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Benefits of Shopping for a Mattress in Person

Couple shopping for a mattress in a store

“Shopping for a mattress is so time-consuming.” “I don’t have time to go to a mattress store.” “It’s so much easier to buy a mattress online.” Let’s face it, most people do not enjoy shopping for a mattress. We’ve heard it all before, but we have to ask: is it really that much easier to buy a bed online instead of in-store? In our opinion, no, it isn’t. 

What a lot of consumers don’t know is that buying mattresses online can come with many drawbacks, including running into low-quality inventory, shopping from small selections, making uninformed purchases, and more. If you were to ask us how to shop for a mattress, we would recommend coming into any of our stores in person, speaking with any of our experts, and having them suggest a few mattresses for you to test out based on your needs.

The best way to buy a mattress is to purchase in person because:

  • You can try the mattress before you buy it
  • You can shop alongside an expert
  • You can save time
  • You’re less likely to return your mattress

The mattress experts from Texas Mattress Makers are here to explain the benefits of shopping for a mattress in person. In this video below, our founder, Youval Meicler, breaks down the shopping experience. 

What to know before shopping for a mattress

Before we dive into the benefits of in-person mattress shopping, we’d be remiss not to first mention what you should be looking for in your shopping journey. While every sleeper will be looking for something different depending on their needs, here are the basics:

  • How the mattress’s comfort level feels
    • How soft or firm is it? Is it comfortable for you?
  • How the mattress supports your body, especially in your preferred sleeping position
  • What the mattress is made of (components)
  • How big the mattress is
    • Will it fit in your space?
    • How tall is it? Can you get in and out easily?

Other factors may include whether the mattress is adjustable-friendly, if it has cooling technology, or if you require a specific shape or custom dimensions (which we can do for you). The above factors are crucial for determining which mattress and what type of mattress will suit what you’re searching for. Because we’ll be honest, many shoppers do not find their perfect mattress online. 

But in-person shoppers usually do — especially if they shop at Texas Mattress Makers.

Benefit 1: You can try the mattress before you buy it

Have you ever ordered a shirt, pair of pants, or shoes online and then realized they don’t fit once they arrive? Happens to all of us. Well, that annoying scenario can be easily avoided if you were to go into a physical store and try the items on before buying them to make sure they fit. The same goes for mattresses.

At Texas Mattress Makers, we believe there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to mattresses. Every customer is different, so we take a tailored approach to mattress shopping. Instead of offering generic options, our experts work with you to identify your unique sleep style and preferences. We ask key questions about your sleeping habits, pain or discomfort, and how you typically feel when you wake up. This personalized process helps us recommend the perfect mattress for your needs, ensuring you leave with a bed that supports a better night’s rest.

Should you try a mattress before buying? 

100%. Answering the question, “Which mattress is best for me?” can only be accomplished by trying out the mattress prior. Why is this? It’s simple: you can’t feel a mattress through a screen. 

You need to lie down and experience how a mattress feels against your body. You could think you want a soft mattress only to realize that a medium-firm option is more comfortable. This is why we encourage in-store testing before purchase. After all, the best mattress for you is the one that gives you a great night’s sleep.

To help you understand how to test a mattress, mattress expert Noah Meicler shares his tips.

Benefit 2: You can shop alongside an expert

How do I know what mattress is best for me? You might not, but we do. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, shopping online for a mattress can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Luckily, you won’t have to search alone. 

We employ mattress experts, NOT pushy salespeople whose sole purpose is to listen to your needs and accommodate them. Our experts will learn about your sleeping habits, your preferences, and any other relevant information to match you with at least three mattresses and invite you to lie on them for about 15 minutes. 

Finding the right mattress isn’t just about comfort — it’s about science and engineering. At Texas Mattress Makers, the team observes how you lie on different mattresses to see how your body responds. Do you fidget or shift uncomfortably? These reactions help them determine if the mattress is causing discomfort or if it’s truly a good fit for your sleep style. Our approach goes beyond simply lying on a bed and guessing; it’s rooted in understanding how the right mattress is made and how it can improve your overall sleep quality.

Because we create our own mattresses on-site, our experts are trained in the art of mattress construction and component technology — meaning, they know exactly what mattresses can accommodate your needs. At the end of the day, their job is to help you improve your sleep quality, not necessarily to sell you a mattress. This is not an experience that you can have while shopping online.

Expert Tip: If you do prefer to shop online, you can always call a showroom and speak with an expert over the phone who can guide you through the recommendation process!

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on our showroom floor, ask our experts about customization options. Our factory can create a mattress of any shape and size with any of our premium materials to fit your vision.

Benefit 3: You can save time

If you think physically going into a mattress store is time-consuming, imagine sifting through hundreds of online listings. THAT is time-consuming. 

First, you have to choose from one of a million mattress online retailers. Next, you have to look through their selection and see which one might — heavy emphasis on the might — be a fit for you. Then, you have to wait for it to get delivered to your doorstep. Finally, after all of that nonsense, you get to set it up and sleep on it. 

