Mattress Too Firm? Here’s How to Make It Softer

Nowadays, we buy mattresses online or shortly experience them in the store. But according to science, the human body needs at least a month to get used to a mattress.

It is not surprising to welcome a mattress home and find it a bit too tough or firm for our preference, don’t stress out yet, we could try a few tips to break it in, we covered this topic here How to Break In a New Mattress - Tips and Advice, mainly because one needs time to get used to a new mattress and a new mattress also needs time to become flexible and accommodating. 

In this article, we discuss the situation when you already bought a mattress that is deemed too firm for you, or it has been slept for quite some years to become stiff. There are methods you can try to make it softer and sleep friendlier. Firstly, you need to understand whether your mattress is too firm or not. 

How to tell if the mattress is too firm?

Signs your mattress is too firm

• You wake up with upper back, neck, or shoulder pain
• Discomfort in your shoulders, hips, or knees
• Numbness or tingling in your arms, hands, legs, or feet
• The mattress doesn't contour to your body, or there's no give on your pressure points

If you're experiencing any or all of these things, it's a good sign that it is too firm. Then lets at least try in the following ways.

4 simple ways to make your mattress softer

Generally, a mattress can be used for more than 5 years. Considering that mattresses are relatively expensive and heavy, they do not need to be replaced frequently. Therefore, to change the comfort of the bed, you can consider adding foreign objects.

Support your mattress with a bed base 

Since a bed base is the support of your mattress, changing the bed base could have effects on changing the overall support of your mattress. 

The most common bed bases are: 

Box springs – A box spring, which is often hollow and made of wood or metal, are designed to lift and support an innerspring mattress, allowing for added bounce and comfort. It is not suitable for a foam mattress, so if you put a foam mattress on a box spring, it might feel a bit firmer than it should be.

Box spring is a box with springs inside that function as motion isolators for bouncy and disruptive coiled beds. 

The Foundation - Foundation itself can be either a solid or slatted platform, which tends to make a surface firmer, so if you put a foam bed on the foundation and feel uncomfortable, consider switching to an adjustable base or a slatted base. 

Bed slats – Bed slats can be made of wood or metal planks, and they came in two forms, standard and sprung. The former is flat and sturdy while the latter is curved and flexible. 

For a softer mattress feel, choose the sprung ones that are spaced no more than three inches apart. 

Add a mattress topper or pad 

A perfect match for your old mattress that is not yet up for retirement, you could consider a small investment of a mattress topper, which helps deliver an enhanced pressure point relief and optimal spinal alignment. 

Mattress toppers are available in a variety of materials, normally the foam ones are most soft and comfortable. Our Newentor Mattress Topper is available in two types of comfort with simply a switch of layers, the foams are H2 gel Visco foam and the H3 comfort firm foam, adding both support and comfort. 

Rotate your mattress 

Rotating and flipping your mattress could easily adjust its firmness and comfort level. For example, our Hesperis Mattress adopts an adjustable design and can be switched to have three types of comfort. It can be both rotated sides and switched layers, we have covered the relevant topic in this article Should You Rotate or Flip Your Mattress? Some mattresses can be switched layers and rotated and some can’t, you must read the instructions beforehand. 

Rotating the mattress can help restore the flexibility and comfort that normally a new mattress could give, but only for some time. If you foster the habit of rotating the mattress every 3-6 months, it also helps prolong the mattress's lifespan. 

If it is a mattress with an adjustable design that can be switched layers, then switching the layers after a certain period is an extra option for maintaining the mattress and keeping it comfortable. 

Rotating a mattress – To rotate a mattress, spin the bed 180 degrees. It means switching the sides that used to support your head into supporting your feet, and vice versa. 

Flipping a mattress – To flip a mattress, turn the entire mattress upside-down so that the top side now faces the floor. Most mattresses do not advise to be flipped, make sure to check with the manual or manufacturer. 

 Adjust the temperature 

This method is especially effective for foam mattresses since it is highly sensitive to temperature change. If you intentionally increase the room temperature in the evenings, your mattress might feel rather softer compared with usual days, with better contouring to the body.