Mattresses and Motion Isolation
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Whether you share a bed with a partner or a pet, motion isolation is a key thing to keep in mind. If your mattress doesn’t handle motion very well, you might pop awake when your loved one shifts into a new spot right beside you.
Why Is Motion Isolation Important?
If you share a bed with a partner, you might notice their moves when they change positions or get fidgety. In the mattress world, we call this noticeable shake “motion transfer.”
Couples that share a bed will get the most out of a motion-isolating mattress. This is especially true if partners keep different sleep hours and need to get up at different times. Even if this isn’t the case, no one wants to be jolted or wake up from feeling their partner tossing and turning in their sleep. The best mattresses for couples tend to have standout motion isolation and sturdy edge support.
Likewise, many pet owners enjoy the cozy company of sharing their bed with their furry friend. Just like people, pets tend to scoot around or hop in and out of bed through the night. When this happens, you don’t want to feel the shifting weight from your pet drifting over to your side of the bed. A mattress with exceptional motion isolation can keep your pet’s wiggles from keeping you awake.
How We Test Motion Isolation
Here at Dweva Review Team, we thoroughly test each product we review. We assign each mattress a motion isolation score out of 5 (with 5 being a perfect mark) based on the results of two separate tests.
Glass of Water Test
First, we set a glass of water on the mattress and press into the cover around it. If we see the water ripple in the glass, we know this mattress doesn’t handle motion very well. On the flip side, if the water stays calm, we know the mattress does have solid motion isolation.
Two-Person Test
We pick up plenty of clues from the glass of water, but the best way to wrap our heads around how a mattress handles motion isolation is to run the test ourselves. For this assessment, one person chills on the mattress while another person rolls around on the other side. If the person relaxing on the bed notices movement, they know the mattress doesn’t do motion isolation very well.
To step up this test, we might have the person on the mattress throw on a sleeping mask so they can’t see when their testing partner is about to jostle the bed. The masked tester gives a thumbs-up signal when they can feel motion. Mattresses with especially solid motion isolation will keep them from feeling much of anything, and they’re often surprised when their partner tells them they’ve gotten into the bed!
What Causes Motion Transfer in a Mattress?
A mattress’s knack for blocking motion mainly depends on its build. Mattresses pack multiple layers of different stuff, each with its own level of support.
A mattress’s bottom support layer absolutely affects how well it shuts down motion. Dense materials like memory foam soak up movement better than innerspring coils.
The top comfort layer also plays a role in dialing in motion isolation. Thick, hefty comfort layers gobble up movement better than thin layers.
In addition to a mattress’s build, the quality of materials, firmness level, and thickness all impact motion transfer. Thicker mattresses with high-quality foam layers tend to keep motion in check.
How Materials Affect Motion Transfer
Quality materials and build are everything when it comes to top-tier motion isolation. Let’s run through the main kinds of mattresses and how each of them typically perform in motion-isolation testing.
Memory Foam
Memory foam mattresses usually do a pretty solid job of keeping movement from spreading compared to most other kinds of beds. Dense foam layers soak up motion really nicely, so you’re basically not gonna notice someone else shifting around next to you. The higher the foam density in the comfort layer is, the more it tends to dial in that motion control.
Standard memory foam often has a slow, sink-in vibe that molds itself to your shape and gives really comfy pressure relief. It’s important to note that memory foam mattresses can feel kinda tricky to scoot around on, though. A mattress with that “quicksandy” vibe (think TEMPUR-Pedic) can be super helpful if you’ve got back or joint issues, but it can also sometimes make you feel like you’re kinda “nested down inside” the mattress.
Latex Hybrid
Some latex mattresses handle motion control decently, though overall, they’re usually not as locked-in as memory foam setups. Generally, latex has a springy, lively feel. In turn, when someone shifts on one side of a latex mattress, that movement kinda travels across the entire bed.
There are three types of latex you’ll commonly see in latex mattresses. Talalay latex and Dunlop latex are both natural materials, but Dunlop latex is more dense and therefore usually better at cutting down motion spread. Some brands use synthetic latex in their comfort layers, which comes in cheaper, but doesn’t always keep movement contained as well.
Latex mattresses are way easier to roll around on than those slow-melty all-foam beds. Latex is also naturally cooler-sleeping and pretty long-lasting, which is why latex mattresses usually run pricier compared to a lot of others on the market.
Hybrid
Hybrid mattresses give off a somewhat different vibe compared to latex hybrid mattresses. Hybrid mattresses that use memory foam in their comfort layers mash together the cozy, pressure-melting squish of soft foam with the sturdy backbone of tough coils. A mattress’s comfort layer has to be at least about 2” thick in order to actually count as a real hybrid mattress.
Since hybrid mattresses pack a mix of different materials, their ability to keep movement from traveling can be pretty hit-or-miss. If a hybrid mattress includes a hefty slab of dense foam, you can usually expect it to keep movement fairly under control. Other hybrid mattresses might not handle motion as nicely, even when they also feature memory foam.
Additionally, not every memory foam comfort layer has that classic slow, sinky vibe. Some hybrid beds lean toward a more balanced foam sensation, which won’t give you that “I’m sinking into a pit” kind of feeling.
Innerspring
Most of the time, classic coil-spring beds don’t do a great job at keeping movement from traveling across the surface. These coil beds have a springy, jumpy feel and they react right away when someone changes position or flops around.
Pocketed coils (the ones wrapped one-by-one) tend to do a nicer job limiting movement than open coils. Those single-wrapped springs move on their own and cut down on the shake traveling through the support area.
Coil-based beds usually come with slim cushioning layers, so when you lie down, you’ll notice more of the springs beneath. Slim top layers just can’t soak up movement the way thicker memory foam or latex sections can.
Although classic spring mattresses aren’t the best pick when motion control is a priority, they might still work nicely if you run warm at night or want extra support in your lower back.