My Grandma’s Mattress Routine Has Helped My Bed Last for over a Decade

If there’s anything my 91-year-old grandma (I call her Nana) takes seriously, it’s keeping her home clean and tidy. Truly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a speck of dust in her apartment in my life. So naturally, whenever I have a question about cleaning or organizing, I give her a call.

Several years ago I noticed that my mattress was a bit sunken where I usually slept. I told Nana, and she was aghast to find out that I was not already a regular mattress rotator. Apparently, mattress rotation is a very regular activity for her — in fact, she rotates her mattress every two months, which is far more often than many sources recommend. And she has a few important reasons why.

To be clear, I’m not talking about flipping your mattress upside-down. (Most modern mattresses are designed with a top and a bottom, so flipping your mattress is actually not recommended.) I’m talking about turning your mattress 180 degrees, so the head becomes the foot.

If you do a quick Google search, you’ll see that most sources, including the Sleep Foundation, recommend rotating your mattress every six to 12 months, depending on the type of mattress and manufacturer’s instructions. The Sleep Foundation says this can extend your mattress’s lifespan (which is typically between six and eight years) by at least a year.

But these days, more and more mattress experts are recommending rotating your mattress every two months, just like Nana does. “At Avocado, we recommend spinning your mattress head to foot once every month for the first six months to prevent body impressions,” says Dan Nguyen, director of product at Avocado Green Mattress. “After the first six months, we recommend rotating every other month to ensure even wear over the lifespan of the mattress.”

This just multiplies all of the benefits and, ultimately, can help your mattress last a few extra years.

Mattress rotation moves the part of your mattress that may be sagging from your body’s pressure to the other end of the bed. But according to Nana, if you rotate your mattress every two months it won’t have enough time to ever accumulate sags or dents. Your mattress will feel even and comfortable, which makes it easier for you to sleep. Think of bimonthly mattress rotation as preventative — like dusting a shelf before it actually accumulates dust (something that Nana does as well, of course).

And speaking of dusting, every time Nana rotates her mattress, she also throws the mattress protector in the wash, lightly cleans the mattress itself, and dusts the bed’s frame, slats, and other hard-to-reach places under the bed. These areas are frequently skipped, so quickly cleaning them as part of your mattress rotating routine can help prevent dust from accumulating around your bed — and a dust-free sleep space can help you sleep better.

Considering how expensive a new mattress can be, I’ll do anything to help my current one last as long as possible — and regular mattress rotation and cleaning are easy and affordable ways to achieve that. Admittedly, I don’t follow Nana’s strict every-other-month schedule. But the somewhat-regular rotation of my mattress has helped my current mattress last me for more than a decade.