How to fix a sagging mattress -- on the cheap
Our sagging mattress is terrible; how about yours? This mattress has been terrible since shortly after we got it, the place we bought it from is out of business, and this is the third terrible mattress we've gone through in our marriage so far. You know how these expensive mattresses are just not lasting like they used to? Or maybe we're just very poor at picking them... and ours developed horrible indentations on each side where we sleep. So both MashupDad and I often woke up with back pain and slept poorly because we were sleeping in a hole -- not to mention that it's really depressing to spend all that money on a mattress, and then find that it feels nothing like it did in the store within just a few weeks.
A new mattress isn't in the cards quite yet because of the long list of other things that need replacing (we have a refrigerator and car that are on their last legs, oy!). So I thought I'd update this original post from almost three years ago with a list of what we have tried to help fix our sagging mattress on the cheap (without having to buy a new one), ordered from best to worst.
The products I've tried do bop around in price fairly often, and I of course picked up each when on sale at their lowest point or with a coupon code... 😉
How to fix your sagging mattress -- or at least make it much more sleep-able!
Best: Pick up a gel memory foam mattress topper to help fix your sagging mattress
So here's what I've found to work the best, after a few years of dealing with our sagging mattress. I recently picked up this memory foam mattress topper from Kohl's -- which has great and well-deserved reviews! It's a little pricey when not on sale, but this is Kohl's, guys, so if it's not on sale today it probably will be soon. I bought mine at around $25 after a sale + coupon code, and will watch for new deals to pop up for you guys.
It's kind of neat how this unrolled to fit a king-sized mattress, but when I first opened the mattress topper I was afraid it would be too thin to work. Luckily, I was wrong. It helps quite a bit, and the mattress pad and sheets still fit nicely over everything. In all honesty, you can still definitely tell that the indentations are there, but it does a nice job of evening them out more and getting rid of some of the lumpiness -- and the bed is much more comfortable. We're sleeping better, so it's definitely worth more than my $25-ish sale price, and highly recommended!
Other things we've tried to fix our sagging mattress:
The Mattress Helper does help fix the sagging mattress issue -- somewhat
After reading a bunch of reviews online, we also tried the Mattress Helper a while back. It was at the time on sale at Kohl's, plus a coupon code, plus Kohl's Cash back -- so again, watch for deals on the Mattress Helper there if you are interested in trying it out. The Mattress Helper did actually help lift the mattress back up along where it was sagging, but didn't bring it all the way back up. Our sagging mattress problem got better after placing the Mattress Helper under the places where the mattress is sagging, but it didn't entirely resolve the issue or our poor sleep issues. It's possible our mattress was just sagging too much for this to work, but the Mattress Helper is likely a nice option if your sagging issue is a bit less or your mattress is just too soft.
We also still have the Mattress Helper under our mattress and use it in conjunction with the memory foam mattress topper, so they play really nicely together.
This mattress pad helps, but doesn’t fix the sagging mattress problem
A while ago I was poking around on Amazon and started reading the reviews of this Pinzon Basics Overfilled Plush Mattress Pad. We needed a new mattress pad anyway because our old one was tearing at the corners, so I bought it. I will say that it's a really nice mattress pad -- it helps smooth out the smaller lumps, but doesn't honestly do a lot for the sagging problem. I'd recommend it for a lumpy mattress, a dorm room mattress, or if you're just looking for a nice new mattress pad.
Most temporary fix for a sagging mattress
Lastly, here's the most temporary fix for a sagging mattress: Take two cheap bed pillows. Lift up your mattress. Shove one under each side of the mattress, right under each indentation. Put the mattress back down over the pillows, lie down, and see if it feels like the pillow is in the right place. If not, lift the mattress back up and adjust as needed. Here, I used two old bed pillows I already had in the house, so it cost us nothing. We did sleep more comfortably for a few nights, but then the pillows got smushed down to a pancake so we were back to square one -- not a long-term solution.
- Note: If you use the firmer gel pillows, this fix will work better and last longer!
(I originally saw this pillow idea fix for sagging mattresses over at Frugal Freebies and Deals, and it's what was featured in the original post here from 2013 -- but now updated with everything else we've tried!)
What ideas do you have for fixing a sagging mattress?
Let me know how any of this works to fix your sagging mattress, if you give them a try yourself -- I'd also love to hear any other ideas, or tips for buying a new good mattress that will last, and check out some other ideas in the comments from the original post, below.
hope it keeps working for you!!
Quality Sleep Shop in Countryside is THE place to get a new mattress. They are made in house and the price is not ridiculous. We got our King Size mattress in 2008 and it is like brand new. They also stand behind their product. Family owned and operated.
