No need to lose sleep over a worn-out mattress. Manufacturers and retailers offer options in a variety of materials, types, and prices.
By Abigail Epperson, F488212
April 2021
One of the first disappointments a new RV owner often faces is a terrible night’s sleep because of the poor-quality bedding manufacturers sometimes put in their units. High-end motorhomes may ship with great mattresses, but in most RVs, the mattress feels one step above sleeping on the forest floor. Hauling your bed around is one of the main reasons you bought an RV, and you’ll spend a third of your camping hours lying on it. You deserve comfort.
Quality might not be the only reason to consider a new mattress. Perhaps you bought a used RV and want something clean and new to sleep on. You might have back pain from the wrong fit, or maybe your mattress is just old. They wear out over time, and the longer they deteriorate, the worse your night of sleep becomes.
Once RV owners resign themselves to replacing a mattress, they’re often overwhelmed when trying to find one that works for their bed’s unique size. Thankfully, it’s never been easier to improve or replace an RV mattress — at any budget.
Know What You Need
In some RVs, manufacturers use standard-sized mattresses. If that’s the case in your unit, you’re in luck. You can shop for a Serta, BeautyRest, or Sealy at any mattress store, or look at popular mail-order options such as Purple and Casper. More often, you’ll find your RV has what’s called a “short” or “RV” king or queen mattress. These are 5 inches to 6 inches shorter than their standard counterparts, but the width is the same. Some RVers have the space to let a standard mattress overhang those extra few inches and are happy to have the additional legroom. Some even add plywood bed extensions. But if that’s not going to work for you, it’s time to look for alternatives.
Some RVers with short queen mattresses extend the platform to accommodate a regular queen.
First, measure your old mattress to see what you need to replace it with. And don’t just measure the length and width. Consider the thickness, too. For example, our stock RV mattress was 4 inches thick. Its replacement is triple that, and our heads are now much closer to the cabinets above. Pop-up camper mattresses usually can’t be much thicker than 5 inches or 6 inches; otherwise, the camper won’t close. And if truck camper mattresses are too thick, they can cause you to bump your head on the ceiling.
You’ll also want to pay attention to the weight. Quality mattresses can be much heavier than the one your RV came with. A new queen mattress and two for the bunks could knock 200 pounds off your cargo carrying capacity. Weight also is an important consideration if you have under-bed storage. You may need to add or upgrade pneumatic bed lifts to be able to raise a much heavier mattress.
Mattress Types And Materials
Over the past 15 years, mattress manufacturing has been transformed with the advent of quality memory-foam and latex models. Traditional innerspring mattresses are very difficult to ship, but foam mattresses can be vacuum-packed into a comparatively small box. That’s good for us, since we generally can’t step into a store and buy an RV-sized mattress. But there’s another benefit: It’s easier to carry into your rig. Our first RV was a bus conversion we built ourselves. I’m not exaggerating when I say that bringing our queen-sized spring mattress through the door and to the platform in the rear of the coach was one of the hardest parts of the build. We swore we’d never do something like that again. Thankfully, options such as foam can be rolled out onto the bed before you even remove the plastic wrapping that keeps them compressed.
Memory foam was developed by NASA in the 1960s for seat cushions. It’s evolved into a mattress product that conforms to the contours of your body and helps to relieve pressure on your spine. It also doesn’t bounce like a spring mattress, so if your partner is a tosser and a turner, you’re less likely to be awakened by their acrobatics.
Memory foam can be cut to size and used as a topper for a standard bunk mattress.
Memory foam is a dense mattress material, and a major downfall is that it tends to get hotter than a traditional mattress, particularly if it’s not made from quality foam. The mattress absorbs heat, which doesn’t work its way out easily, because of a lack of airflow. High-end mattress manufacturers have solved this issue by creating zones of foam and fabric with air channels, or cooling gel-top layers.
Latex mattresses are a variant on the memory-foam style and hold your body a bit more gently. Latex is a naturally forming material, so it’s a good option for those concerned about the off-gassing that can happen with foam products (though these mattresses often are made with a layer of latex on top of a layer of foam). Latex provides a natural resistance to mold and dust mites, and is environmentally responsible and allergen-free — unless you’re allergic to latex.
If you’re more comfortable on a spring mattress, you aren’t stuck with foam or latex. Traditional mattresses certainly can be purchased in RV sizes, or even custom-sized to fit your bed. And if you want that ease of shipping and installation, you’re in luck. Hybrid mattresses — which are formed from an innerspring core wrapped or topped in foam — can still be compressed and shipped in a small box. They offer a bit of that traditional mattress bounce, and the firmness that only springs can provide, if you’re into that sort of thing.
A firm mattress is ideal for stomach sleepers or those who flip around in the night. Softer models are better for side and back sleepers. Nearly every mattress manufacturer on earth sells their goods in a variety of firmnesses.
The Purchase
When buying a mattress, you usually get what you pay for. You may be comparing two memory-foam mattresses of the same size that are priced hundreds of dollars apart. It can be hard to spend the extra money on quality, but more often than not, it’s worth it. This is especially true of hybrid mattresses, which can range from poorly made to rivaling a hotel bed.
