When we tested this Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress it was on sale at £1199 in the single size. A double version was £1399 with a king size at £1599 and a super king size at £1999.

Firmness rating of the Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress 

Sealy described this mattress as being very firm and I would say that it lives up to the billing. We gave it a score of 9/10 for firmness with 1/10 being soft and 10/10 being very firm. 

I generally find that a slightly softer mattress is better for me, but I like to do a few tests to figure it out first. 

I always begin by laying on my back and seeing how much space there is underneath my spine (The Spine Test). You really want a mattress that supports you and keeps your spine in a natural position. 

If it’s too soft it will cause your spine to sink in too much and won’t be good for you in the long run. However, a mattress that is too firm for you will leave some of your spine unsupported or in an awkward position and is also a bad idea. The idea that super firm mattresses are what you need for a bad back is a bit of an outdated view now. Your own weight and build needs to be taken into account.

You’ll soon get the idea that you want your hand to go underneath with some effort but not too much effort. 

In the case of this Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress, it was ever so slightly too easy to get my hand underneath. I am 6 ft tall and weigh about 13 stone (or perhaps slightly more as I had a pretty significant lunch before testing this mattress).

I tried the mattress on my side and found it was much too firm in that sleeping position. On my front it was better but still slightly too firm for me. The general rule is that side sleepers need slightly softer mattresses than front or back sleepers. 

In other words, this mattress is likely to be about right for you if you sleep on your front or back and are a fair bit heavier than I am. 

Edge support on the Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress (and the Custard Slice Test)

This mattress comes with a number of fancy sounding technological developments. I’ve noticed this is a common trait on Sealy mattresses and it is easy to get a bit overwhelmed by the science. 

One of the features is called UniCased edge support, which aims to stop you from rolling off the edge of the bed. Strong edge support is a good sign on a mattress and stops you from ending up always sleeping in the middle and never going near the edge. 

Some mattresses use something called ‘hand side stitching’ whilst others try other designs to offer strength to the edges. 

In the case of this Sealy mattress, there is a notable ridge that has been added to try and create strength to the edges. At first it felt a little unnatural to me, but once I tested it out I was more impressed. I lay on my side on the edge of the mattress and felt well supported. I certainly didn’t feel as though I might fall out. 

It also worked quite well whilst I was sat on the edge of the bed, which is another test that we like to do. We call this the Custard Slice Test, as the filling of some mattresses pours out the side when you sit on them.

Motion transfer rating (or the Wibble Wobble Test) on the Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress 

Next up, we tested what is commonly known as motion transfer. We call it the Wibble Wobble Test. 

This is a measure of how much the mattress wobbles when you get in and out. It is particularly relevant if you share the mattress with someone else who is a light sleeper. 

This Sealy mattress is certainly bouncier than many that we have tested, but I was impressed that this didn’t translate into poor motion transfer. 

We like to test this by having two people on the bed. One person gets in and out whilst the other tries to pick up how much movement they can feel. On motion transfer then, I was pretty impressed with this mattress. 

Handles on the Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress 

I’m not sure if there is such a thing as a handle snob, but I am one of them if so. Personally, I like a mattress that has a very strong horizontal handle that looks like it would put up with years of being moved from room to room. The handles on this mattress are vertical. This looks nice but is more awkward to use in my opinion. The mattress also takes the approach of stitching the handles into the top layer of the mattress. I’ve seen this design on lots of modern bed in a box mattresses. Personally I prefer a thick handle that is stitched into the side of the mattress horizontally. 

Apologies if this has caused you drift off. I will admit that mattress handle design is not the world’s most important topic, but it is a strange personal interest of mine 

Design and specification of the Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress 

The Sealy brand is long established and very popular. It is particularly well known in the United States but is also a big brand over here in the UK. They are a bit like Silentnight in that they offer some very affordable mattresses with budget designs but also offer some more luxurious mattresses with more complicated designs. 

They differ somewhat from traditional pocket sprung brands such as Hypnos and Vispring, which focus on simple designs. Sealy prefer to use technical sounding designs. In the case of this mattress that includes SmarTex Plus, AlignSupport Coil, EternityFibre, ProShield and INFUSE Eco ComfortCore. You could spend a lot of time getting your head around what each of these terms means.

Essentially though, this is a mattress that uses a combination of springs with synthetic fibres. That is quite a common design technique nowadays.

Final thoughts on the Sealy Posturepedic Gladesville Mattress 

This mattress was a little bit too firm for my tastes, but it may work for you. Testing it out for yourself would be essential before buying it. 

It is a relatively expensive mattress but packs in a lot of depth and complicated design. We were impressed with how well it supports at the edge and with its motion transfer rating. 

If you are working to a budget along these lines then you could also afford one that uses natural materials instead. However, if you are a fan of the Sealy brand then this would be a good choice.

More from The Sleep Guy

• You can find all of our latest mattress reviews and brand tests in our main mattress reviews hub.
• Read out guide to the best Sealy mattresses