Learning Guide
Mattress 101
A simple guide to how mattresses are built, what makes them feel the way they feel and how to choose the right one for you.
At Jordan Mattress & Home, we’ve been handcrafting mattresses in Arkansas since 1958. We know most people don’t buy mattresses very often, and it can be confusing to compare coils, foam, latex, comfort levels, and sales lingo. Mattress 101 is our plain-English guide to what’s inside a mattress, how our comfort levels work, and how to pick the right mattress for the way you sleep.
Start Here: Do I Need a New Mattress?
Most Good Mattresses last 8 to 10 years depending on use and normal wear and tear. But sometimes either our body changes and we don’t feel comfortable anymore or the mattress has worn faster than expected. If you can flip your mattress over, try doing that to see if it feels more comfortable. If not look for other signs it may need to be replaced. The quality of your sleep is to important to ignore an uncomfortable outdated mattress. Here are some other things to consider:
You wake up with new aches and pains that ease up after you’ve been moving around.
You sleep better in a hotel bed, guest room, or recliner than you do at home.
You see visible dips, sags, or “body impressions” that don’t bounce back.
You’re rolling toward the middle of the bed or fighting to stay on your side.
Your mattress is older than 8–10 years, or you simply can’t remember when you bought it.
If a few of these sound familiar, it’s a good time to start looking. The rest of this page will help you narrow down what type of mattress and comfort level works best for you.
Comfort Levels Made Simple
At Jordan Mattress & Home we offer 12 different mattresses with varying comfort levels-from extra-firm to extra-plush so customers can find a mattress that fits how they truly sleep.
The graphics below are just a starting point to help you see how the way you sleep might affect your comfort level choice. The first guide shows you recommended firmnesses based on sleep position and the second graphic shows you how our mattresses feel.
Remember though firmness and softness of a mattress is arbitrary. What feels soft to one person may feel firm to another, so this is just a suggestion, not a rule.
What's Inside a Mattress?
Understanding Mattress Springs and Foams
At Jordan Mattress & Home, every handcrafted mattress begins with a carefully chosen core support system. The core provides the foundation for the mattress, while comfort layers such as cotton, foam, and quilted materials are added to achieve the desired feel. The examples below highlight some of the core components we use and offer a general overview of how our mattresses are built for long-term comfort and durability.
Traditional innerspring Support
- Traditional hourglass-shaped steel coils arranged in rows and connected with helical wires
Reinforced with a steel border rod around the perimeter for added edge support and shape retention
Interconnected design allows weight to be distributed evenly across the mattress
Benefits:
Provides strong, consistent support with a classic innerspring feel. The open coil design promotes airflow, and the durable construction makes Bonnell coils a proven, long-lasting foundation used in mattresses for generations.
Individually Wrapped Coil Support
- Individually wrapped steel coils encased in fabric pockets and arranged across the mattress
Each coil moves independently, reducing motion transfer and allowing targeted support
Often reinforced around the perimeter for improved edge stability
Benefits:
Provides responsive, contouring support that adapts to the body while minimizing motion disturbance. Pocketed coils offer a more flexible feel than traditional innersprings and work well with a wide range of comfort layers.
Pressure-Relieving Foam Support
Layered foam construction built around a high-density foam base for support
Comfort layers may include specialty memory foams designed to relieve pressure
No metal components, allowing the foam layers to work together as a single support system
Memory foam can also be combined with innerspring or pocketed coil units to create a hybrid mattress
Benefits:
Offers excellent pressure relief and body contouring with minimal motion transfer. Memory foam cores provide a quiet, consistent feel and are well suited for sleepers who prefer close-to-the-body support.
Breathable Latex Comfort Layer
- Built with a Talalay latex comfort layer over a supportive foam or latex base
Latex is naturally resilient, flexible, and breathable
Open-cell structure promotes airflow and temperature regulation
Benefits:
Provides buoyant, pressure-relieving support with a responsive feel. Talalay latex cores balance comfort and durability while offering a more natural, breathable sleeping surface.
Supporting Materials That Matter
Cotton Layers
We use cotton as part of the upholstery layers in many of our mattresses. Cotton helps create a more comfortable, breathable surface and adds to the overall durability of the mattress. It’s one of those materials that may not sound flashy, but it plays an important role in long-term comfort.
High Quality Polyfoam Layers
Polyfoam is often misunderstood because quality varies widely. We use polyfoams as support or transition layers where they make sense—not as cheap filler. When properly specified, polyfoam helps create smooth transitions between comfort layers and adds structure to the mattress.
Quilted Fabric & Cover
The quilted fabric is the first thing you feel when you lie down. Beyond looks, it helps hold comfort layers in place, adds surface cushioning, and contributes to the overall feel of the mattress. We choose fabrics that are durable, comfortable, and made to hold up over time.
