The futon has a notorious reputation for being a cheap mattress that is for college or a bachelor’s pad. This was true of the futon from years ago, but times have changed. Now, there are reasons to have a futon mattress in places besides a college dorm room or your mother-in-law’s suite. All kidding aside, you might be surprised to learn what types of innovation have come to the futon market. Many of these have happened over the last decade and are in large part due to the fact that major mattress manufacturers have entered the futon market.

Some of the bigger names in conventional mattresses, like Sealy™ and Simmons™ have opened up areas that were not available before. Now, quality futon mattresses are a normal part of many people’s experience with them. This is a big step in the right direction. You might not have known that futons have some of the same great features that conventional mattresses have as well. These include things like inner coil springs, memory foam toppers and even more specific custom styles for athletes.

This is another thing to know about futons. For the most part, it is quite simple to find a twin or full size mattress. And, it can actually be relatively easy to track down a queen. But, once you start looking for king size or larger, this is where you might need to look into a custom futon order. Professional athletes enjoy this aspect to their futons because they can get a bed that fits them and also lets them wake up feeling refreshed. The latex futon mattress is still somewhat of a new-comer. It has proved itself in the conventional mattress scene, but it might take a bit more time to catch on with futons.

photo credit: shawnporter

Many people think of futons as part-time couches and part-time sleeping arrangements. If this is what you are looking to use your futon for, then you can likely get away with a cheaper model and not worry about the whole comfort aspect. This isn’t to say you want a thin and unhealthy futon for your body or back, just that if you don’t sleep on it often or have guests on it that much, then it really doesn’t make sense to upgrade to that level. You can get by with a simple cotton or cotton-poly or wool-wrapped foam core model. This type of futon sofa-bed will still have the quality appreciated by today’s standards.