While the online purchasing process could take a couple of weeks, buying a mattress from brick-and-mortar mattress retail stores could take a day or less.

Benefit 4: You’re less likely to return your mattress

When you buy a mattress online, you’re going in blind. You have no idea how that mattress will perform long-term or how it will feel against your body. So when it arrives, and you finally get a chance to lay on it, what happens if you don’t like it? You feel uncomfortable. It’s too firm. It’s too soft. The size isn’t right. 

If you buy clothes from a website that don’t fit, you’ll probably return them…but how do you return a mattress? Unfortunately, for most mattress online retailers, the return process can be frustrating and confusing — so much so that most people just suck it up and sleep on the bad mattress. Ouch.

If you purchase your mattress in person, you are more likely to be happy and confident in your choice because you know exactly what you’re buying. No surprises. 

If you read our countless positive mattress reviews, you’ll see a common theme: the experience was simple and they are so happy with their new bed even years later. Customers have shared how their custom mattresses from Texas Mattress Makers have transformed their sleep. From relieving back pain to providing long-lasting comfort, these mattresses have made a real difference in people’s lives. Whether it’s firm support for a back injury or a softer feel for side sleepers, the expert team ensures each customer leaves with a mattress they’ll love for years to come.

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Find Your Perfect Mattress in One Visit

We Make Shopping for a Mattress in Person Easy

To recap, should you try a mattress before buying? Yes. Why? Because it guarantees that you will find your perfect mattress and have better sleep for years to come. Is that convincing enough?

Shopping for a mattress doesn’t have to be a chore. At Texas Mattress Makers, we pride ourselves on cultivating a stress-free customer experience and providing you with your forever mattress. In fact, we were voted “Best Mattress Store” from the Houston Chronicle’s Best of the Best in 2024, and have been for the last few years — so it looks like Houston agrees with us.

All you have to do is focus on your comfort. Come and visit any of our Houston-area mattress stores and begin your journey to better sleep. We can’t wait to see you.

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Testing Our Mattress Components for 100,000 Cycles

Texas Mattress Makers mattress testing

We (and the rest of Houston) often praise our mattress components as being of the best quality in Houston — just read our mattress reviews. However, in a market where mattress companies love to talk big about how amazing their beds are with no proof to show for it, we decided to put our word to the test. Literally.

With the help of Legget and Platt, one of the world’s largest leaders in bedding component technology, we’ve sent our mattresses off to their lab to undergo over 100,000 cycles of mattress testing. What does this mean?

The experts at Texas Mattress Makers are here to explain how our mattress components were tested thoroughly to determine their impeccable quality and durability. If you ever needed evidence that our mattresses were the real deal, this is it. 

The importance of mattress testing with Legget and Platt

You might be wondering why it is important to test the quality of a mattress, especially with a third party such as Legget and Platt. Because we manufacture our own mattresses, we want to ensure that our engineering process delivers the proper ratios of comfort and support components to offer the sleeper the best sleep possible. 

We put our mattresses through these tests with Legget and Platt, experts in bedding component technology, to prove the durability, support, and comfort of our mattress components. If a mattress does not pass the tests, we do not manufacture it or put it on our showroom floor because it does not live up to our standards. 

How Texas Mattress Makers mattresses performed 

After getting the results from Legget and Platt, it was determined that our mattress collections exceeded industry standards. This means that if you are looking for a new mattress, you can rest easy knowing that Texas Mattress Makers manufactures and sells top-quality mattresses at any price point.

  • The Essential Collection: This collection of starter and budget-friendly mattresses exceeded other mattresses in this budget range in terms of quality. If you want a quality mattress for an amazing price, look no further than our Essential Collection.
  • The Hybrid Plus Collection: Our high-performing comfort components such as our High-Resilience Foam in the Hybrid Plus Collection were proven to be superior to other lines and will increase the durability, longevity, and comfort of your mattress.
  • The Quantum™ Collection: The most luxurious and supportive mattresses that we manufacture surpassed industry standards and outperformed all of our mattresses in terms of durability and longevity. The top-of-the-line Quantum™ Coil featured in this line, paired with the highest quality all-natural latex in the Quantum™ Natural model, was proven to be some of the best components on the market. If you’re looking for your forever mattress, you will get your best quality sleep with our Quantum™ Collection.

Purchasing a top-quality mattress that is within your budget and will last longer is easy when you shop at Texas Mattress Makers. The data speaks for itself: our online and in-store mattress collections are the best of their kind.

How do you test the quality of a mattress?

It’s one thing to say that a mattress is high-quality, but another to prove it. So you might be thinking, what goes into mattress testing? Information from Legget and Platt will help us explain how to test a mattress using their pioneering testing methods. 

They use their very own cutting-edge methods and machines to evaluate the durability and performance of each mattress. Their rigorous and thorough examinations go way beyond a pass or fail grade.

