Why you need to pick your pillow before your mattress

Recently I had an opportunity to watch Scott Miller, the Veep of Sleep at Natura, talking to a couple in our showroom. They were there to look at mattresses, but he walked them to the pillow display instead.

I can sniff out a pushy salesman from across a crowded mall, but what Scott said peaked my interest. “You need to test a mattress with a comfortable pillow,” he said. “To know how that mattress is going to feel night after night, you have to lie on it with a pillow that feels good – and you have to lie on it the way you do at home.”

He asked whether they were side, stomach or back sleepers and invited them to feel the pillows and pick one that mimicked their own. By using the same pillow with each mattress the couple was able to feel the differences immediately. And because they able to concentrate on the mattress, they were able to focus on what they did and didn’t like about each one, which helped narrow their choices quickly.

Think about the last time you went mattress shopping. Did you lie on your back? If you’re a back-sleeper, good for you. If you’re a side or stomach sleeper, back-testing won’t show you how that mattress will support a sore shoulder or hip.

What I love about Scott’s method is that you can even bring your own pillow to go mattress shopping if it makes you more comfortable. It’s not about buying a new pillow as much as it’s about testing different mattresses with the same pillow.

Just walking into a mattress store can be intimidating, but knowing how to accurately compare mattresses helps simplify the process.

What do you think of using one pillow when comparing multiple mattresses? Will you try it the next time you go mattress shopping?

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