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Until I started looking after my own home and space, mattresses were one of those pieces of home furniture that I never realised just how expensive they were. The open prices range from RM100 for a flat, futon-style mattress to RM30,000 for an all-natural rubber mattress.
There is no right or wrong about how much one should spend on a mattress, but it's appalling to realise that paying to sleep on comfortable bedding will hurt your wallet, whatever your tier of income household is.
In a traditional marketing sense, the markup for most mattresses comes from research and development, the natural, durable materials cost, manufacturing, and warranty. Yes, you are paying for the warranty too.
But... sleep is important. Yet, RM10,000 upfront for a bed lasting ten years sounds crazy. Then again, if you calculate that, it'll total to RM0.30 per day.
Still, why are we paying so much for sleep, a necessity? Should we go on to live like slaves with an uncomfortable, worn-out mattress or give it into capitalism and sleep like royalty?
Cost of Sleep — How Much Do You Lose From Insufficient Sleep?
It's a popular belief that insufficient sleep makes you lose productivity and energy levels physically.
For illustration purposes, in regard to employers paying for tired employees, some studies reported over $100 billion in losses a year due to untreated insomnia, which is one of the many sleep disorders around.
If that doesn't scare you, maybe these insights about your health will.
More Susceptible To Illnesses
Recognise that sleep deprivation can pose significant risks to physical health. In fact, there are studies consistently linking insufficient sleep with a heightened susceptibility to various medical conditions, including but not limited to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and weakened immune function.
For your own benefit, there were studies that mentioned how healthy sleepers have a 35% lesser risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Moodiness & Sleep Divorce
The impact of inadequate sleep extends to your mood regulation. If you ever find yourself having increased irritability, mood swings, and emotional instability, a lack of sleep might be it. As a matter of fact, even you may find it challenging to cope with stress or have higher levels of anxiety.
Interestingly, over 35% more couples have opted to sleep in different beds for increased space and better sleep in the past five years. This is largely due to the fact that a partner's sleeping movements can cause the other partner to have bad sleep.
Jeopardised Safety
Did you know that, on average, 1 in 25 adult drivers (aged 18 years or older) reported falling asleep while driving every 30 days? And this is likely to happen to those who sleep six or fewer hours per day.
In short, fatigue-related accidents are real. It doesn't just mean that you might fall asleep on the road easily. Still, it could be due to impaired reaction times, which will affect your ability to react quickly or seamlessly when operating machinery, driving, and performing other potentially hazardous activities. And we all know that the consequences of these compromises can be severe and life-altering.
The Hype of Memory Foam
Turn in every direction, and you might just realise how many memory foam mattresses are around these days. Unlike the futon or spring mattress, which supports your body primarily with a lot more fabric cushion or spring, memory foam mattresses are made of polyurethane to obtain its density and flexibility. This allows them to change their shape easily when compression is added and bounce back to their shape when left alone without any pressure.
For those reasons, memory foam mattresses are becoming a top pick for many Malaysians due to their higher value-for-money investment-to-return ratio.
Sounds awesome? They don't come too cheap either.
In recent years, these types have been gaining traction for their ability to contort your body shape so that every part of you is supported. Traditionally, they cost RM4,000 onwards (for a Queen-sized) if you get them from a physical store. That is one month's worth of salary, and you don't know if you would like it either.
But thanks to the emergence of 'box mattress brands' (and a growing middle-income population) in Malaysia, you can get them for as low as RM1,800 (Queen-sized).
Box Mattress — A Malaysian's Budget Savior
Realising how expensive a retail store can mark up the price of a product, home delivery for shopping has been a growing trend since mid-2010. The online-shopping boom solidified even more due to the observation of the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic that led to the practice of social distancing.
So while box mattresses have been around for a long time, there was a popular trend of paying for good sleep with box mattress brands, since everyone was spending more time at home. More people also recognised the benefits of having a proper sleep, which boosts overall productivity throughout the day. Hey, you gotta spend to earn.
A box mattress, also known as a bed-in-a-box or mattress-in-a-box, is a mattress that's compressed and rolled or folded into a box for easy shipping and handling. Once unboxed, the mattress expands to its full size. Because they must be soft yet flexible and dense to hold their shape after being compressed, memory foam mattresses are perfect to be sold as box mattresses.
Shopping for a mattress this way offers convenient home delivery and easy set-up. Another great thing is that they often come with a trial period (the longest offered in Malaysia by Origin Mattress is up to 120 days!),meaning you can test the mattress before fully committing. So far, the consensus is that users find them as comfortable and supportive as traditional mattresses.
Aside from an odour that dissipates after a few days, some people find buying a (box) mattress online without trying it in-store daunting. However, as mentioned, 90 to 120 days of trial is usually given to buyers for assurance. Lastly, while the lifespan of a box mattress depends on the materials used, on average, they should last between 7 to 10 years, which is comparable to traditional mattresses.
Is It Worth Buying Box Mattresses?
Essentially, a lot of the reasons to get a good mattress point to having a good life so you can stay well for your family or work. Wow, that sounds like a lot of burden.
But no matter what, good sleep should be accessible to all. And honestly, we cannot tell you if you should continue to feed capitalism for these 'mini luxuries' (depending on your upbringing), so if you're good with your current old mattress, good for you. But for now, box mattresses are worth the hype; they aren't a scam. If you're sceptical, you can visit some stores to try on fully-inflated box mattresses.
And if you think you'll regret it, at least you can send them back after trying (the ones with a 100-day free trial, of course).
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