Don’t confuse this with those old waterbeds that had the ability to heat or cool the water.  While that was quite innovative at the time, we know now that those mattresses provided little support and were more of a fad than

anything else.  So, these innovations, along with some of the other inherent qualities of the futon make it a great bed for getting a good nights sleep.  These newer futons, just like the best neck pillow you can find, offer great support for quality sleep.  Without any further teasing or introduction, let’s dive into these 3 reasons why the futon mattress just may end up replacing your traditional bed when the time comes.   Photo credit

3 Reasons to Choose A Futon Mattress

1.    Support
There are a wide variety of mattress styles available now that claim to offer you back and neck support.  You’ve heard about them all, some have their own infomercials on Saturday morning television.  Some of the most popular are the memory foam mattresses and the air mattresses that you can control individually from side to side.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with either of these.  They can both be quite comfortable and do have their pluses.  The thing is, futons have some of these same options as well.  With the exception of individually tailored air chambers, there are memory foam futons and futons with individually covered coiled springs.

You might actually prefer something along the lines of the traditional futon mattresses that were made with layers of wool wrapped around a latex and cotton core.  These provide much in the way of support.  The material is quite dense, making the mattress feel very firm and, well, supportive.  This type of wool style has other benefits which will be discussed in a moment.

2.    Moisture Control
Not the most common thing you’ll hear when talking about a good night’s sleep, but the fact is we do perspire when we sleep.  If you are sleeping on a mattress that traps body heat or cannot adequately allow your body to vent the moisture, you will be very uncomfortable.  So, this is yet another one of those benefits touched upon with respect to the wool style – it is moisture wicking by itself, no extra ‘technology’ required.  One more thing that wool has in its favor is the fact that it is naturally antimicrobial.  So, it helps to eliminate the problem with mold growth and other problems associated with moisture buildup.

Not all futons have this as their material make-up, so keep this in mind.  In fact, the honest truth is that it is mostly the older futons that utilized this material.  With the push to more of the inner coiled spring styles and the ones memory foam and other ‘contemporary’ mattress materials, this moisture-wicking aspect afforded by the wool may be harder to come by.

3.    Cost
This is one of the main reasons that the futon gained so much attention in the 1980s here in the United States.  Traditionally, the futon mattress has been used for many hundreds of years in the Far East.  Many Japanese still sleep on a traditional Japanese futon with the upper quilted “kakebuton” and the mattress part “shikibuton.”  Here, to buy a new mattress that has the qualities of support and other comfort features mentioned, you might be looking at spending upwards of $800 USD or more.  With a futon mattress, you can expect that price to be in the range of $250-600 USD, depending upon size of course.  Also, many futon manufacturers will include a frame for your new futon with that price.  Now, if you want a more custom futon bed frame, then you can expect to pay for that.