A standard small single mattress is 75cm wide and 190cm long. That’s 2 feet 6 inches wide and 6 feet 3 inches for anyone currently reaching for a tape measure. You’ll often find two small single mattresses crammed into a children’s bedroom in a caravan at a holiday park.
Small single mattresses are much less common than standard single sized mattresses. As a result, it’s a bit trickier to track down a decent one.
However, with a bit of digging around we’ve found five which we think are worth your money.
They range in price massively. We’ll try to explain what you are getting for the price.
If you’re looking for a bunk bed mattress, then you’ll need to find a thinner mattress than most of those in our top 5. See our bunk bed page for more ideas.
Prices for these small single mattresses are correct at the time of writing. Review scores may have changed since we wrote this guide.
1. Happy Beds Majestic 1000 Pocket Sprung Small Single Mattress – £179 (medium tension)
Do you want a cheap small single mattress that is traditionally made? This Majestic model from Happy Beds might be worth considering.
It’s at the cheap end of the small single mattress market, but the specification is decent for the modest price.
The mattress is made with pocket springs. That’s an upgrade from the ‘open coil’ mattress that you slept on in your grandma’s spare room every Christmas (I have a chip on my shoulder about this, as my older brother always got the more comfortable mattress). Pocket sprung mattresses are much more supportive and less wobbly than open coil models. Open coil mattresses are sometimes called ‘traditional’ springs.
It is hand tufted, which means it has those buttons on top to hold it together. That gives a mattress strength. You can also turn this one over, which should help it last a little longer. It comes with a 5 year guarantee which is quite good for a cheap mattress. Customers give it a score of 4.8/5 on Happy Beds or 4.3/5 on Amazon.
It’s an impressive 25cm deep, whereas most cheap small single mattresses are much thinner.
Not for bunk beds
It’s worth noting that a deep small single mattress like this is not suitable for most bunk beds. The top deck of a bunk bed usually accepts a mattress that is about 15cm deep or less. This is because of the height of the rail to stop you falling out. It does vary, so check the instructions for your bunk bed. If you want a small single sized bunk bed mattress, then I would look at the Theo bunk bed mattress from Happy Beds (£175).
2. Millbrook Wool Luxury 1000 Pocket Spring Small Single Mattress – £345 (medium/firm)
This small single mattress from Southampton-based Millbrook Beds is worth a look as it comes with a 60-night sleep trial.
Home trials are very common now with ‘bed in a box’ mattresses. They are less common with pocket sprung mattresses and with small single mattresses. It’s worth reading the terms and conditions, as you can only swap it for another mattress. If you go for a cheaper alternative then you only get the difference back under limited circumstances.
The advantage is that you can try out a mattress for longer than the thirty seconds you spend lying down on a mattress in a bed showroom.
How is this small single mattress constructed?
Regarding the specification, this model is actually quite similar to the Happy Beds Majestic mentioned earlier. It has the same number of pocket springs (1000). That figure is relatively low compared to some mattresses. However, it’ll do the job nicely unless you are much larger or heavier than average.
Technically speaking, the 1000 figure is how many springs you’d get on the king size version of the mattress but let’s not make it unnecessarily complicated.
Reviews of this mattress are very positive at about 4.6/5 from 500+ customers.
The most notable upgrades from the cheaper Happy Beds small single mattress are that you get a longer guarantee of 10 years. It also uses some wool, which is naturally breathable but tends to be more expensive than synthetic materials.
Is it the right firmness for you?
This small single mattress is ‘medium/firm’. As an aside, it’s worth saying that there are two things you need to know about mattress firmness:
- there is no industry wide agreement on how to determine mattress firmness. One bed company’s firm mattress might be the same as another company’s medium tension mattress. As a result, a trial period or a trip to a showroom is valuable.
- generally speaking, heavy people and people who sleep on their backs need firmer mattresses than lighter people and people who sleep on their sides. The idea is to support your body sufficiently so that you don’t sink in too much but don’t just lie on top without sinking in at all.
3. Millbrook Wool Ortho 1000 Pocket Sprung Small Single Mattress – £269 (firm)
Another small single in the Millbrook range is the Wool Ortho 1000. It features locally sourced Hampshire fleece wool and 1000 springs (same as the Millbrook Wool Luxury model above). This mattress differs in that it is quite a bit firmer.
Are the number of springs important on a mattress?
Let’s have a quick diversion about spring count. I find this kind of thing interesting, but feel free to quietly snooze at the back.
You have probably noticed in your research that there is a big variation in how many springs you get on a pocket sprung mattress. Higher numbers are generally better of course, but it’s worth digging a little bit deeper as it can be a bit misleading.
The most important thing is the number of full size pocket springs. I look for at least 1000 springs, as 600 or 800 just doesn’t feel as supportive. For heavier than average people, a number closer to 2000 will have some benefit but 1000 is the key figure. Once you get beyond 2000 springs, you need to be searching for a diagram of the inside of a mattress to find out what’s going on.
The maximum number of full size springs you can fit onto a single layer so a mattress with 3000, 4000 or more springs must have more than one layer of springs.
Let’s say you see a mattress with 2800 springs. It could be 800 full size pocket springs, with a top layer of 2000 mini springs or a layer of 1200 full size springs, with a layer of 1600 mini springs on top.
In that scenario, I would much prefer the second option as it is the full size springs that give you the most support. The mini springs add a flourish via a little bit of springy comfort, but they aren’t as important as the full size springs.
Magnificent Millbrook features
There are quite a few boring but important things that I like about the Millbrook Wool Ortho 1000.
