A mattress is bought rarely, used every night and almost impossible to judge in a shop in five minutes. The descriptions do not help: "firm", "medium" and "orthopaedic" have no agreed meaning and cannot be compared between makers.
What can be pinned down is the size, which in Britain follows a fixed set of dimensions that differ from European and American ones; the construction; the fire safety label; the terms on which it can be returned; and what happens to the old one.
Mattresses sold in the United Kingdom come in standard sizes that are not the same as continental or American ones, which matters when a bed frame and a mattress are bought separately.
A European double is 140 by 200 and a European king 160 by 200, so a British mattress on a European frame, or the reverse, leaves a gap or does not fit. A standard double gives each of two sleepers 67.5 centimetres, a good deal less than a single bed, which is why two adults are usually better served by a king.
Fillings above the springs — wool, cotton, polyester — decide how the surface feels. Many mattresses are single-sided and are rotated head to foot, not turned over; the label says which.
There is no standard scale. One maker's "medium" is another's "firm", and "orthopaedic" is a marketing term, not a medical one. The support a person needs depends on weight and sleeping position: a heavier sleeper sinks further into the same mattress, and a side sleeper needs more give at the shoulder and hip than a back sleeper. A mattress that holds the spine roughly straight when lying on the side is about right. Couples of very different weights can have two single mattresses joined by a zip, each of a different tension.
Lying on a mattress in a shop for a few minutes, in a coat, shows little. Many sellers, particularly those selling online, therefore offer a trial of some weeks or months at home, after which the mattress can be returned. The terms differ: some require a mattress protector to have been used, some require the mattress to be kept for a minimum period first, and some charge for collection. They are worth reading before buying, not after.
Mattresses and upholstered bed bases sold in the United Kingdom must meet flammability requirements, and carry a label saying so. A second-hand mattress without one should not be bought, and second-hand mattresses in general carry a risk of bed bugs that is difficult to check.
The trade's own guidance is to review a mattress after about seven years, but the real test is its condition: a visible dip, springs that can be felt, or waking stiff in one bed and not in others. A mattress protector, washed regularly, keeps the surface clean and is usually a condition of the guarantee. Guarantees cover faults in manufacture, not gradual softening.
A mattress is bulky waste and does not go in a household bin. The routes are the retailer's collection service when the new one is delivered, the council's bulky waste collection, or a household waste recycling centre.
Mattresses can be taken apart and their steel, foam and fibres recycled. The National Bed Federation, the manufacturers' trade body, reported in October 2025 that 56 per cent of mattresses discarded in 2023 were sent for recycling, against an estimated 25 per cent in 2021, though the material actually recovered amounted to 33 per cent. Anyone paid to take a mattress away must be a registered waste carrier, as explained under household recycling.
Sheets, duvets and pillows are covered under bedding materials.