Hello!
I am doing research to purchase a new mattress, and I am overwhelmed.
While there is a ton of information on this forum, I haven’t found a thread specifically about toppers, so I decided to begin one.
Would it ever make sense to purchase a topper instead of an entirely new mattress?
I’m thinking it will serve to extend the life of the current mattress and postpone the need to purchase a new one.
Thank you!
Hi dunleadogg,
Post #2 here and the topper guidelines and other posts it links to has much more information about choosing a topper and includes a link to many of the better sources I’m aware of as well.
If your mattress is in good condition and has no dips, sagging, or soft spots and you need some extra softness and pressure relief then a topper can certainly make sense and be an effective solution. If your mattress has soft spots or is sagging or if you want to make a mattress that is already too soft any firmer then a topper would not be a particularly effective choice and would generally have limited or temporary benefits at best (see post #4 here).
Phoenix
Thank you!
My searching skills must be rusty. I apologize that you needed to address the same questions over again!
Hi dunleadogg,
No problem … one of my roles on the forum is acting as a “traffic cop” and pointing (linking) to one or more of a list of about 300 reference posts I keep 
Sometimes it’s easier for me to link them than it is for a forum member to find them with a search that pulls up thousands of posts with some of the more common search terms like “topper” (which brings up over 7000 posts).
Phoenix