I would rather spend a little bit more and get a good product AND help out a family business. Totally worth it.
I just heard read about that place the other day at themattressunderground.com and they were given very high marks. Do you know if they will deliver,set-up and remove the old bedding? Thanks.
I spent money on a new mattress, it sleeps fairly well but if I lay or sit in the same spot it becomes uneven on one side I'm constantly turning my mattress
Thank you. The pillow idea worked just fine. Until I can afford another mattress
We have the same problem...but started going to the chiropractor for our backs. She said to NEVER buy the pillow top mattresses.She has more people coming to her now with that mattress than ever. Also a heads up that Sams Club has a lifetime guarantee on mattress sets. We returned ours and got a gift card with the full amount.
I read somewhere that in the years since China has taken over manufacturing, most mattresses are now being made so that only one side is usable and you can't flip the mattress any longer because only one side is covered -- even the well-known brands are doing this. Is that the type of mattress you have, Rachel? We bought our mattress in 1997 before manufacturing was taken over by the Chinese and it's still fine. Seems like outsourcing has been going on forever, but 16 years ago you could still buy something that wasn't made in China. A good mattress used to be guaranteed for 20 or 25 years. We've been married for 36 years and we've only bought two mattresses so far. But we'll need a new one eventually and I hate to hear that the quality has gone that far downhill.
Yup, no flipping -- and ours is a well-known name brand. 🙁
Well, I have been miserable for almost 2 years with my new mattress sagging. You are not suppose to flip it. I flipped it the other day. I put on a thick foam topper and have a thick mattress pad ordered. It is working great....no more sagging. It is quite comfortable if I have to say so myself!!
Great idea! Thanks!
I flipped my “no flip” mattress also! It was really hard but worked great for approximately 3 months, then it too started breaking down.
Did not work for me...
Thank you for saying this. Totally agreed.
I hope you agreed with what Charles_M said because I totally agree also! Not racist, just facts.
Did China “take over”? Or did the US & other countries find a goldmine in a poor, over populated area & exploit it?
Exactly! A lot of American manufacturers do it.
No,mine is a serta made in Monroe Ohio ,same county I live in ,bought it from Sears ( you know where this is heading) started sagging in the first month,can't blame the Chinese for this one.
Agreeing with Charles here. When Chinese factories make things for American companies, they're making it to the company's specifications. Don't blame the workers. Blame our money hungry companies that pay starvation wages and have their products made to be crap. And they make them this badly no matter where their factories are these days. It's the CEOs of the companies that I'm blaming, not the poor people who are stuck making their junk.
Agreed
Amen
Here in Chicagoland we have a resale shop called St Vincent de Paul. They sell brand new mattresses that you can still flip, and they are Very reasonably priced. I bought mine about 6/7 years ago and I love it. Being able to flip it is great too. Maybe you have someplace similar?
Edit: I forgot to mention that after ALL these years my mattress has finally gotten a “sag” where I sit. I’m disabled and spend many many hours sitting/laying in the same spot. It looks & feels like a quality mattress, so I’m sure that with “normal” usage it would have held out much longer before it got a sag spot. I’ll be having my St. Vincent de Paul’s brand new mattress turned for me real soon lol.
Oh, and did I mention that it’s real pretty too?
@Kristen,
Very smart comment!
I never considered this way but you are right. In reality people in the US and Europe prefer to pay less for their ‘stuff’. They can’t pay Europeans and Americans the very low wages that are necessary to produce this cheap. People would revolt. It’s easier to take advantage of poor people in other countries who work for what we consider almost nothing. No one forces Americans to buy cheap mattresses. There are still privately owned companies that sell mattresses. You will just pay more for the reasonable wages these people earn. That’s the truth. People like to forget that part.
Idk about mattresses being made in China. I sold them about 5 yrs back and personally went to a Serta factory in Summit, Il?, Simmons in Janesville WI and Sealy was somewhere local as well. I do know that you usually need to replace both the mattress AND box spring, even if the box spring looks OK it has had the same amount of wear as the mattress and it will not support the new mattress like the new one you try out in the store. Thats why you can get any warranty when you buy just the mattress. If you just bought it You should be able to get a new one or a full refund. Even the old ones are prorated up to the time frame listed on it like 10, 20 yrs. etc. And the warranty is with the manufacture, not the store you bought it at so you can usually get something towards a new one. HTH!
