IKEA Mattress Review
The most underrated mattress retailer in Britain, with the most generous policies attached to the cheapest products. The catch is sizing.
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Verdict
The most underrated mattress retailer in Britain, and the one with the most generous policies attached to the cheapest products. The catch is sizing: IKEA uses European dimensions, and a mattress that does not fit your existing bed frame is not a bargain at any price.
Buy it if
You are buying the bed frame and mattress together, you want long guarantees at low prices, and European sizing is not a problem.
Avoid it if
You are replacing a mattress in an existing UK-sized frame. The dimensions will not match.
See the current IKEA offer
IKEA sells direct only. Check current trial and guarantee terms, which have changed over time.
No code needed. The discount is applied automatically at checkout. Opening the site in a new tab.
IKEA on Amazon UK
Not directly comparable. IKEA does not sell through Amazon.
No code needed. Prices on Amazon change frequently, so check the seller and the returns terms before you buy. Opening in a new tab.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Furniture retailer with a substantial mattress range |
| Sizing | European dimensions, not UK |
| Guarantees | Long by category standards. Check current terms. |
| Trial | Generous change-of-mind period. Check current terms before relying on it. |
| Price position | Among the cheapest mattresses from any established retailer |
The scores
Genuinely good policies and prices, with a sizing trap that catches people out.
Very strong, provided the sizing works for you.
Broad, from very cheap foam to reasonable pocket sprung.
Prices are prices. No permanent sale, no reference pricing games.
Among the most generous in the category, which is the main reason to consider IKEA.
Chargeable and less comprehensive than the bed specialists.
Self-service by design. You are on your own.
The sizing trap, which is the whole decision
Read this before anything else
IKEA uses European mattress dimensions. UK sizes are different, and the difference is enough to matter.
| Size | UK | Nearest European | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | 90 × 190 cm | 90 × 200 cm | 10cm longer |
| Double | 135 × 190 cm | 140 × 200 cm | 5cm wider, 10cm longer |
| King | 150 × 200 cm | 160 × 200 cm | 10cm wider |
| Super king | 180 × 200 cm | 180 × 200 cm | The same |
The consequences are practical. A European mattress in a UK frame either will not fit at all or will leave a gap. UK fitted sheets will be the wrong size. And if you later replace the mattress from a UK retailer, it will not fit the IKEA frame.
So the rule is simple: buy the frame and the mattress together, or do not buy the mattress. Within the IKEA ecosystem everything matches. Across the boundary, nothing does.
The policies are the actual selling point
Set the sizing aside and IKEA's terms are among the most generous attached to any mattress in Britain, at prices well below the specialist brands.
That combination is unusual. Most of this category works the other way round: generous trials are used to justify premium pricing, and cheap mattresses come with thirty days and a shrug.
Terms have changed over the years, so check the current change-of-mind period and guarantee length on the day you buy rather than trusting anything written earlier, including this page. But the structural point holds: IKEA competes on policy as well as price, and very few retailers in this category do either well, let alone both.
What you should expect from the mattresses themselves
Honestly: fine, and not exceptional. IKEA's cheapest foam mattresses are cheap foam mattresses, with the durability limitations that implies. The mid-range pocket sprung models are reasonable and comparable to what you would find at a similar price from a supermarket or a general retailer.
Nothing IKEA sells competes with what Otty or Origin put into a 500 pound mattress on construction. What IKEA offers instead is a coherent system where the frame, mattress, slats and bedding all work together, at low prices with long guarantees.
For a spare room, a first flat, a rental or a child's room, that system is genuinely hard to beat. For a main bed you expect to keep for a decade, buy the specification rather than the system.
A correction worth making
Commonly repeated, and wrong
IKEA mattresses are routinely compared against UK brands on price and specification as though they are interchangeable purchases, and the sizing makes them structurally different. IKEA uses European dimensions: a European king is 160 by 200 centimetres against a UK king at 150 by 200, and a European double is 140 by 200 against a UK double at 135 by 190. A cheaper mattress that does not fit your frame, will not take your sheets, and locks you into one retailer for replacements is not the saving it appears to be.
Should you buy it?
Yes if you are buying the frame and mattress together and European sizing is not a problem. The policies are genuinely generous and the prices are genuinely low.
No if you are replacing a mattress in an existing UK frame. Check your current mattress with a tape measure before you go anywhere near an IKEA mattress, and read the UK bed and mattress sizes guide first.
Questions people ask
Do IKEA mattresses fit UK beds?
Often not. IKEA uses European dimensions. A European king is 160 by 200cm against a UK king at 150 by 200, and a European double is 140 by 200 against a UK double at 135 by 190. Buy the frame and mattress together, or do not buy the mattress.
Are IKEA mattresses any good?
Fine, and not exceptional. The cheap foam models are cheap foam models. The mid-range pocket sprung ones are reasonable. Nothing IKEA sells competes with what Otty or Origin put into a 500 pound mattress, but the policies and prices are genuinely strong.
What is IKEA's mattress return policy?
Generous by category standards, and the terms have changed over the years, so check on the day you buy rather than trusting anything written earlier including this page. The structural point holds: IKEA competes on policy as well as price, which is rare.