TOP TIPS FROM FUEL PR TO TRY BEFORE YOU BUY AND MAKE SURE YOU GET JUST THE RIGHT ONE
“The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies every morning to keep in it late.” – Charles Caleb Colton, English cleric and writer who lived in the early 18th century
Nearly half of us are concerned about our health when buying a new bed but most don’t really know how to choose one that is just right or even where to start with the bewildering array on offer in most stores. With the summer sales in full swing and lots of last minute bargains to be had on big ticket items, here are a few top tips to bear in mind.
“The happiest part of a man’s life is what he passes lying awake in bed in the morning”
Samuel Johnson
Back in 1988, a ground-breaking study by sleep expert Dr Chris Idzikowski found that swapping an uncomfortable old bed for a comfortable new one could account for an average of 42 minutes’ extra sleep – four times that achieved by over the counter sleep aids. So, if you need to improve the quality of your sleep, one of the most important things you need to do is to make sure you’re sleeping on the right bed.
Bed comfort is such an individual thing – one person’s soft and comfy nest is another person’s squashy nightmare. A nice firm bed for another is someone else’s idea of a night of torture. That’s why it’s important to have a wide selection of tensions in a bed range so that all tastes and requirements, and of course budget, can be catered for so, first of all…
- Don’t buy online before trying out the bed first!
- Make sure you lie down on all sorts of different beds so you can see what type suits YOU. There are ordinary spring beds, pocket spring beds, memory foam, or the new type of springy gel foam, Geltex, which is mixed with springs to make ‘hybrids’ and offers the best of both worlds.
- Leave yourself plenty of time in the showroom and lie down on your chosen bed to try it out properly for 10 minutes, if you can
- Roll over — if it takes a lot of effort, then the bed is too soft; if it’s uncomfortable on your hips and shoulders, it’s too hard
- Then the crunch test: Lie on the bed on your back. Try and slide your hand under you. If you can’t get your hand under your spine at all, the mattress is too soft. If you can get your hand under your spine and there is space between your hand and back, the mattress is too firm. If you can slide your hand under your spine and the mattress supports your back, this is just right
- Take your partner with and lie down on the bed together to ensure
it can both adequately accommodate you and is comfy for you both. Lie side by side and make sure you can put your arms behind your head, your elbows out, without touching
- Buy the biggest bed you can afford and which will fit in your bedroom – you spend a third of your life in bed so make sure it feels good!
- A good bed should last you 8 years, maybe more, so why not treat yourself to a new one now while the deals are out there? When you lie down on a really comfortable, properly supportive bed, you will inevitably notice the difference with your old one at home and you will sleep better, and deeper, to wake far more refreshed in the morning and ready to face whatever the day throws at you
And finally, as the irrepressible Eleanor Roosevelt was quoted as saying…
“I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall…”
For more information, please get in touch with Gillian Waddell at Fuel PR (Gillian@fuelrefuel.com).