I bought a top of the line, well known brand mattress which wasnt cheap. I also purchased a special cooling mattress pad at the same time.After about a year a sink hole developed across the mattress about 1/3 of way down from the top. The mattress cover and sheets would not stay tucked on the corners of the mattress from the get go, but I put up with it. When I contacted store to take advantage of 20 yr. Warranty, I provided receipt and was given a list of things I needed to do in order to cet a refund. Like: all tags (3) must still be on mattress, there can be no marks or stains on mattress, take pictures of me measuring sink hole with a ruler and send them via email. Then they will evaluate everything to determine if I can take advantage of warranty!!! 2 years later I still have the mattress and havent done any of what I was directed to do because there is a perspiration stain because mattress covers and sheets ( tried several) dont stay on. Its like corners curve up when there is weight in center of bed! Purchased at Steinhafels in Madison. Not helpful at all. Poor customer service, that is if you can reach soneone!!!
Thanks for the tip Rachel! I'm definitely going to try it. We bought our mattress a little over a year ago. For the last 8 months or so we've had indents in our bed. We called the company we bought it from and they told us they would send someone out to measure the indents. (?) If the indent was 2 inches, they would replace it. It's pretty close but not quite 2 inches. Figures....
We had the same thing happen. Ours was over 2" so they sent us a new one. The problem is that the new one is the same as the old one and now has indents too. Since it's over a year from the original purchase they won't do anything about it. I'm going to try out this pillow suggestion tonight.
We purchased a well-known name brand mattress and after a week noticed body depressions and neither the company that sold it to us nor the manufacturer will stand behind the mattress. That is $966.00 thrown away and now we have to find another mattress that won't give us debilitating back pain.
We'll be looking for a local, family-owned mattress company in Oklahoma City that will stand behind the products they sell.
i bought a queen size temperpedic mattress on overstock.com ten years ago for about 280 bucks and had it 10 years it was worth every penny and years of sleep less nights are gone.. i wish i did it years before. the first day i bought it came in a box all folded and swished in a box and opened it like a jack in the box...lol but i went on vacation for one week and wish i could bring it with me in my suit case cause my whole body ached and felt terrible sleeping on a regular mattress. we sleep alot in are life time .. why waste it on a uncomfortable mattress. when i was in the hospital having my daughter my parents slept on my bed and now they have on too. i am not sure how much they are now but both my kids have one too. only bad part is you dont want to get out of it in the morning cause it is so comfortable ...lol
I am on the memory foam mattress bandwagon! We had an old, and cheap mattress that was about 7 years old. Both our backs were killing us. I had issues with my arms hurting and going numb at night. Husband had started sleeping on the couch. So, we went to our local Menards and picked up a mattress from there. Took a try at memory foam, and it is the best money ever spent. It took some getting used to (about a week, I totally regretted buying it for a while), but now, it's awesome! It also seems easier on my allergies than the old mattress.
Costco....I've actually returned a mattress because it started to sag. I love Costco. they have this temperpedic mattress now...I think you put it on a box spring. anyway, go buy it. try it out for 1 week, 1 year...if you are not satisfied...return it. they stand behind any product that they put on their floor.
I bought one of those HORRIBLE sleep numbers beds...don't do it. anyway, we invested in this stupid bed and I was so uncomfortable. then friend told me to buy the foam topper at Costco and give it a try. love my bed now. it's so comfortable. if the bed goes south...I will try that temperpedic mattress at Costco. friend that works there says that not one person has returned the mattress since they have been selling them. Invest in new mattress asap. not worth it if you are not getting a good night sleep....if you don't have a Costco membership...I'll meet you there 🙂
The sleep number bed isn't for everyone but we LOVE ours. We had a more basic model that was great, and then we upgraded to one of their mid-range models in a king size and it's even better. We had the first one about 6 years (and resold it on craigslist for $150, incidentally) and this one is still going strong at 4 years--absolutely no noticeable loss of quality. I know some people don't like them but for us sleep number is amazing and well worth the expense.
I on the other hand can't stand memory foam. I don't like feeling like I'm sinking in, and I feel like I get way too hot on the foam. I've slept on a few and was miserable the whole time. Ick.
Dani, When I get the money will you meet me here in AZ, lol! Ima hurting! No membership...?
We swear by our select comfort air mattress. We even bought one for our daughter, too! Adjust the firmness any day to any level you want. But it also spoils you for any other mattress! It was barely more than a Sam's Club mattress, and is now 8 years old with no real wear!
Rachel, how long has the topper lasted thus far?
Not super long -- I will come come back and update the post yet again if it fails us or when we eventually bite the bullet and get a new mattress. 🙂 I've seen them at Costco for a pretty reasonable price, too, but can't comment on the quality there.