Do you regularly flip your mattress ?

[The Flying Dutchman]

Just now I was pulling off the linen on my bed and I got a long forgotten (45 years) flashback to the bed linen changing protocols my mother taught me before she died when I was 15 years old.

I had completely forgotten to flip the mattress once a week when changing the linen.

Well as I attempted to rectify this oversight, it became clear that my mattress was never intended to be flipped as the other side was covered with the same material as the box spring top and the appearance did not bode well for a comfortable platform to sleep on.

Does anybody flip mattresses any more ?

[Crown Prince of Irony]

Mine doesn't require flipping, but I do rotate it every few months.

[Siam Sam]

We just flipped ours last weekend, because the wife felt her side was getting a bit saggy. Years tend to go by between flips, but we have read it should be done regularly.

[MikeG]

Yeah, I've had the same Verlo mattress since 1999 and it is as good as new because I flip it quarterly.

[Muffin]

"They call him Flipper, Flipper . . ."

Yup, I flip my mattress.

[Vita Beata]

We forget until we're painting or moving furniture.

[Chefguy]

Nope: TempurPedic user.

[ZenBeam]

Yes, for a lax definition of "regularly". The instructions that came with out mattress (bought in about 1990) said to alternate flipping and rotating. Every three months for the first year, then every six months*. We don't do it nearly that often, but sometimes.

I have a piece of cardboard stuck between the mattress and box springs, one side says "Last time we flipped the mattress" and the other says "last time we rotated the mattress" or I'd never remember which to do.

* From memory. Probably wrong.

[Guinastasia]

Every once in a while. I did it earlier this week, (I'm redecorating my room)

[Cunctator]

Yes, every three months or so.

[gotpasswords]

A lot of the newer mattresses are not flippable. Well, you can flip them - it's not like liquid is going to spill out if you flip it, but that memory foam pillow top you paid so dearly for is just that - a top and not a top and bottom.

[Runs With Scissors]

I have a waterbed (cue 70s porn music); however, my main tv watching "couch" is a futon, on which guests sleep, and I flip it about four times a year.

[Der Trihs]

Well.

• Being tired I first saw the thread title as "Do you regularly fuck your mistress?" Which would probably have been a more interesting thread admittedly...
  
  
• This oddly enough is the first time I've even heard of flipping your mattress, although I see the point now that it has come up. I think it's because I grew up with a waterbed; by the time I ended up with a regular mattress I was on my own and there was no one to tell me to do so.

[Bosstone]

The geeks emerge. I never heard of flipping or rotating your mattress either. And...go figure. Same as Der Trihs, I grew up with a waterbed too. By the time I had a regular mattress I was living on my own.

[Argent Towers]

My mattress cannot be flipped. It has a "pillow top" and is very comfortable. The bottom is just a flat hard surface though.

[MegaBee]

Waterbed. No flipping or rotating necessary.

[jabiru]

Flip once a year, rotate once a year (not at the same time). I know I should probably do it more often.

[sandra_nz]

Once a week sounds pretty excessive to me. We flip ours every six months or so.

[Marconi N. Cheese]

We flipped ours and put memory foam on top. The pillow top side was cratered. Still trying to decide on a new bed. You'd think as long as the human race has been sleeping, someone would have by now figured how to make a good bed. I think buying a bed is more difficult than buying a car. Mistakes are expensive.

[Moonlitherial]

We rotate ours pretty regularly, probably every couple of months.

[Sally Mander]

Originally Posted by ZenBeam

I have a piece of cardboard stuck between the mattress and box springs, one side says "Last time we flipped the mattress" and the other says "last time we rotated the mattress" or I'd never remember which to do.

* From memory. Probably wrong.

An easy way to remember is Flip it in the Fall, and Spin it in the Spring. (By spinning, I mean rotating, of course.)
My mother taught me that when I moved out years and years ago. The mattress I have now is about 20 years old and still firm and doesn't have any saggy spots.

The mattress in the guest room is one of those pillow-top kind, so I just rotate it when it needs it.

[Eve]

Oh, gosh, yes, regularly, back when I was dating this hot Italian guy and we . . . oh, wait, you meant something else.

[RTFirefly]

My wife introduced me to flipping and rotating the mattresses. I probably do one or the other every 6 weeks or so.

She writes the letters A,B,C,D on the piping, so that to go from one letter to the next, you either flip or rotate, whichever you didn't do last time.

[kittenblue]

My elderly mom and I have the same mattresses, bought at the same time. She read the directions very closely, and has the flipping schedule written on her calendar. Every three months. It's a pillow-top, but on both sides, and one side is wool, the other silk, so you are supposed to do this according to seasons, too. She bugs me to do hers. Even though I am doing her mattress, for some reason I can't remember to then do mine. So hers gets done four times a year, mine only twice.

[Antigen]

Pillow-top here, so no flipping. Which is just as well, because that sonofabitch is heavy.

[hogarth]

No, we don't flip the mattresses. Unless we were moving the bed from one room to another; then we might do it if one side was looking saggy.

[gwendee]

Every week? That's hardcore. Growing up I learned to do it quarterly, and I don't really stick to that because I am lazy and forgetful. I'd say mine gets rearranged somehow 2 or 3 times a year.

[SmellMyWort]

Nope. It's memory foam.

[uuaschbaer]

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

My mattress cannot be flipped. It has a "pillow top" and is very comfortable. The bottom is just a flat hard surface though.

"My mattress cannot be flipped," said Tom unflippantly.

(Couldn't be helped, sorry!)

