What Is A Pillow Top Mattress & Are They Worth Buying?
So, you're shopping for a mattress, and you've heard a few industry lingo terms thrown around.
From memory foam to pressure-relieving, temperature regulating, and beyond, in today's market, mattresses can be fairly diverse.
Here's the question you came here to have answered.
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What Is A Pillow Top Mattress?
In short, a pillow top mattress is a mattress of any material that has an extra "pillow" layer on top for added comfort. A pillow top mattress may also be referred to as a "euro top" and are an entry-level to mid-range style of bed.
Pros and Cons of Pillow Top Mattresses
Before you go out and buy the first pillow top mattress you find, there are a few things you should consider first.
Here are the pros and cons of pillow tops, applicable to back sleepers, side sleepers, stomach sleepers, and more.
Pros:
Pillow tops are budget-friendly
By their very nature, pillow-top mattresses tend to be less expensive than other types of mattresses because their construction is more straight forward.
While pillow tops can technically be made of any material, most pillow-top mattresses are innerspring, which is a more budget-friendly but still comfortable option.
The pillow top allows for a soft layer on top of firm support.
If you're like me, you like sleeping on a cloud.
Now, with that being said, that doesn't mean you necessarily want to sink into said cloud. One of the great things about pillow top mattresses is that the bed itself can be firm, but the pillow tops can be plush, which gives you the best of both worlds.
Cons:
Pillow top mattresses are the jack of all trades
Pillow tops are good at everything but great at nothing.
If you're in the market for a new mattress, a pillow top mattress is pretty vanilla. Now, that doesn't mean a pillow top mattress isn't a solid choice, but it's just a comfy place to sleep at night and doesn't provide any unique benefits that other mattresses may.
In today's mattress marketplace, you have so many other options to choose from, including memory foam and cooling mattresses. Unlike a pillow top, both memory foam and cooling mattresses have an obvious benefit.
The memory foam cradles your body and is great is you have joint or back issues.
The cooling mattress is an excellent choice if you or your partner tend to sleep hot.
Pillow top mattresses can't be flipped.
Pillow top mattresses aren't the only type of bed that can't be flipped, but this little detail is still worth mentioning.
Since it's a pillow top and not a pillow top-and-bottom, only one side of the mattress has the comfortable pillow layer, which means you can't flip it.
Flipping your mattress is a great way to help improve the comfort level of your mattress and extend its life. Flipping prevents sagging, which can easily add 5+ years to your mattress's lifespan.
Not being able to flip your mattress should be something you take into account when weighing the benefits and drawbacks of a pillow-top.
Closing Thoughts
Pillow top mattresses should definitely be on your radar if you're in the market for a new mattress. However, if this is your first time shopping for a mattress in this decade, it may be worth it to give some time towards researching some newer options out there.
What is your favorite style of mattress? Let us know what you like to sleep on and why in the comments section below!
Courtney is the reason The Sleep Shop exists. She’s a Seattle native with a passion for healthy sleep. She graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a major in marketing. She started The Sleep Shop to help friends and family choose a good mattress, and helped grow the site to what it is today. She does most of the product testing and reviews.
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It’s great to know that pillow-top mattresses are usually much less expensive. My partner and I don’t like our bed right now because we can’t get comfortable at night. We need to find a new mattress because we spend so much of our time in bed.