What to look for when testing a mattress

We’ll get into more detail on how Legget and Platt test a mattress in a minute, but here are a few examples of what they’re testing for, or what to look for when testing a mattress:

  • Measurements of firmness
  • Firmness retention
  • Durability
  • Effect of impact
  • Component performance 

With the help of data results from Legget and Platt, we are able to determine which of our mattress components truly stand the test of time. At their international testing lab, our mattresses underwent the following cutting-edge tests.

1. Rollator Test

When you purchase a mattress, you want it to last a long time. This means that the mattress must withstand a significant amount of weight and pressure every night as you lie in bed without succumbing to damage. Like a cheap shirt that might rip when you first wear it, a cheap mattress will not be durable enough to support your body properly long-term. This is where the Rollator comes in.

The Rollator is a 240-lb hexagonal roller that is rolled across the surface of the mattress for 100,000 cycles (200,000 passes in total) at approximately 1,000 cycles per hour. This consistent back-and-forth rolling over the mattress is meant to simulate 10 years of use. 

Note: If you’ve seen our video where we run over our Quantum™ Coil component with a truck weighing over 20,000 pounds, then you’ll know that this mattress component passed the Rollator test with flying colors!

After the test is complete, the testers can determine how the mattress would look, feel, and perform after continuous, long-term use. Are the mattress components strong enough to last 10 years and beyond, or will they deplete in durability early? Data is collected, and the mattress is thoroughly inspected for any damage, wear, and tear. 

2. Cornell Test

This is how to test a mattress to determine if your bed can withstand a child jumping on it constantly (we’re only partially kidding). The Cornell test features a 230-lb, dual-sphere platen applied to the mattress 100,000 times. The platen is pushed into the mattress, released, and then pushed in again in an up-and-down motion in the same spot. Data is collected at specific intervals during the test to record the mattress’s performance and durability by calculating the change in support firmness and preload height, if any. 

Basically, if weight is pressed into the mattress over and over again — which will occur if you sleep on a mattress every night for years — how will it change? Will it stay supportive and functional, or will the mattress components be subjected to premature wear? This is a great way to test if the mattress will sag over time or if it will create a healthy impression. 

3. Interface Pressure Mapping

When you come into a Texas Mattress Makers showroom to try out mattresses, we take your body type into consideration. Why? The way your body distributes your weight will determine which areas will put more pressure on the mattress — and we need to make sure that those areas are properly supported for optimal comfort. 

The components that make up your mattress should be able to distribute pressure well even after years of use; therefore, the mattress needs to be tested to see if it can, literally, handle the pressure. 

Also known as the “Pressure Blanket” test, Interface Pressure Mapping uses a special pressure imaging system to see how well a mattress distributes pressure when someone lies on top of it. The data can show how comfortable a sleeper will be by not having to adjust as much during the night. 

4. Bounce Analysis

A Bounce Analysis, also known as the Impact Test, is used to determine if a mattress will experience height loss over time. In a standard version of this test, a machine drops a 175-pound weight onto the mattress from a certain height until a 3/4″ deformation is achieved. How long it takes for that deformation or dent to form can determine the lifespan of the mattress.

They can perform several alternative versions of this test by varying weight, platens, and angular impacts.

The data that comes from a test like the Bounce Analysis can also help customers determine what kind of mattress suits their preferences. For example, some sleepers may want a mattress that they can sink into a little, whereas others may want no sinkage at all. The test also helps us to ensure that even if a comfort component is softer, it will still maintain its durability throughout the years.

5. Sway Force Analysis

Couples, this test is for you. If you share a bed with another person, you may have experienced the annoyance of feeling your partner move on the mattress and disturb your sleep. The Sway Force Analysis evaluates what a mattress does when one person is actively moving and another person is asleep.

We carry a lot of mattresses that minimize motion transfer for couples, making this test and its data crucial. In general, this test uses a modified Rollator machine to carefully test how much an individual may or may not be disturbed by pressure on another section of the mattress. 

This test is essential for mattresses with our individually wrapped coils, which are designed to minimize motion transfer and respond to bodies individually so that both parties can sleep soundly without disturbing one another.

Texas Mattress Makers factory worker

Discover the Texas Mattress Makers Difference

Texas Mattress Makers Mattresses are Tested for Excellence — and We Delivered.

Here’s the truth: if you want to know how to find a good quality mattress, ask if their mattresses have undergone rigorous mattress testing with Legget and Platt. We put our mattress components through all of these tests to make sure that we are selling mattresses that are the best of the best — because you deserve nothing less than perfection.

At Texas Mattress Makers, mattress construction matters more than anything. Proper construction using only the highest-quality materials allows us to make products that provide long-lasting comfort and support for years of healthy sleep. In short, if you invest in a quality mattress, you’ll get quality sleep and a quality life as a result!

If you are interested in learning more about mattress testing, feel free to speak with any of our experts. Or, if you’re ready to find your forever mattress, visit any of our Houston-area mattress stores today to get started.

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