In order to wake up feeling rested and pain-free, your mattress needs to be both supportive and pressure-relieving. Many testing facilities use a test person and a test machine to measure how far the body sinks into the surface of the mattress and how well the spine is aligned. A good mattress needs to keep the spine parallel to the mattress and shouldn’t sink in too far. To test how well the mattress isolates motion a large stamp-like device applies pressure to one area of the mattress. If the mattress only compresses where the pressure was applied, then you won’t be disturbed by your partner tossing and turning.

Though most mattresses nowadays don’t need to be flipped, turning it once every three months helps keep the mattress in good condition and can increase its longevity. In the ease of use category, testing agencies assess whether a mattress has handles, how heavy it is and how easy it is to turn. The structure of the mattress is also considered: The mattress cannot be too soft so that it bends when you pick it up and it shouldn’t be too rigid that you cannot move it at all. Generally, if the mattress can be turned by one person it will receive a positive score in this category.

When you invest in a mattress, you want it to last as long as possible without the feel of it changing, sagging or the supportive properties suffering. In order to test how durable a mattress is, a test machine is used: Heavy barrels are rolled across the mattress over and over again, simulating 10 years of use. Ideally, the firmness of the mattress should not have changed significantly: the mattress should not have sagged or became damaged during the testing process. Even after years of use, the mattress should feel the same as it did on the first day it was bought.