The RV is your home but when you are sleeping on the ground it can start to feel like more like the outdoors. Providing your RV with a quality mattress will make all the difference.
You want it to provide you with enough room to move around comfortably without any pressure against the walls. When shopping for a mattress make sure that it is made from lightweight materials because this will help in transporting it from one place to another
What is the difference between an RV mattress and a regular mattress?
An RV mattress is designed for travel so it tends to be lighter and less heavy than a regular mattress. It can also be packed more efficiently when not in use.
Zinus has a few different mattresses for travel rvs. The one shown here is the Zinus Deluxe Memory Foam Queen.
Choosing a Good RV Mattress
Now if you’re like most people looking to buy an RV mattress, you want something in the $100-$200 range, or somewhere around there.
So when you start shopping around online at Amazon or wherever, then all of the sudden your choices are pretty overwhelming because there’s so many different mattresses out there.
What I want to do is go over what makes a good RV mattress versus one that might not be as good and then we’ll talk about where you can get them at and what price ranges they’ll be in. This way hopefully things will make more sense for the two of you and you’ll be able to find one that meets your standards.
5 Recommended RV Mattresses
1. ZINUS 10 Inch Ultima Memory Foam Mattress
2. DynastyMattress 10-Inch CoolBreeze Gel Memory Foam
3. Zinus 8 Inch Foam and Spring RV Mattress
4. TRAVEL HAPPY with an 8 INCH Short Queen
5. DynastyMattress New Cool Breeze 12-Inch Gel Memory Foam
How Do I Choose a Good RV Mattress?
1. Thickness
The very important standard is going to be the thickness. A lot of RV mattresses are only 6 inches or thinner which is NOT adequate for a good night’s rest. I know we’ve talked about this before on the channel but it bears repeating. That’s especially true when you’re sleeping in an RV because these beds just aren’t as comfortable as normal mattress that you would have at home.
Ideally, it needs to be between 11 and 13 inches thick, so something like that is really ideal when it comes to your comfort level. If you want to find a mattress that’s closer to your home experience, something 12-14 inches will be great.
2. Construction
Now, the other thing I want to talk about is the actual construction of these mattresses because this can make or break it in terms of how long they last and also the comfort level you have on these types of mattresses.
People think back when we used to all sleep on spring beds, but nowadays just about anything else feels better than that, but there are still people out there that are using spring technology for their RV mattresses.
The reason why I bring this up is because with springs…how do you actually get good support? It has to flex and bend right? Well, if you’re putting more pressure on one side of the mattress, you’re going to stretch that spring out and it’s not going to react in the way you’d like.
And then if you have pressure on the other side, well then both sides are stretched which means the springs aren’t doing their job right so they’re not even supporting your body properly.
The only thing a spring is reacting to is just gravity and it doesn’t really matter how much weight you put on there because they will flex no matter what. And over time this can lead to an uneven feel when you lay down on them.
So instead I always recommend people get memory foam mattresses or something else that has real support because memory foam actually molds around your body correctly so that every part of your body is supported equally and correctly.
So when you lay on a memory foam mattress, it really feels like your body is being cradled instead of pushed down into the mattress.
Memory foam mattresses are also much more durable in general than spring mattresses so that’s a big plus as well. If you’re interested, then there’s an article on my blog here where I talk specifically about memory foam versus spring mattresses for RV use .
It will go over all the details on what to look for and how they compare from an RV owner standpoint.
3. Memory Foam vs Memory Foam
The other thing we should talk about here is the overall construction of these types of mattresses because this can make or break it too. Let me give you an example with something called “latex”.
Latex is actually a natural alternative to memory foam and it’s much better for your body because the way that latex reacts with your body heat is going to feel very similar to the reaction you would get from laying on memory foam, but it doesn’t have some of memory foams negatives.
For example, with latex, there isn’t all those nasty chemicals in them like there can be in some types of memory foam mattresses so you don’t have to worry about breathing problems or allergies. However, I’m putting this here as an example of what not to buy.
But when you’re talking about an RV mattress, you don’t have a lot of room on the sides sometimes so that extra layer really doesn’t help at all. All it does is make it bulkier and more expensive.
4. Spring Construction
In your home you might not care about having a certain type of bed frame around your memory foam mattress but in an RV you can’t do that because there isn’t enough room to spare.
At some point, there’s just got to be an end somewhere as far as how much space you have which means if you put too many layers or something like springs in your mattress, then it’s going to give the overall feel of the mattress…a cheap feel. So I always recommend getting something simple with no additional bells and whistles.
5 .Firmness
While we’re here, let’s touch on something called “firmness” because it’s important to get into that as well. How do you even know if the inflatable RV mattress you just bought is firm enough for you?
The way I test this…and it always works…is to turn an air mattress over and give it a good kick right in the middle. If it doesn’t go anywhere then you know it’s not going to be comfortable or supportive at all. It has no resistance against your body weight so when you lay down on one of these mattresses, there won’t be any bounce-back action or support.
This will lead to back problems later down the road and nobody wants that! But if you find an air mattress that’s firm enough to give you a good kick then you’ve got something that’s going to be great for your RV needs.
Can I put a regular queen mattress in my RV?
No ,It will not fit in the RV.A Standard Queen Mattress is 60″ x 80″ and a RV Queen is 60″ x 75″ or shorter. But if you have no other option then you can use a regular queen mattress for your RV bed ,but it won’t fit properly.