Sleep easy: Give your bed a makeover with a topper or mattress
Toppers can add comfort but they cannot fix a failing bed with structural issues. File picture
Having helped my adult child shuffle 1,400 boxes into her shared rental accommodation, we were confronted (yet again) with a doddery, deflated, open-spring mattress. This one was reasonably clean, but the let-down of a jaded bed put some wah-wah-wah on the jollity of move-in day.
Satisfied that there was no ridiculous topography of hills and valleys indicating actual collapse, we cleaned it and tenderly shrouded the elderly trampoline in two cheap mattress protectors and a 3cm topper.
Whether you’re dealing with subtle body aches from your master super-king, or concerned as I am, about a young back on an ancient mattress, thicker protectors and bed toppers can be a major help. What they cannot do is fix a broken bed.
When should you consider a topper over a replacement mattress? Let’s start with affordability. If your bed is less than eight years old, and doesn’t show expansive, large depressions, a challenged open or pocket spring bed can be addressed with a thick 5cm topper combining layers of padding and a quilted top in a variety of material choices.
Toppers do not fix structural failures. If you sit on the edge of the bed and it flattens to the divan, if there’s a serious well where you sleep, extensive biological staining, or springs are waving through the ticking — it has to go. New or not, if the bed is sound but just too firm or soft, a topper is well worth a try.
Many people choose to add a mattress topper to a perfectly good bed. This can finesse their comfort (generally going softer, firmer and/or adding a sensation of cooling). Secondly, toppers like simple bed protectors will prolong the lifetime of your mattress, and every bed should have something you can launder at 60C between your top sheet and the mattress.
Every four-star hotel in Ireland has toppers strapped on their already excellent beds, as it makes all the difference to a luxurious experience. Sweating and potentially leaking into your topper, the cover should be washed as regularly as your mattress sheet.
In terms of the topper’s materials, we’re dealing with a layered construction. The first thing to note is any inclusion of memory foam or potential allergens. Many menopausal women cannot stand the yielding sensation of memory foam. Look for cooling gel layers, and if possible, vouch for a lengthy trial period.
Polyester fabrics, memory (and other) foams, plus fibre fill are typical synthetic materials used in toppers, with latex, wool and down on the natural side. Prices for natural, sustainable materials that will often last longer are highly accessible, and as seasonal products, are regularly on sale with 40% to 50% reductions on the RRP.
So, price point: Let’s first get into bed with the most expensive option. Hybrid toppers offer micro-springs (a miniature version of the pocket springs in your actual mattress) enfolded by layers of foam and additional materials, both natural and synthetic, to both add warmth and to regulate overall body temperature. They are thick, comfortable, reduce movement from your partner, and isolate you completely from the mattress beneath. There’s always a dedicated cover provided, so you just wash that as required.
My choice is the super deep 10cm Sleepeeze Empress, which layers down through a damask cover, to layers of both real wool and latex (both hypoallergenic) to a micro-spring base. Latex provides taut stability, and wool has that muscle-soothing give. You might need to lie down for the price — €1,699 at Harvey Norman for sumptuous support in a double (easily eclipsing the price of a good bed). When buying any new bed, take note of integrated pillow tops that should deliver sensational feelings as standard.
For a much smaller spend but a thick pad, we give up the springs and move to a mid-range multilayered topper with thermal talents. Emma offers two grades of topper, and having spent nights on both, I prefer its premium topper, which offers comfort, discreet levelling to the mattress and excellent value for money.
The brand is best known for its memory foam beds, and this topper features a temperature-regulating graphite-infused top cover and other materials with heat-taming properties. It’s a medium to firm topper due to the inclusion of latex — good news for many backs that would suffer on a richly padded, softer variety.
The premium topper includes a thermal regulating “Thermosync” foam, where the bed meets the mattress, preventing any heat from building up during the night. Emma suggests that toppers work best on mattresses set over slats rather than divans, but you absolutely can put their toppers on any stable bed.
There’s a 100-night trial (more than generous). You can also throw these and any thick topper over an ottoman bed or sofa bed for additional comfort. It's priced from €359 for a single to €679 for a Super King (10% off and rolling additional offers available online), see Emma-sleep.ie.
Moving away from latex, if you prefer a swooning, soft reception beyond polyester fibres (the cheapest choice in toppers in the 3cm to 8cm division) there’s wool or feathers. My lifelong hack for any old-style feather bed is to put any feather duvet of the right depth, size, and weight under the bottom sheet.
There are some really great bargains in real feathers toppers and used in a cassette construction (pocketed) they hold up well, without bunching, even through repeated washes.
Arnotts offers white goose feather and down filling toppers set in a 100% cambric cotton cover by Karla Bree, priced from €120, made in Ireland, with regular sale prices. It also stocks The Soft Bedding Company's excellent goose down toppers from just €108 for a super king (on offer) in a truly lush 7.5cm feather-fill, Arnotts.ie.
In wool, Ikea’s Radhusven is slender (really closer to a mattress protector), but it does feature honest, unbleached cotton and a wool fill that keeps you snug. Available in a Super King, the range includes both duvets (€50-€95) together with wool-filled pillows (€40/€45).
Wool has a remarkable ability to wick away moisture and excessive heat as it responds to the body’s demands. Tom and Breda Gibney of Greener Me (Baavet Bedding), based in Kilcock, County Meath, include a deeper wool-fill in their protectors.
Nicely quilted, these feature 600 grams of Irish wool per square metre and are available in all standard bed sizes from €135-€225. Its beautiful wool-filled duvets are superbly priced for a natural material sourced right here at home, €145-€180 for 2-12 tog.
On a less-than-dreamy budget, you’re more likely to be choosing a topper composed of a sandwich of synthetic materials, including cluster-fill fibre for softness. What we want to avoid is anything that overheats or blocks you from the temperature control talents in your original mattress.
Jysk has an impressive choice, starting with its Kvysken in a double topper. A very worthy 6cm deep, memory foam is buried deep within the matrix to mould precisely to the contours of your body without any swelter.
The mattress is divided into seven comfort zones for distinct ergonomic support under soft, thick quilting — the polyester cover infused with softening and cooling aloe vera. This level of detailing is impressive in a bargain topper. €115 for a standard double (look out for shifts to European sizing in Ikea and Jysk). Its other choices extend up to cooling gels and various compositions, Jysk.ie.
HomeStore+More stocks dozens of well-priced topper choices, including a regular favourite for anyone who loves the embrace of feathers, but cannot either tolerate or afford them. The Bailey & Cole Luxury Mattress Topper features a rich serving of 100% anti-allergen cluster-fill fibre for delicious cushioning and lasting loft in big sections to distribute weight and wear.
The whole topper and its cotton cover can go right into the washer. Prices run up to just €119 for a Super King, Homestoreandmore.ie.
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