The Aurora hybrid is one of the mattress options from Brooklyn Bedding.
Since you usually can’t buy an RV mattress in a store, research is key to make sure you get the right bed for you. Read user reviews online. Don’t just look at star ratings. You want to find end-user experiences from people who sleep like you — people of your same body size and shape, and with the same sleep problems.
Another factor that has revolutionized mattress purchasing recently has been the money-back guarantee. Internet mattress sellers were quick to realize that people aren’t crazy about buying a product that is so important to their quality of life sight unseen, and without getting to lie down on it. Almost every company that sells mattresses only online offers no-questions-asked returns, and they mean it. You may get 100 days to try out your new mattress. If you don’t like it, they usually just issue you a refund and tell you to give the mattress away to someone. The return of a decompressed foam mattress is a hassle they don’t want to deal with.
Unfortunately, most bunk mattresses and some on pull-out beds are completely nonstandard sizes. Some bunks even have odd angles. In this situation, you may have to go custom. Many mattress manufacturers of spring, hybrid, and foam beds have the ability to fabricate custom sizes, but you’ll pay a premium.
If you’re looking for a more affordable option, many RV owners purchase memory-foam toppers to lay across their inferior sleeping surface. You’ll want to get the thickest one you can afford — one or two inches isn’t going to cut it. They don’t need to be RV-sized; just buy the next biggest dimension and cut to fit with scissors. Make sure to wait until the pad is fully decompressed before you cut it.
Zinus is a popular brand of toppers that sells on Amazon. (They also make full memory-foam mattresses.) A 3-inch-thick queen topper sets you back less than $70. They even make a short queen size for RVs that won’t need to be cut. A caution, however: Many Zinus toppers are scented, and the smell may be too strong in a small RV if you’re sensitive to such things.
Zinus mattresses and memory foam toppers are popular among RVers.
RV gadget manufacturer Camco is now offering an affordable set of plastic springs that you screw to your bed platform, in an effort to make your stock mattress a bit more like a traditional innerspring type. The bonus here is that you aren’t adding much weight, but it’s a rather complicated installation.
Fortunately, the lighter bodies of children make it easier to get away with a slab of cut-to-fit memory foam in those oddly shaped bunks. A 4-inch mattress topper often can replace the old bunk mattress entirely for a much-improved sleep. Kids have difficulty with tossing and turning and back pain, too. Don’t neglect their comfort just because they’re small. You generally cannot cut a full memory-foam mattress to fit. They’re usually encased in cotton or other fabric, so toppers are your only choice here.
If you do make the decision to get a real mattress (and I think it’s the best decision), you have several options. MattressInsider makes quality memory-foam mattresses. Their luxury model, which runs under $500, is firm on one side and softer on the other, and it is covered with natural cotton. SleepEZ makes latex RV mattresses. A short queen mattress runs around $600. Brooklyn Bedding makes good hybrids that run from $500 to $1,000 or so. You can order a high-tech Sleep Number mattress, which includes adjustable air chambers, in RV sizes from RV retailers, and you can order innerspring mattresses from any number of custom manufacturers. We opted for the pillow-top Montana hybrid from Wilderness RV Mattress. At $650, it’s the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever slept on — in or out of an RV.
Whatever you buy, pay close attention to the return policy and the warranty. In contrast to the online-only retailers, other companies’ policies may vary. This is one purchase you don’t want to get wrong, and have no recourse.
When your mattress arrives, if it’s vacuum-sealed, make sure to open it on the bed platform, and give it time to air out. If you’re buying a new RV and you know you’ll be replacing the mattress, consider just letting the dealer or manufacturer keep the one it ships with, so you’re not adding to landfills. Mattresses are notoriously difficult to recycle.
It seems as though there are countless upgrades we’re expected to make in order to improve life on the road in our RVs. A new mattress may not be as high on your list as tech and gear, but it’s one of the very best ways you can improve your camping experience, because, let’s be honest, if we wanted to sleep on the forest floor, we would have bought a tent.
RESOURCES
Axel Bloom
luxuryrv.axelbloom.com
(866) 696-8387
Bear Mattress
www.bearrvmattress.com
Brooklyn Bedding
www.rvmattress.com
(888) 210-8751
Camco Manufacturing Inc.
www.camco.net
(800) 334-2004
Casper
www.casper.com
(888) 498-0003
Elkhart Bedding
www.elkhartbedding.com
(800) 293-4123
MattressInsider
www.mattressinsider.com
(888) 488-1468
MyPillow
www.mypillow.com
(800) 544-8939
Purple
www.purple.com
(888) 848-0248
SleepEZ
www.sleepez.com
(480) 966-8785
Sleep Number
www.sleepnumber.com
(888) 411-2188
Slumber Ease Mattress Factory
www.slumberease.com
(425) 399-7094
Sunrise Bedding
www.bestmattresspadever.com
(480) 323-5685
Superior Sleep Experience
www.supsleep.com
(866) 566-0008
Wilderness RV Mattress
www.wildernessrvmattress.com
(888) 844-7701
Zinus
www.zinus.com
(800) 613-1225