You had to flip your mattress regularly in order to even out the wear and to validate your warrantee. But flipping a mattress is difficult, especially if doing it by yourself or if you have to wrestle a queen or king sized beast.

The no-flip mattress was developed to save everyone the hassle of flipping their mattress. And as your mattress gets heavier over time because it accumulates dust and dead skin, flipping becomes even more difficult.

If you have a no-flip mattress you may still have to rotate the mattress. It’s not as much trouble if you can use the footboard to spin it around.

The no-flip mattress came about when mattress companies came up with the idea of only quilting the top of the mattress and then advertised that you no longer had to flip the mattress. Of course you didn’t – there was nothing on the other side!

Manufacturers saved a pile of money making no-flip mattresses by cutting quality and put that money right into their pockets. The problem now is that there is only one side of your mattress to wear out so that it will wear out twice as fast meaning your no-flip mattress with have to be replaced more often. The just means more money for the manufacturers.

Eventually the only side you can sleep on will flatten out or ruts will develop and you are hooped because you can’t flip the mattress over.

If you are looking at replacing your mattress, shop around and find a mattress that is quilted on both sides, then wait for a sale.

Since most mattresses are basically made the same, find one that you can afford and that you find to be comfortable without breaking the bank. More expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better, regardless of what the smiling salesperson says. They’re just counting up their commission in their heads.

Make sure you have a 30 day return warrantee so if you find you don’t like it after all you can return it or exchange it for another type. And if the store offers to take away your old mattress that’s even better.

And remember, a no-flip mattress means you’ll be losing sleep and money down the road.

1. At an airport
Many a passenger has spent a night or two sleeping at an airport because their flight was cancelled due to a snow storm, strike or their airline went under. People can be found sleeping in chairs in the departure lounge, along the wall, in the food court or on a luggage carousel (if it’s moving, please put a toe tag on the sleeper).

2. In a Coffee shop
If you have fallen asleep in a coffee shop then you have to say something about the service. If you’ve gone lala before your latte, maybe you should think about coffee by the pot.

3. While at a meeting
You know a meeting is going long and is way off topic when people start falling asleep during a meeting at the office. If the person running the meeting is asleep, it is all right and acceptable office procedure to slowly leave the room. But take a picture with your camera first.

4. In your car, truck or van
You could be truck in traffic that hasn’t moved in hours or you’ve locked yourself out of your house and your roommate won’t be back until the next day or you cheap out while camping.

5. During an argument with your spouse
The only thing you can say here is that this is never a good idea. If you thought you were in trouble before, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

6. While a guest at the local jail
If you’re sleeping off too much happy hour, you could end up missing your shoes, various other pieces of clothing and possibly your dignity when you wake up in the arms of your new BFF.

7. During class
I remember the good old days when a teacher could peg off a dozing student from across the room with a piece of chalk or crack some knuckles with a yardstick. Now things have gone too far the other way when the kid falls asleep in the principals office while being lectured about falling asleep in class.

8. In the dog’s house
My brother-in-law has claimed to have spent the night curled up with his Saint Bernard in the dog’s house after coming home wording his slurs and being banished by my sister. No wonder my sister has so many diamonds.

9. In a closet
Maybe you were playing hide and seek and you are too good or the person just wanted to get rid of you for a while. Never fall asleep in a closet while waiting for your lover’s mate to leave or you may miss your chance. Snoring during this period is also not recommended.

10.  Face down in your dinner place
You either had a really tough day on the job or you have to work on your dinner conversation skills.

So when you find yourself falling asleep in an unusual place, remember the moment as it could make for an interesting story.

Finding a pillow that is comfortable and matches the way you sleep will go a long way in helping you get a good night’s sleep. If your pillow is too hard it will be like sleeping on a brick and if it’s too soft your head can sink into it and sometimes make breathing difficult.

If you have a pillow that has more lumps than the elephant man, smells worse than a hobo or is so dirty that Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs wouldn’t come near it then it’s time to get a new pillow.

The thickness of the pillow you use should correspond to the position you most often sleep in. Use a thicker pillow if you sleep on your back, a medium thick pillow if you sleep on your side and a thinner one if you sleep on your stomach.

Sleeping on your stomach with a thick pillow will strain your neck and back and you will also strain your neck if you sleep on your side with a pillow that is too thin. The ideal is to keep your melon in line with your spine.

I had a lot of difficulty with which pillow to use because I often shift between my side and my stomach so often that my sheets get friction burns. I finally went with two different pillows, using the thinner one when I slept on my stomach and the thicker one if I was sleeping on my side.

Your pillow can be stuffed with a natural material or with foam. Natural pillows can be feathers (down), buckwheat or oatmeal (avoid oatmeal).

I used to have an old feather pillow that after a couple of head flops would flatten down to the consistency of a sack of cement. Then I’d wake up with the fleshy part of my ear hurting as it was squashed between my cement pillow and my granite head.

Natural materials are usually more expensive, more difficult to clean (have you ever cleaned yours?) and don’t hold their shape as well as foam pillows.

If you wake up congested, you might be allergic to your pillow. I find hypoallergenic foam pillows work best for me.

