What is a Hybrid Mattress? Everything You Need to Know

A mattress is a highly valuable investment in your physical and emotional health. A good night's sleep is vital to a person’s daily function. 

But on today’s internet, you might not be able to get your head around what type of mattress material means with so many new terminologies floating around, and as a result, don’t know which is the best type of material for you.

Today we look at Hybrid Mattress, a relatively new trend but probably already known to many. It combines the classic construction of traditional innerspring mattresses with the softening and comforting layers of memory foam mattresses.

Hybrid Mattresses are beds with several layers made of different materials, which work together to provide advanced comfort and support for the sleeper. 

They usually are composed of a cover or casing, body-contouring memory foam layers, cooling gel or another cooling system, and a base layer innerspring coils system.

What does Hybrid Mattress mean?

When you combine something, they usually end up as a Hybrid. As a general rule, the hybrid could have a high chance of being better than the originals. 

In terms of the mattress, the Hybrid Mattress combines the benefits of several types of the mattress into one. Doing this was no easy feat because getting the proportion right is key to delivering a comfortable mattress. 

Hybrid Mattress vs. Memory Foam

Memory foam mattresses solve a lot of the problems with traditional mattresses. They usually contain multiple layers of contouring memory foam technology and a cooling foam layer on top of a more supportive base layer as our Hesperis Mattress does. 

However, we know that one man's meat is another man's poison. There must be people who weigh support over comfort, and they usually choose a heavy, traditional innerspring mattress from the usual way, or try the Hybrid Mattress as an alternative. 

We did cover extensively on this topic: Memory Foam VS. Spring Mattress – A 2022 Comparison

So in the case that you wish to go for more support and try the Hybrid Mattress, you should be briefed well on its pros and cons as follows. 

Pros:

Bone and joint support - Hybrid Mattresses offer your body a combination of contouring comfort and support and allow for a relaxing sleep, reducing neck, hip, shoulder, and back pain. 

Pressure reduction - If you only rely on hips and shoulders for support, then it will eventually backfire since you stay too long in one position. 

Many people try to sleep on their backs to reduce the pressure, it might work if you do not have sleep apnea or other discomforts with this.

Pressure reduction is best represented with memory foam, to cradle the body in full comfort. 

Pocket coil support - Years of spinal misalignment in the neck and back will eventually cause problems even when you get out of bed. The pocket coils are one of the ways to make sure you do not have to trade support for pressure relief. 

Of course, it is not true that memory foam mattresses will lack support. In Hesperis Mattress, we designed three layers with the bottom layer being the firmness and with 7 Zone of body shape support. 

As for cooling technology, the issue that comes with memory foam, the most feasible solution now is to add the gel element in the foam layer to achieve the heat dissipation purposes. 

The possible cons:

Many people may be hot sleepers. Memory foam in a not-so-good Hybrid Mattress might not contain gel or sorts to disperse that heat. 

This con could be a dealbreaker. 

Believe it or not, some people do not like the contouring type of memory foam and prefer a solid and firm mattress; they complain that even the firmness layer of the Hesperis Mattress could not provide them enough stability on the back. 

Even though these complaints are quite little to none, we do believe that there are people who will not be 100% happy with memory foam mattresses. That’s why we will launch the Hybrid Mattress in a matter of a month. 

It will be about a similar price to the Hesperis Mattress, and they are still less expensive than a comparable quality innerspring mattress. 

Another note for Hybrid Mattress is that they weigh a little more than all-foam ones. Their level is between the same size innerspring ones and memory foam ones. 

Who is best fitted for Hybrid Mattress?

Those who have high requirements in support prefer strong solid layers or those who have gotten used to springs and sprung. 

Those who sleep hot do not give up memory foam mattresses easily, because gel foam can solve many of the problems. But if you prefer strong back support, Hybrid Mattress is more suitable, or even a straight away Sprung Mattress. 

How long can Hybrid Mattress last?

The lifespan of a Hybrid Mattress is similar to that of an innerspring. If you took good care of it, as we mentioned here How to Shop for A New Mattress and How to Make Your Mattress Last Longer.

For innerspring mattresses, they usually start to sag in the middle around year five to seven, and it gets worse as time goes by. We do recommend that it's time to change the mattress at the Year 7th-8th. 

Is Hybrid Mattress good for back pain?

Yes, it is good for back pain. But the saying that “the firmer the better” is not correct. For example, sleeping on hard surfaces or floors will not miraculously treat back pain. 

The truth is, not only do you need support, but you need to maintain the natural curve of your spine. 

A hard surface unnaturally flattens the spine, but when a Hybrid Mattress combines optimal support with contouring comfort, it promotes healthy spine curvature and a healthy body. 

Do Hybrid Mattresses need a box spring?

Ideally, you might want to use a different kind of bed foundation such as platform ones or a metal frame with wood slats.

The only bomb is not to put the mattress in a metal frame without properly spaced slats, which will cause sag and damage.

Firmness levels

Hybrid Mattress counts as medium-firmness between all mattresses. Those who think they need an ultra-firm bed may be surprised by the right answer, which is to always balance support and comfort. 

Because even though you think the firmer the better, at the end of the day, the problem will not be solved by “sleeping on the floor”.