One big plus point is that it is double sided, so you can flip it over every few months. This can make quite a difference in regards to how long it will last before it starts to develop saggy bits (just like me nowadays…).
Similarly, the ‘tufted finish’ helps keep it all held together nicely. This is the technical name for the buttons that you can see on the top of the mattress. Some sprung mattresses are flat on top (known as a quilted finish) which appears comfortable, but isn’t quite as strong. Note that this only really applies to sprung mattresses, it’s a different story with foam mattresses which are all flat on top.
Reviews, warranty and trial period
Reviews of this mattress are very positive at about 4.6/5 from 450+ customers.
It does come with a trial period. However, as with the other Millbrook mattress in this guide, it’s worth reading the terms and conditions, as you can only swap it for another mattress with the 60 night trial period.
The warranty is 10 years. That is outstanding for a pocket sprung mattress at this price range. I would normally expect to see a warranty of five years or less for this price. You will find some memory foam mattresses with similarly long warranties at around this price, but you normally need to spend more to get a 10 year warranty with a pocket sprung model.
4. Hypnos Cotton Origins 6 Small Single Mattress – £709
There are several Hypnos mattresses at around the same price, which are all available as a small single mattress (75cm x 190cm). It’s a pocket sprung mattress – just like the Millbrook and Happy Beds mattresses – but is a more prestigious brand.
We’ve picked out the Hypnos Cotton Origins 6 Mattress ,which is medium tension. They also sell a firm/very firm version which is the similarly named Hypnos Orthos Support 6 Mattress (the word ‘ortho’ normally means a firm or very firm mattress, rather than any guarantee that it will be better for your back).
The designs of the two are very similar but we will focus on the Hypnos Cotton Origins 6 Small Single Mattress.
Why would you want a small single Hypnos mattress?
Hypnos are at the posh end of the UK mattress market. They make mattresses properly, by which I mean they use lots of natural materials and high quality pocket springs.
As a result, they’ve got several notable awards including a Royal Warrant. They also have a Manufacturing Guild Mark, which is a sign of a high standard of production.
They’ve also been praised in recent years for their attempts to improving sustainability in the mattress industry. Hypnos has won multiple awards for this, including a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
How is this mattress designed?
After building up Hypnos, I will point out that this is at the budget end of their range.
The spring count is 1000. That’s perfectly good enough for average-sized people but you will get higher spring counts if you have deep pockets and can afford posher alternatives from Hypnos.
The mattress is single-sided, whereas more expensive models such as the Hypnos Orthos Support 8 Mattress are double sided. That can be advantage as it helps reduce the risk of dips over time.
5. Tempur Pro Smartcool Small Single Mattress – £1399 (soft, medium, medium/firm or firm)
We struggled to find many small single memory foam mattresses.
Dreams sell a memory foam brand called Hyde & Sleep which has a couple of small single models at around £500-£700, but it seems to be a much more common size on pocket sprung mattresses.
If you want a luxurious memory foam mattress and need it to be 2 foot 6 inches wide then Tempur has a good range to pick from.
Take note that this model is actually 200cm long, which is 10cm more than most small single mattresses. The reason for this is that you can lay two side by side on a king size bedframe (king size is 150cm wide x 200cm long). Double check that it is actually the size you need, as 10cm is quite a difference!
How much?!
You’ll have noticed that the price of this small single mattress from Tempur is significantly higher than your average mattress. In fact, Tempur is the most expensive memory foam mattress brand. However, Tempur does have an unrivalled pedigree as the pioneers of memory foam mattresses.
For the uninitiated (i.e. anyone who doesn’t spend their life reading about mattresses), memory foam is a popular alternative to a sprung mattress. It’s a special type of foam which bounces back slower and gives you a consistent support all over.
Some people find the sinking and hugging feeling of memory foam a bit unnerving. Others find that it makes them feel warmer than more breathable, natural materials. However, many people love memory foam mattresses and never switch back to a sprung mattress.
Not just any memory foam
Tempur’s official blurb says that their memory foam is different to other brands of memory foam and that their special formula has ‘always remained secret’. To add to the excitement they also say that ‘fewer than 10 people in the world know how to make it, and they all work for us’.
It’s also worth saying that you get a trial period if you buy this mattress direct from Tempur.
There are a few hoops to jump through. The trial lasts for 100 nights, but you need to try it for at least 60 nights before you have the option to return it. They want to allow plenty of time for you to get used to it, much like you would with a new pair of shoes.
You also have to agree to use a mattress protector when you use the mattress.
Tempur’s upgrade options
The Tempur range takes a little bit of deciphering and there are a couple of customisation and upgrade options:
- The standard model is called the Tempur Pro Smartcool.
- You can upgrade to a mid-priced model which is a bit thicker and adds in the word ‘Plus’ to make it the Tempur Pro Plus Smartcool.
- If you’re really flushed, you can also upgrade to the most expensive model, which is even deeper. The word ‘Plus’ is replaced with the word ‘Luxe’ to make the Tempur Pro Luxe Smartcool.
- These three mattresses are all pretty similar, but the more expensive ones have extra layers which makes them deeper.
- There’s also a model called the Tempur One. It costs a bit less, but it isn’t available in the ‘Small Single’ Size.
Once you’ve picked which of the three thickness levels you want, you can then choose the firmness level that suits you. Tempur has four options including soft, medium, medium-firm and firm.
If that’s still not enough information (Ed: seems unlikely…) then check out our full guide to Tempur.
