No-Flip Flop

February 20, 2005 2:37 PM

Are no-flip mattresses a scam?

I don't know anything about mattresses and I'm not buying one...just curious. No-flip mattresses are apparently the new fad, but a local (Minneapolis) manufacturer/retailed claims they don't make no-flips because they're just an excuse for the other companies not to put padding on the other side. From what I can find, pro-no-flippers claim it's new technology that makes the mattress more sturdy and will last longer. I can't find any credible websites that address this: are no-flips a rip-off or the latest technology?

posted by BradNelson to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

this slate article (which i found via google, although i think it's been posted here before) supports the rip-off theory.

and so far i've been unable to google up any description of what the new technology is in the no-flip design...
posted by andrew cooke at 4:30 PM on February 20, 2005

On a local news station there was an "investigation" into a woman's complaint about her new mattress starting to sag. Apparently the Spring Air people said you do have to rotate the Never Turn mattress. The store ended up doing an exchange for a regular mattress, since it was misleading.
posted by coolsara at 4:37 PM on February 20, 2005

Response by poster: Andrew: yeah, I saw that article too, but he doesn't really explain much as to why it's a rip off.
posted by BradNelson at 4:42 PM on February 20, 2005

I've had a mattress (with associated box springs) that doesn't require flipping (but does require rotating, three times per year), for about four years. Not inexpensive ($1000 or so for the matress and box springs, I think). My wife and I have been quite happy with it. (I think this is the model where the ad shows a bowling ball being bounced on the mattress to show how little the other side of the bed moves when one person changes position.)
posted by WestCoaster at 7:01 PM on February 20, 2005

When I was mattress shopping six months ago, the "no-flip" I remember weren't some sort of engineering feat designed to save the flipping effort -- they were mattresses that weren't symmetrical top to bottom, often because they had a pillowtop only on one side. Like WestCoaster said, they still needed rotating to ensure even wear -- there was just no option to flip them as well as rotate them for evenness because they had a "top" and a "bottom".
posted by mendel at 7:57 PM on February 20, 2005

I'd love to hear any and all mattress advice. I expect to be purchasing one within the next three months.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:13 PM on February 20, 2005

I've got a Tempurpedic mattress, which you're not supposed to flip (I don't think you have to rotate it either). I know it's not the type of mattress you're talking about, but I love it.
posted by me3dia at 10:23 PM on February 20, 2005

I have a Tempurpedic pillow, which lost most of its firmness after about 3 months. Do the mattresses have the same issue?

I've always had a standard solid core latex mattress. They are, quite simply, fantastic. They have a great balance between soft enough to be comfortable and firm enough to provide good support. They last forever (20+ years).

Mattresses.net sells them (I didn't buy mine from them).
posted by Caviar at 8:06 AM on February 21, 2005

I have a friend who has s system for absolutely everything. His mattress is labelled 1,2,3,4 on the respective short sides so that he can rotate and flip and not lose track. Seriously.
posted by fixedgear at 12:20 PM on February 21, 2005