Whether you’re looking for memory foam, wool, cooling or firm, we reveal the toppers we rate – and whether they can really rescue a bad mattress
• The best mattresses – tested
• The best mattresses for side sleepers
A mattress topper is like a slice of cheese in a burger: not strictly necessary, but potentially transformative, especially if your bed has all the cosiness of stale bread. Strap a comfy topper on to a hard mattress, and it could transform the quality of your sleep at significantly less cost than a new mattress.
That’s the promise, anyway. In my neverending quest for a decent night’s kip, I slept on 13 bestselling toppers – not all at once, Princess and the Pea style, but for a few nights, each on top of a firm mattress. I was surprised to find so many topper types available, from thick slabs of memory foam to airy cloudbanks of hollowfibre, with some even containing springs.