How often should you replace your mattress and pillows?
How long a mattress and a pillow really last, by type, and a 2-minute test that tells you if yours is a keep, a watch or a replace.
The short answer
A mattress lasts about 6 to 8 years on average, and most pillows 1 to 2 years. But the date matters less than the test below: replace it when it fails, not when the calendar says so.
How long each one lasts
The Sleep Foundation’s averages, by type. Mattress shops often say 7 to 10 years, and some latex makers more. Both can be true: a well-kept bed slept on by one light sleeper outlasts the same bed shared every night.
| Mattress | Lasts about |
|---|---|
| Innerspring | 5.5 to 6.5 years |
| Hybrid | 6.5 to 7.5 years |
| Foam or memory foam | 6 to 7 years |
| Latex | 7.5 to 8.5 years |
| Pillow fill | Replace every |
|---|---|
| Polyester | 6 months to 2 years |
| Down alternative | 1 to 2 years |
| Down or feather | 1 to 3 years |
| Memory foam or polyfoam | 2 to 3 years |
| Latex | 2 to 4 years |
| Buckwheat | About 3 years, by replacing the hulls |
The 2-minute test
The pillow
- Take off the pillowcase and look: heavy yellowing or lumps you can feel are a replace.
- For a down or feather pillow, fold it in half and let go. If it doesn’t spring back to its shape, it’s done.
- Ask yourself one thing: do you wake up with a stiff neck, or keep punching it into shape? Then it’s a watch, even if it passed the fold.
The mattress
- Strip the bed and look along it from the side, at eye level. A dip where you sleep is the first sign.
- Lie in your usual spot for a minute. Do you roll toward the middle, or feel your partner move more than you used to?
- Think back: do you sleep better in a hotel or a guest bed, or wake up sore at home?
Keep, watch or replace
Keep if it passes everything. Watch if one thing is off: rotate it, check again in 3 months. Replace if two or more are off, or a pillow fails the fold.
Making them last
Most of this is a few minutes a few times a year. These are the bed chores in CozyHaus, with the time the app gives each one.
| Chore | How often | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Wash the mattress protector | Every month | 5 |
| Air the pillows in the sun | Every month in spring and summer | 5 |
| Vacuum the mattress | Every 3 months | 15 |
| Rotate the mattress | Twice a year | 10 |
| Wash the pillows | Twice a year | 15 |
- Rotate, don’t flip. Most modern mattresses are one-sided, so turn them end to end instead. The Sleep Foundation suggests once or twice a year for foam, latex and newer innersprings, and more often for older innersprings. Don’t rotate a zoned mattress, which is built firmer where your hips go.
- Use a protector. It keeps sweat and spills out of the mattress. Wash it cold or warm; hot water and high heat wear out the waterproof layer.
- Foam pillows don’t go in the washer. Vacuum and air them instead.
If you can’t replace it yet
A mattress topper can make a soft or dipping mattress comfortable for a while longer, and rotating it moves your weight onto a part that’s worn less. None of this fixes a mattress that sags deeply, but it makes the wait easier.
About warranties: a mattress warranty covers defects, not the slow softening every mattress goes through. A long warranty doesn’t mean that many good years.
Sources
- Sleep Foundation, How Long Should a Mattress Last? (updated July 2025)
- Sleep Foundation, How Often Should You Replace Your Pillows?
- Sleep Foundation, Should You Flip or Rotate Your Mattress? (updated July 2025)
- Chores, minutes and how often: the CozyHaus chore catalogue, Bedroom.
Let your phone keep the schedule
CozyHaus plans the chores that fit your home, a few small ones a day, and shares them with everyone who lives there.
See what it does