Mattress retailers love to show off the features of the mattresses they sell. One feature that has become almost universal is the "no-flip" feature. They explain to their customers that their mattresses no longer have to be turned over like we used to do our old style two-sided mattresses. It sounds great, right? The truth is, your mattress isn't upholstered on the other side so you cannot turn it over even if you wanted to.
The real reason manufacturer's started doing this is to reduce the cost of manufacturing it. By not having to upholster the other side, they have reduced the amount of materials used and the time it takes to do it. The real consequence to the consumer is that your mattress will last half as long as it would have had it been upholstered on both sides. So if your last mattress was upholstered on both sides and it lasted ten years, now a similar one-sided mattress is likely to last only five years.
Why would manufacturer's decide to do such things? The answer is surprisingly simple. Manufacturer's know from statistical research that the average consumer will only spend around eight to nine hundred dollars for a queen size mattress set. With the increasing costs of labor, the only solution to this problem is to decrease the quality and quantity of materials being used to make the mattresses. Thus, they now only upholster one side and they can gain by spinning their marketing to say that they are making a better product for the consumer called the "No-Flip" mattress. Pretty expedient, eh? Please read our other articles to learn more of the tactics mattress manufacturers are employing to rip off their customers.