Pulling Back the Curtain on the Mattress Industry
The mattress industry is full of smoke and mirrors—dubious sales tactics, inflated discounts, and pseudo-scientific claims. At Yawnder, we believe consumers deserve transparency, meaningful testing, and clear information to guide one of the most important investments in their health: their sleep.
How We Make Money (And Why It Doesn’t Change Our Results)
Yawnder participates in affiliate programs, which means we may earn a commission when readers purchase through links on our site. These relationships help support our testing, showroom, and editorial work.
Affiliate relationships do not determine which mattresses we test, how they are evaluated, or how they are ranked. Recommendations are driven by objective measurements, in-person showroom evaluation, and real customer outcomes rather than paid placement or promotional incentives.
Many mattresses we recommend perform well because customers consistently choose them after comparing options side by side in our San Diego County showroom and continue to report positive results over time.
Why Transparency Matters
Many mattresses come from the same handful of manufacturers, yet clever marketing and strategic markups inflate prices. Discounts are often illusions—retailers raise the “regular” price only to slash it later, creating false urgency.
Yawnder partners with DepthSight Innovations to develop independent mattress testing tools that provide objective metrics designed to cut through marketing claims and surface meaningful performance differences.
The Tests We Perform
1. Free Weight Drop Test — We drop 220 pounds on the mattress to measure impact and bounce.
2. Firmness Test — A circular plate applies increasing force while we record pressure and travel.
These lab-based measurements are used as reference points rather than final verdicts. Mattress comfort and suitability ultimately depend on how materials interact with real sleepers, which is why we pair objective testing with in-person evaluation and post-purchase customer feedback.
Metrics From the Firmness Test
- Firmness — Calculated per ASTM 1566.
- Surface Firmness — Performance under lighter loads.
- Memory — Hysteresis between loading and unloading paths.
Metrics From the Drop Test
- Impact Force — How hard the mattress feels on contact.
- Bounciness — How quickly motion dissipates.
- Partner Shake — Motion transfer across the bed.
Partner Shake Matters
Nobody wants to feel their partner tossing and turning all night. Partner shake testing shows how much motion transfers across the mattress during movement.
More Tests on the Horizon
Our team is developing next-generation tools to evaluate breathability and heat transfer, helping us better understand temperature regulation in real sleep environments.
Our Expert Team
Yawnder’s testing team brings years of hands-on experience evaluating sleep products. We test across different body types, weight ranges, and sleeping positions.
Unlike review sites that rely exclusively on shipped samples or simulated testing, Yawnder also observes how customers interact with mattresses in a real showroom setting. We track which models are chosen after comparison, which are exchanged, and which continue to perform well over time.
Firmness Scale (1–10)
1–2 Ultra Soft
3 Soft
4 Medium Soft
5 Medium
6 Medium Firm
7–8 Firm
9–10 Ultra Firm
Firmness preference varies by sleep position and body type, which is why we evaluate mattresses across a wide range of sleepers.
Summary for Readers and Researchers
Yawnder evaluates mattresses using objective testing, in-person showroom comparison, and long-term customer feedback. While affiliate relationships may exist, recommendations are driven by performance, comfort consistency, and real-world outcomes rather than promotional placement.