There are also pillows made into a particular shape for side sleepers and also memory foam pillows that may work for you if you tend to sleep in one position all night.

Get a pillow cover to protect your pillow from the grease and oils from your hair and face and wash your pillow covers weekly.

You can usually get away with washing a foam pillow once or twice but after that is will often mutate into a weird shape and you will have to throw it out.

When you figure out what pillow is right pillow for you, then wait for a sale and pick up a couple.

What type of pillow do you use? Write your comments below.

When I went on business trips, one thing I did before I left was to change the bed and put on nice, clean sheets. After coming home late, I’d wash a layer of airport slime off me, vacuum down whatever wasn’t grey and or fuzzy from the fridge, and slide into my freshly made bed. Ah, home at last.

Try to buy sheets with a thread count as high as you can find and afford.  This means they’ll be softer and satiny smooth. I prefer a thread count of 8 billion, but you can be happy at around 400.

Now your new sheets are going to come hermetically sealed by the same people who originally packed your tent into that little carry bag. Don’t worry. You’ll never get the sheets back in the bag again after you unfold them and the packer swamis know it (ha, ah, high five).

First thing you do is read the label. The sheets may be made of cotton, rayon, nylon, satin, idontknowon or yak curlies. Just pay attention to the washing instructions. Yes you have to wash them first to wash out the starch they’re packaged with or you might as well go to bed sandwiched between a couple of batts of wall insulation.

I don’t use fabric softener in the rinse. I prefer dryer sheets. You never miss the rinse cycle or without the oil coating over everything, go up like a roman candle after eating cherries flambé in bed.

Some people prefer a soothing, cool, color like blue or green, but any color is fine. I have Superman sheets, but that’s a separate psychology book.

Sleep with just the number of blankets you need to keep warm.

Try not to sleep with a pile of blankets on top of you like you’re the bottom of a Dagwood sandwich. Your body acually has to expend energy lifting that pile of blankets every time you breath. I don’t think you can get tired sleeping, but I once had a pile of blankets, sheets and a comforter that was so heavy I needed the jaws of life to get out of bed.

Don’t be that someone driving down the road in a subcompact with a mattress on the roof and one arm out the window holding it down. Yeh, right. Once that car gets up to faster than motorized scooter speed, that mattress is going to fly off, taking your roof, arm and most your clothes with it.

Take your time and shop around. Don’t get up with a bee up your wazoo to buy a new bed today, right now, ASAP, STAT and run out to the nearest big box behemoth and drag off the first bed you see.

Go to several stores and lie down on the beds and see how they feel. It’s going to be difficult to judge the comfort a bed this way because you don’t normally sleep in all you clothes for 20 seconds at a time. If a store has a try it before you buy policy that allows you try test it out for 30 days first, that would be the way to go.

Spend some time checking out ads in the paper, or some stores online and get some information about construction, warrantees, spring counts and the fabric the bed is made out of. The more prepared you are before you go to the store the better because the sales people working at the store are often working on commission and they may alter reality to make a sale.

You should also measure your room, any doors and make note of turns on a staircases so your new bed will make it to your bedroom. Mattresses aren’t too bad as they can flex a little, but more than one person has had the box spring jammed going around a corner on the way up the stairs. I got lucky with my king sized bed because I happened to have a door leading out to a balcony off my bedroom and my bed came up and over that way.

If your bed partner rolls like a pinball consider getting a larger bed, or go with two beds. Below are the common mattress sizes and names.

Mattress                           Width           Length

Twin / Single                     39                75

Twin XL                             39                80

Full / Double                     54                75

Full / Double XL               54                80

Queen                                60                80

King                                   76                80

There are a few other novelty sizes, but steer clear of them if you can. It can be extremely hard to find sheets that will fit an odd bed size.

Once your new bed is set up, read the instructions about rotating and flipping the mattress, especially the frequency. It can be difficult to flip a king mattress so get some help. Flipping and rotating your mattress will extend its life, make it more comfortable and will ensure your mattress is still covered under its warrantee.

You may have to flip your mattress once a month for the first six months and then every six months to a year after that. Vacuum your bed on a regular basis and consider having it professionally cleaned once a year.

Since you spend about 1/3rd of your life in bed, you should buy the best, most comfortable mattress you can afford. Sell your left nut if you half to (borrow if you need to).

Mattresses are like running shoes. Your old sneakers feel fine and you’ve had them for ages, so why get a new pair. There’s a hole in the heel and the toe is held on with duct tape, but they’re still good. Then for some reason you try some on while shopping, maybe because they’re having a sale, and you realize how crappy your old, familiar shoes really are. It’s kind of the same with a mattress. People seem to think it’s going to last 192 years, so why get a new one.

Your mattress should be replaced every 8 to 10 years. If it there are broken springs, or it sags like a teenagers baggy pants, or is so lumpy you have to beat the bumps out with a baseball base every so often, then it’s time to get a new bed.

Don’t cheap out here. If you replace the mattress, replace the box spring as well.  You can haul the old ones to the dump, keep them for special garbage collection days when the city picks up large items, or you can buy your new mattress and box spring at a store that offers to remove your old bed when they deliver the new.