have sensitive joints, which may require a softer level of support, or lower back injuries, which may benefit from additional firmness.

Partner Comfort

Your partner’s comfort may also dictate your firmness selection. Softer mattresses can absorb more movement, reducing partner disturbance.

Weight and Body Shape

Smaller and lighter people often prefer a softer mattress, while larger and heavier people may need firmer support. Similarly, a curvier person with a pear-shaped body might be more comfortable with a slightly softer mattress than a person of the same weight and size who has a more rectangular shape.

Sleep Style

All of these factors, combined with your sleep style, can help you select the best mattress for your needs. Your preferred sleeping position can play a big role in what firmness of mattress is best for you. Back sleepers may benefit from slightly firmer support, while side sleepers often prefer a softer, more contouring mattress.

Let’s look at a few different types of sleepers to see how their selections might compare.

50kg Side Sleeper

Often, the best mattress for side sleepers is one that is slightly softer. This is also true for someone whose body shape is smaller and less curvy, as the softer surface will contour around them for optimum support.

50kg Back Sleeper

Back sleeping typically requires a little extra support, though you’d still want to be mindful of this sleeper’s weight and body shape. They could be well-suited for either a soft or a medium firmness.

120kg Side Sleeper

It’s worth considering this sleeper’s body shape, as a side-sleeper with bigger shoulders might prefer a softer surface that allows them to deflect into the mattress. If they carry more of their weight in their mid-section, a firmer mattress with extra support would be appropriate.

120kg Back Sleeper

This person would probably be best suited to a firmer mattress with extra support, but again, it’s also worth taking into account factors such as body shape, age and injury.

Don’t Compromise on Sleep

The best investment you can make in tomorrow; is a good night’s sleep. To find the best latex, pocketspring or adjustable mattress for you and your individual sleep style, do your homework, look for all-natural materials, talk to your salesperson, and ask to see samples of what’s inside.

For partners with different sizes, shapes, and sleep preferences, we’d highly recommend a Twin Super King, which gives each sleeper a full single mattress to themselves, tailored to their own sleep style and comfort preferences, without the need for compromise.

Let the expert team at Dreamwool help you find your perfect fit by booking a consultation today!