How Long Does a Gel Mattress Last

The quick answer to this question is:

Gel-infused mattresses typically have a lifespan comparable to most traditional innerspring mattresses. With regular use and natural wear and tear, they should easily last you a good seven years. With proper care, gel-infused mattresses stand to last as long as twelve years in some cases.

Most manufacturers will have a warranty of 10 or more years on the product so if there is a manufacturing issue that pops up even late into your ownership, you’re covered.

Gel-infused mattresses are usually advised to be replaced every seven or eight years.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t use it beyond that.  But that’s completely dependent on what the make of the mattress is and how you use it. It’s safe to say though that it’s an investment worth making and would easily last you as long as a traditional mattress if not more.

If you are not familiar with gel mattresses, it is time you update yourself on the next big thing in the bedding market.

Gel-infused mattresses are getting incredibly popular by the day and rightfully so. But before we delve deeper into gel mattresses, let’s first try to understand how they came to being and the basic reason for their popularity.

The more traditional spring mattresses come with a host of problems that not many still find appealing.

For example, spring mattresses are notorious for hollowing out in the middle after regular use, the creaking noise, the uneven surface and worst of all, the utter breakdown of the mattress every six years or so.

Sleeping on a spring mattress post the six year mark is simply torture. The bedding industry saw a breakthrough like no other from this with the advent of the memory foam mattress.

This was especially beneficial for people suffering from conditions like arthritis since the superior contouring gave them able support and helped alleviate pain by reducing pressure from the joints.

But memory foam too had its shortcomings. Firstly, a lot of people disliked how much it contoured and thought it was too body hugging thus making them feel claustrophobic.

Others didn’t like how heated the mattress got since it was super thick and heat circulation was difficult to achieve with such dense foam.

This is where gel-infused mattresses came in.

Gel-infused mattresses were developed by Charles Yost in 2006. Yost was also responsible for developing the memory foam which was commissioned by NASA to be used on aircraft seats.

Gel infused mattresses are typically referred to as third generation foam. Before the advent of gel, memory foam mattresses used to only be available as traditional mattress or a plant based eco-friendly one.

Gel infused mattresses are in demand because of the level of comfort they provide and the elevated breathability.

People switching to gel mattresses are often found to be switching from memory foam which, they complain, gets too hot or makes them feel stuck due to their design.

Also, a huge advantage of using gel mattresses is that they regain their form rather quickly once the pressure is removed.

Gel-infused mattresses shape around the body faster and if you move during the night, it would just shape around your new position instead of staying compressed in your old spot like memory foam mattresses.

This makes the gel-infused mattresses way more comfortable to sleep on without the feeling of getting stuck.

So what is the gel in this gel-infused mattress?

Most manufacturers in the business don’t disclose what chemicals they use to create their gel so as to control competition.

Instead they use vague terminology like the gel is a phase changing material.

In any case, we can say with certainty that the gel is synthetic and typically more breathable than memory foam. Also, most quality of gels vary with the brand since most manufacturers make it in-house.

Contouring abilities of a gel-infused mattress.

Gel-infused mattresses often have a layer of memory foam underneath the gel layer so as to give adequate contouring support.

Viscoelastic is known as memory foam in light of the fact that the foam conforms to your body and remembers it.

It has moderate moving properties, so after you press down on it and discharge the weight, it will stay in that shape for a couple of moments before springing back up.

As the adjustable foam pushes down and fits around your body, it can alleviate pressure on weight points and throbbing joints.

The pros and cons of gel-infused mattresses.

Gel-infused mattresses are prominent for some reasons. Individuals get them on the grounds that:

There have been a few objections about gel-infused mattresses throughout the years. These have included:

• Although most gel-infused mattresses have some mechanism or the other to lose heat and circulate air to cool down the sleeping surface, more often than not people who sleep warm find them to be inadequate in eliminating bodily heat. And while it might actually be somewhat pleasant in the winters, it can turn out to be a real bother during the summer. Therefore if you are thinking of getting a gel-infused mattress for yourself, please make sure you read up on how it circulates air and go through the reviews thoroughly before deciding to buy the mattress.

• Harsh synthetic substances. Back in the day when gel-infused mattresses were first made, they were bound with numerous harmful synthetic compounds like formaldehyde. These days, on account of government guidelines and open concern, less brutal synthetic compounds are utilized. Be that as it may, gel-infused mattresses aren’t often as eco-friendly as other natural mattresses.

• The quicksand effect. Since gel-infused mattresses contour itself to the body, a few people grumble that they feel stuck. While it isn’t as bad as it is with memory foam, some people still think that it’s tightening. But it’s not a problem that cannot be solved. Often times, gel-infused mattresses give you the choice to choose how much contouring you’d like. It’s advisable to go with a brand that allows you to customize your contouring needs.

Will gel-infused memory foam affect durability?

The purchase of a new mattress is normally a sizable investment, and you naturally need to guarantee you’re purchasing an item that will stand the test of time.

Since gel adaptable foam has just been available since around 2011, it’s somewhat early to make judgments about gel-infused memory foam strength when all is said in done, however, there is a superior method to determine memory foam mattress durability.

While great toughness in materials like polyfoam would be represented by a high thickness of between 1.5 to 1.8 pounds per cubic feet, memory foam is diverse because of the manner in which it’s delivered.

A quality memory foam item that you can hope to last will have a thickness of between 4 to 5 pcf whether or not it uses gel technology.

Other gel-infused options.

Full gel-injected mattresses aren’t the main choice available to somebody who needs the comfort of gel, yet wouldn’t like to pay for it. In spite of the fact that mattress cushions and mattress toppers are regularly interchangeable, there can be a couple of contrasts.

Gel-infused mattress pads:

Thin and cooling gel-injected mattress cushions are a slender covering that spread the whole bed, and come in all sizes, including twin, full, queen, king, and California king. Numerous people utilize a mattress cushion for its cooling properties, notwithstanding comfort.

Gel-infused mattress toppers:

Gel-infused mattress toppers are normally thicker than mattress cushions, and along these lines give more comfort.

They’re a decent alternative that unites the best pieces of other gel-implanted choices: more comfort like the full mattress while being less pricey, more often than not around $50 to $150 contingent upon brand and size.

What do gel-infused mattresses cost?

Similarly as with each kind of mattress, cost shifts depending upon the size of mattress and the brand.

These mattresses, similar to the cushions and toppers, come in twin, full,queen, king, and California king sizes.

Numerous brands produce gel-injected mattresses. The most mainstream is Serta iComfort line, which incorporates toppers just as mattresses.

Different brands like Lucid, Sealy and a lot more likewise offer these sorts of mattresses. Gel-mixed toppers cost anyplace from about $50 to around $350 and above, contingent upon the brand and size. Gel-injected mattresses cost between under $150 to almost $5,000.

Related questions

Is gel mattress going to give me contouring?

The short answer to that question is yes. Gel-infused mattresses are quite famous for the contouring abilities that they retain from the memory foam but it is not as restrictive which makes it easier for people to move around while doing an excellent job in isolating movement transfer.

Gel-infused mattresses have had tremendous success in alleviating chronic joint pains and relief from conditions such as arthritis since it takes the pressure off joints and helps people sleep better.

This is also great for people with back pain since the contouring ability of the mattress makes sure they sleep with the right posture every night, therefore slowly but consistently improving their form and thus, back problems.