Mattress Edge Support
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When you’re sitting or lying near the edge of your mattress, do you ever get that feeling like you might roll right off? If that’s the case, your mattress might not have the best edge support.
When we review mattresses, we pay a lot of attention to how well they support the edges. Keep reading to learn about how we test this and what makes a mattress have solid edge support.
Why Is Edge Support Important?
Having great edge support when you sleep on a mattress comes with a bunch of perks. Strong edges help make the mattress last longer and work better overall. Good edge support can stop your mattress from sagging, make getting in and out of bed easier, and give you more space to sleep.
On the flip side, without good edge support, you’ll probably feel a little wobbly or unstable if you’re lying or sitting near the edge. This cuts down on the space you have to sleep, and in the worst case, it could even send you rolling off the side and onto the floor.
Who Should Look for Beds with Strong Edges?
Even though anyone can benefit from a mattress with solid edge support, there are a few people who should pay extra attention to it.
People with Small Beds
If you sleep on a twin or twin XL mattress, just one roll or shift can leave you sleeping right on the edge of the bed. People with smaller beds don’t have much space to work with, so the little area they do have should feel super supportive. Mattresses with great edge support make sure you’ve got plenty of room to stretch out and can help stop you from accidentally falling off.
Couples
If you share a bed with a partner, you’ll definitely want to make sure the edges stay supportive. If the edges give way, you’ll end up being pushed closer to the middle of the bed. That means you won’t be able to use the full surface of the mattress, which can make things feel a lot tighter and less comfortable.
Older Adults and People with Mobility Concerns
People with limited mobility might have a harder time getting in and out of bed quickly. Edge support can really help make that whole process smoother. Without it, the sides of the bed can dip down and make it easier to slip off. That’s why we suggest that older adults, people with arthritis, and folks dealing with joint pain choose a mattress with strong, reliable edge support.
How We Test Edge Support
We carefully test every mattress we review and give it an edge support rating between 1 and 5 (with 5 meaning the edge support is excellent). Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how we test edge support.
Seated Test
Because everyone experiences edge support differently, it’s important to gather feedback from multiple people when testing. That’s why several testers try out each mattress for edge support and compare their notes.
First, one tester will sit right on the edge of the mattress to see how much they sink into the layers. They’ll also repeatedly get on and off the bed to see how well the edges hold up during that motion.
Full-Body Test
Next, testers lie down near the edge of the mattress in all of the common sleep positions. If they feel like they might roll off, the edge support rating gets lowered.
Tape-Measure Test
We also measure edge support by checking how much the edge compresses under weight. To do this, we stack weighted plates on the side of the mattress, then use a tape measure to track how deep the sinkage goes. If the edge doesn’t dip more than about 5 inches, that’s a sign the mattress has strong, dependable edge support.
What Gives a Bed Good Edge Support?
The edge support of a mattress really depends on what it's made from. High-density foam typically doesn’t provide as much support as innerspring coils.
A lot of mattresses come with reinforced edges. This added support usually comes from either dense polyurethane foam or pocketed coils, which can help stop sleepers from falling off the edge of the bed.
Let’s take a look at different mattress types by material and see how they usually do in our edge support tests.
Memory Foam
From what we’ve seen, all-foam mattresses aren’t the best when it comes to edge support. The slow-moving comfort layers tend to sink under pressure, which can make some people feel like they’re about to roll off the bed.
That said, not every memory foam mattress has bad edge support. Some actually have denser foam around the edges, which can really help firm things up.
Latex
All-latex and latex hybrid mattresses often provide great edge support. Latex is naturally supportive, plus it’s super durable—some latex mattresses last over 15 years. Since it doesn’t sag over time, it keeps offering plenty of support.
Hybrids and Innersprings
Hybrid and innerspring mattresses have coils in the support layers. In general, these types of mattresses do a better job with edge support than all-foam ones. That’s because coils are stronger than foam and don’t sag as much over time. Check out our list of the best hybrid mattresses if you want to find some solid picks.