[the lone cashew]

I have flipped off my mattress. That is when I consider the effort of turning it over, but seriously it's not only too heavy but is not designed to be flipped.

[jackdavinci]

I can't since there's a definite top to it. But I really should rotate it because it's starting to sag on one side.

[Procrustus]

Hell, I don't even change my sheets that often.

Haven't flipped or spun in at least five years. Maybe I should.

[phreesh]

I'm not a huge guy, but I put a decent dent in my mattress every three months or so, so I HAVE to flip or rotate that often or I sleep in a valley.

I haven't had a mattress that doesn't dent since I was a kid and physically couldn't put a dent in it.

I HATE my crappy mattresses and want to invest in a good one that'll last, but I cringe at spending $1000 on one and dealing with the same 'reliability' issues.

[the lone cashew]

Originally Posted by Procrustus

Hell, I don't even change my sheets that often.

reminds me of that Billy Joel song - "Don't go changin'. To try and please me. The sheets are fine the way they are."

[JoThrive]

Ours needs to be flipped - thanx for reminding me.

[xkit0katx]

Pillow-top of the non-flippant variety*, but I rotate it twice a year, when I change the comforter and dust ruffle and pillow shams from the cold-weather variety to the hot-weather variety.





*serious mattress is serious

[Ike Witt]

I have a Sleep Number mattress so it doesn't get fligged. The last inner coil mattress I had did get flipped 3 or 4 times a year until it was too saggy to be any use anymore.

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

We just flipped ours last weekend, because the wife felt her side was getting a bit saggy. Years tend to go by between flips, but we have read it should be done regularly.

The answer I wish I had given: The wife and I are older now and are no longer able to flip the mattress like we used to. In our younger days, we'd be going at it so enthusiastically that it damn near bounced out the window on occasion, but flips are rare anymore.

[sjankis630]

As others have stated mine cannot be flipped. (or it would not be beneficial) The problem with that is even when I turn it I feel that I am wearing it out faster. I have barely had it 5 years and it does not feel nearly as comfortable as when I first got it.
FYI - I paid around $1200 for it and I like a very firm mattress.
I have been known to sleep on the floor rather than sleep on an overly soft mattress. I did just that in Baltimore one night. it kills my back.

[medstar]

My mattress was bought in 1995; as long as I rotate and flip it every 3 months, the mattress doesn't slide off of the box spring. When it starts slipping, that's my cue to flip or rotate. Thanks for reminding me.

[Mahaloth]

I'm blown away.

I have not flipped my mattress(cheap cheap cheap brand) ever in years. Notice no difference.

Weird.

[Arrendajo]

Originally Posted by RTFirefly

My wife introduced me to flipping and rotating the mattresses. I probably do one or the other every 6 weeks or so.

She writes the letters A,B,C,D on the piping, so that to go from one letter to the next, you either flip or rotate, whichever you didn't do last time.

Same here. The wife's got us on a quarterly schedule of flipping and rotating.

[Khadaji]

I do not. I'm not even sure that you are supposed to with the memory foam types (which is what I have.)

[Ike Witt]

Originally Posted by Khadaji

I do not. I'm not even sure that you are supposed to with the memory foam types (which is what I have.)

Wouldn't you at least spin it 180^o once in a while?

[LouisB]

If two of my young(er) nieces are visiting at the same time, and if the mattress is due, I will ask for their "help" in either flipping or rotating; they will then, of course, do it for me. I've noticed they visit far less often now; I think they have caught on.

[UntouchedTakeaway]

Flip and spin here, too.

UT

[JohnGalt]

We flip and rotate our mattress about every three months, but we always forget what we did last time (flip or rotate).

We saw one mattress for sale that had a label sewn into the corners that had three months of the year, so Jan/Feb/Mar was in the upper right first, then you rotated it so Apr/May/Jun was in the upper right. Then you flipped it so Jul/Aug/Sep was upper right, and rotated it again when it was Oct/Nov/Dec. Finally you flipped it again in January.

I guess you could write the month initials or name of the season in the appropriate corners with a marker.

[monavis]

Originally Posted by The Flying Dutchman

Just now I was pulling off the linen on my bed and I got a long forgotten (45 years) flashback to the bed linen changing protocols my mother taught me before she died when I was 15 years old.

I had completely forgotten to flip the mattress once a week when changing the linen.

Well as I attempted to rectify this oversight, it became clear that my mattress was never intended to be flipped as the other side was covered with the same material as the box spring top and the appearance did not bode well for a comfortable platform to sleep on.

Does anybody flip mattresses any more ?

Our mattress company recommended that we flip the mattress once a month to protect the wear, so far it is over 12 years and it is still like new. So I guess it does help.

[monavis]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

The answer I wish I had given: The wife and I are older now and are no longer able to flip the mattress like we used to. In our younger days, we'd be going at it so enthusiastically that it damn near bounced out the window on occasion, but flips are rare anymore.

I have a bad back. and can give you an easy way to flip your mattress by your self...Pull the mattress toward you until the far end reaches the floor...then just give it a push and it will fall in place by it self. I am in my 80's now and find it no trouble at all. Turning it doesn't require any lifting unless you have a high bed end.

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by monavis

I have a bad back. and can give you an easy way to flip your mattress by your self...Pull the mattress toward you until the far end reaches the floor...then just give it a push and it will fall in place by it self. I am in my 80's now and find it no trouble at all. Turning it doesn't require any lifting unless you have a high bed end.

That wasn't exactly the flipping I was talking about, heh.