Galileo at slaapTEQ: No mattress for everyone.

If you’ve ever bought a mattress, you’ll know the challenge: prices ranging from just under €200 to several thousand, one test seal after another, and hardness grades that seem to mean something different everywhere. ProSieben’s science magazine Galileo dedicated a feature to this market, “The Mattress War”. It looks at the price war in online retail, the disputes over test seals and the question of whether one mattress can really work for everyone. To hear the opposing view, the Galileo team visited slaapTEQ in Salzburg.

What Galileo reveals about the mattress market.

Since mattresses started being sold online, the market has changed considerably. Instead of trying one out in a shop, many people order their mattress with a click, backed by a return period. The feature shows how major providers have been locked in fierce competition for years, with discount campaigns, legal disputes and one-size-fits-all mattresses for sometimes less than €200. A test seal is one of the key selling points. Those who get one advertise it. Those who lose one question the test.

But the real question remains: does that mattress suit your body?

Why there’s no one mattress for everyone.

You spend around a third of your life asleep. During that time, you have no active control over how your spine is positioned. That’s up to the surface you lie on. How well it does the job depends above all on your body shape.

Independent consumer tests now take this into account too: mattresses are tested on seven different body types, each in both side and back sleeping positions. The results show that not every highly rated mattress suits every body shape. Some don’t let broad shoulders or a wide pelvis sink in far enough, while others then provide too little support for the rest of the body. The testers therefore recommend looking at whether a mattress suits your own body type and preferred sleep position, rather than focusing only on its overall rating. Another interesting point: more expensive models did not consistently perform better. So price alone tells you very little. What matters is how well a mattress suits you.

Research points to a similar conclusion. A review of 39 studies found that medium-firm mattresses can promote comfort, sleep quality and good spinal alignment. At the same time, the authors note that there is no consensus on how a mattress should ideally be constructed to help prevent back and neck discomfort. One study looked more closely at men sleeping on their sides: a sleep surface with zones of varying firmness was a better fit, especially for heavier men with pronounced body contours than a uniformly soft or firm mattress.

A visit to the slaapTEQ center: measure instead of guess.

At the other end of the price scale, Galileo looks at a new trend: individually made mattresses. The team travels to Salzburg to meet Ilyas Merl, physiotherapist and managing director of slaapTEQ. His approach is the opposite of a one-size-fits-all mattress:

“They say there’s one for everyone, and we say that for most things, there isn’t one that suits everyone. And that’s true of the product we use most in our everyday lives: the mattress.”
Ilyas Merl, managing director of slaapTEQ, in the Galileo feature

In the feature, a Galileo reporter lies on the sleep ergonomics simulator. His mattress is then built using support elements ranging from soft to firm, matched to his measurements. His first impression during the rest-test: “You can really feel the different firmness levels.”

This is the thinking behind the slaapTEQ Method. Its three steps take place in a single appointment: the sleep ergonomics analysis.

Advice: Your certified sleep advisor gets to know you, your life situation, your needs and your sleep.
Measurement: The sleep ergonomics simulator records within minutes where your body needs support or pressure relief. You stay in your everyday clothes, with no preparation needed.
Finding the right support: Your mattress is built to match your measurements, with up to 24 zones. During the rest-test, your sleep advisor checks that all the ergonomic criteria are met before your mattress is made.

The sleep ergonomics simulator was developed at the Proschlaf® Institute in Salzburg in collaboration with doctors, sleep researchers and physiotherapists. Its calculations are now based on more than 25,000 measurements.

What an individually made mattress costs and what’s included.

Galileo also gives the price: in the feature, mattresses start at €1,390, and the reporter’s mattress costs €1,600. That’s a lot of money, there’s no question. But what you get goes beyond the mattress on day one:

Made in Austria, precisely to your configuration.
180-Night Sleep Trial: During this period, your mattress will be adjusted at no cost if your body responds differently at home than it did during your appointment.
10-Year Materials & Service Guarantee: If your body changes, you’ll be measured again, and individual support elements will be replaced instead of the entire mattress.
Durable materials: In endurance testing involving more than 80,000 load cycles, the foams in our comfort layer lose less than three per cent of their height.

Galileo itself points out that nothing can be replaced in a one-size-fits-all mattress. A modular mattress, by contrast, can still be adjusted years later. One customer summed it up in a review:

“Individual, high-quality mattresses that are worth every euro.” — Achim E.

A candid word about pain.

Many people come to a slaapTEQ center after a long search, often with pain that follows them every morning. No one can promise what will change for you. But what an individually built mattress does can be described: it supports you where your body needs support and relieves pressure where it builds up. And it can be adjusted if things change. A mattress is no substitute for treatment. Your sleep advisor will, however, take into account what your doctor or physiotherapist has recommended.

Finding the right mattress: what matters.

Wherever you buy your next mattress, these points can help you decide:

Know your body shape. Shoulder and pelvic width determine where you need to sink in and where you need support.
Consider your sleep position. If you mostly sleep on your back, you need different features than a side sleeper.
Look beyond test seals and hardness grades. Whether a mattress helps you sleep well depends above all on your own body shape, and less on its hardness grade or material.
Don’t rely on your first impression. You can tell straight away whether a mattress feels comfortable. It can take much longer to find out whether it supports you properly.
Allow time to adjust. A new lying position can feel unfamiliar for the first few nights, even if it suits you better.