What Sets Our Mattresses Apart
At Jordan Mattress & Home, we still build mattresses in-house because we are truly proud to offer a product that has helped thousands of customers sleep better. We are proud of the durability and quality of the mattresses we make, and because we sell factory-direct, we can often save people hundreds of dollars on a mattress that is, in our opinion, better than most name brands available in the area.
We like having control over the quality of our mattresses rather than selling someone else’s product. When you visit our mattress store in Hot Springs, Arkansas, you can see what goes into the mattress. We can walk you back to the factory to see the raw materials, and you can watch our craftsmen making mattresses right on site. You don’t have to wonder what’s inside your mattress—you can see the quality behind our product, layer by layer.
We also value the relationship and reputation we’ve built with our customers. Not only do we have people from the same families, across generations, who have purchased our mattresses, but we have also been chosen time and again in local newspapers as the Best Mattress Store. We’re a small store that has weathered the years and flourished because of decades of support from loyal customers, and we work hard to treat people the way we want to be treated.
Things to Consider When Comparing Mattresses
Something that frustrates us about many places that sell mattresses is that, most of the time, the people selling them have no idea what is in the mattresses they’re offering. They don’t understand coils, foams, or construction, and they often end up confusing customers instead of helping them.
Many mattress stores mark mattresses up to crazy margins and then act like they are having a big sale, even though they never really sell the mattress at the so-called regular price. Some manufacturers also promise ridiculous warranties, but they’re usually prorated. Because those stores don’t actually make the mattresses, customers get frustrated when they try to get service on a mattress they feel is defective.
Many mattresses feel good in the showroom because they are new and soft, but over a short time, because of substandard components, people find them uncomfortable. And because the mattress is usually one-sided, once it develops deep body impressions, there’s nothing to do—you can’t turn it over.
We also hate gimmicks. Years ago, everyone was worried about being cold, and mattress makers put things like wool in the mattress and claimed it would make people warmer. Wool can be a good mattress component for many reasons, but after a mattress gets a cover and is made up with a mattress pad and sheets, much of any “warming” effect is gone.
It’s the same today with so-called “cooling” mattresses. A mattress can absolutely make someone sleep hotter if it is made with heat-absorbing memory foams and they sink too far into it. But many “cooling” foams lose most of their effect once you add mattress protectors and sheets. Often, the temperature of sleep is more controlled by the linens used to make up the bed. There are breathability and airflow benefits to using certain high-quality foams or innersprings, and that’s where we focus—on honest, long-term comfort instead of gimmicks.
Many big-box stores and online mattress brands also sell the same models under different names, making it very difficult for customers to comparison shop. And in-store and online sellers often use high-pressure techniques—baiting customers with a great deal on a mattress they don’t really want to sell, while pushing them toward something more expensive. We prefer to offer a relaxed shopping experience, both online and in our Hot Springs showroom.
How We Help You Shop
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to mattresses. Gone are the days when a mattress store had two or three rather hard options and you just picked one and hoped for the best. Advances in materials and components mean we can now match almost every sleeper to a comfort level that truly fits them.
We know customers want to get the best deal possible, but purchasing something you spend about a third of your life on shouldn’t be based only on the lowest price. Your mattress is one of the only pieces of furniture in your home that has a direct bearing on your overall well-being, because sleep is so valuable.
Many people come in saying they want the firmest mattress, but while good support is important, there are other things to consider—like pressure points, sleeping style, and motion transfer. Firm is not always better. What truly feels good to you is the best mattress for you. And yes, most of the time, when sleeping with a partner, we can find a mattress that will make both parties happy.
Most people who walk through our door say some version of, “I don’t know where to start.” That’s completely normal. The first thing we ask (unless they tell us up front) is whether they are purchasing a bed they will sleep on every night or if it’s for a child or guest room. Then we ask what they think they want their mattress to feel like.
Based on what they tell us, we direct them to a mattress to try first. Then, based on what they like or don’t like about that one, we move from there. We explain the differences between Bonnell coil units and pocketed coil units, what makes a good coil, and when coil count actually matters. If someone says they don’t like memory foam, we ask them why and explain how memory foam has improved over the last 25 years and how we source ours here in the United States. If they’re interested, we explain the benefits of a Talalay latex mattress and how it differs from memory foam.
We don’t cut corners on quality sleep for our customers. We continue to craft mattresses to last and to provide the best comfort we can.
Why Buy A Mattress From Jordan Mattress & Home
When you buy from us, you are buying a superior, handcrafted product. You can see what goes into the mattress. We are happy to walk you back to the factory to see the raw materials, and you can watch mattresses being made.
You are also saving money because we don’t do gimmicks. We work hard to provide our customers with the best product at the best price, and you are eliminating the middleman. Because we make our own mattresses, we also service our own mattresses. If there is a problem, we want to take care of it.
We are a small, family-owned mattress store in Hot Springs, Arkansas, that has weathered the years and flourished because of decades of support from loyal customers. We treat our customers the way we want to be treated. When you buy from Jordan Mattress & Home, you are supporting a local business, which in turn supports our community and our state.