14 best mattress toppers 2024, tested for more than 1,000 hours of sleep

We tested this during a week when it felt like the world (or at least Surrey, where testing took place) was on fire – an unbearably hot week during which we’d ditched our duvet, and were keen to minimise any heat retention. With that in mind, we can honestly say this brilliant topper saved the day.

It kept us wonderfully cool (the blurb credits this to climate control technology, but we suspect the heavy use of cotton had a role, too) and provided just the right amount of support. It was also a brilliant fit – all of the toppers we tried were double or king sized, but our testing revealed huge inconsistencies with sizing, so, we were pleased to discover this wasn’t the case with M&S’s topper.

Yes, this topper really does cost just £32. It’s probably not the best option if you’re looking for a topper to breathe new life into a mattress that should have been discarded years ago, but it does exactly what it says on the tin – providing a decent level of support and cushioning with a hollowfibre filling that won’t turn you into a human hot water bottle. Bonus points for the ultra-sturdy mattress straps, too.

Having overdone it in the gym, we’ve found ourselves suffering from various aches and pains, which were worsened by sleeping on our old mattress. Once this topper had been added, however, the discomfort disappeared. We’re assuming this is due to what Panda refers to as the hydro-foam core, but whatever term marketing decided to use, we love it.

It supported our hips and lower legs in all the right places, and provided just the right amount of support for our head and neck, too. On a particularly humid night, it also did a great job of keeping us cool. There’s a staggering range of sizes – nine in total – and additional shout-outs go to the sustainable bamboo cover and the anti-slip straps in each corner, which ensure the topper stays put.

Read our full Panda mattress topper review

Don’t get us wrong, toppers aren’t mattresses and shouldn’t be treated as such. However, we’re slightly ashamed to say our current mattress is well past its expiry date, and this testing process revealed that, while most toppers do a great job of cranking up the comfort, few were able to breathe new life into old mattresses as well as the Simba topper.

It’s slightly thicker and sturdier than most of the other toppers – it’s not one you can simply roll up and toss into a cupboard when not in use – but the upside is a ridiculous level of both comfort and support, alongside fantastic breathability, which didn’t leave us overheating on hot nights. The added comfort stems from the multi-layer construction, which includes both an open-cell layer, an Aerocoil layer (basically, another layer of support) and a foam support base. Aka, a hat-trick of topper-related tremendousness, in our opinion.

Read our full Simba hybrid topper review

The ease with which we could stash this mattress into our cupboard when not in use was a major bonus, given the ridiculous thickness of many toppers. It’s all about practicality with this one – we loved its vegan-friendly cover, which not only stayed cool but was easy to slip on and off.

There are two foam layers – one of Airgocell foam and one of ZeroGravity foam. Yes, these terms are marketing blurb at its finest, but this was another topper that provided fantastic support at a time when we were suffering from various exercise-related aches and pains.

You can spend an awful lot on toppers, including ones filled with enough hi-tech materials to make our heads spin. But do toppers really need to be so hi-tech? The jury’s out on this particular question, but The White Company’s topper is a great one for cranking up the comfort while keeping things simple.

Unusually, duck feathers and down (not foam) are the key ingredients here, although, we still enjoyed the same level of comfort provided by some of our favourite memory foam toppers.

This one also excelled at keeping us cool, and we loved the placement of the straps – a minor detail, but all too often the straps at the corners of toppers are positioned so they ping off like an out-of-control elastic band. Not so with these ones, which stayed firmly in place.

Summers aren’t just getting hotter, they’re becoming more of a challenge for sufferers of hay fever, too. After an especially horrendous week of sniffing and sneezing, the last thing we wanted was a mattress topper that would worsen our symptoms, so, we were slightly wary about this duck feather and down mattress. Thankfully, we awoke sniffle-free, and knowing that the topper had been treated with an anti-mite treatment provided peace of mind – often it’s the build-up of dead mites and skin cells (apologies if you’re eating your dinner while reading this) that triggers allergies.

We also loved the thick straps that secured the topper to the mattress. Deploying a mattress topper might not require a PHD, but all too often these straps are needle-thin, so the thicker strips of material on this one were a welcome change. While this was one of our favourite toppers, its slightly thicker profile means we’d recommend it for use in autumn and winter.

Full disclosure: we were sceptical when we read this topper contains wool, simply because we don’t particularly associate wool with comfort – rather a general scratchiness which isn’t usually conducive to a great night’s sleep. However, never have we been happier to be proved wrong, because this mattress topper has a marshmallow-like softness that provided optimal cushioning and kept us wonderfully cool on a particularly muggy night.

It’s slightly on the thin side, so ideal for anyone who doesn’t want to add too much height to their mattress, although, this didn’t mean sacrificing comfort – we were honestly blown away by the softness and support offered by this topper, and it was another that was refreshingly true to size, too.

Although this mattress topper is currently out of stock, you can sign up (via the brand’s website) to be emailed when it’s available again.

This is a reassuringly thick topper that is perfect for autumn and winter. Is your pet hate stuffing that refuses to stay in one place? This could be the bed accessory of your dreams, thanks to a box construction that ensured the evenly distributed fibre filling stays put. Interestingly, so did we (stay put, that is) – sleeping straight through the entire night. In summary? A super soft bed topper perfect for colder nights.

This mattress offers the perfect balance of breathability and support, thanks to a three-layer construction, which provided fantastic support in the areas we needed it most. This is an especially great option if your old mattress is past its best – the topper has a thickness of 7cm, which was more than enough to pad out the lumps and bumps on our old mattress.

We were also seriously impressed with this topper’s breathability – on a night when the mercury hit 37C, this topper kept us cool, calm and collected, despite the extra thickness.

A fabulous option worth every penny of your hard-earned cash, Tielle’s luxury topper has the kind of softness that can only come from feathers – which, in this case, accounts for 70 per cent of the total padding (the remainder is down). Add ultra-tough anchor straps, a true-to-size fit and an ultra-soft cotton cover, and you can’t go wrong.

Another woolly wonder, the Chatsworth wool mattress topper looks and feels incredibly luxurious, with a sumptuous, pillow-like quality that belies its mere 4.5cm thickness. The use of wool means it’s naturally hypoallergenic (proof of which is our sniffle-free slumber) and the topper’s box construction ensures each section of stuffing stays put. We’d recommend this for sleepers who value sustainability (it contains no man-made materials whatsoever) and anyone keen to breathe new life into a mattress that might be past its best.

Read our full Woolroom wool mattress topper review

We knew Slumberdown wouldn’t let us down, with the brand creating a fabulously thick mattress topper that somehow stayed cool and fresh. It was true to size, and had an ultra-soft cover that stayed cool to the touch but helped wick away sweat on a night that was so hot we felt our blood had neared boiling point.

We’d recommend this as a great year-round mattress topper – with a thickness of 4cm, it provides just enough cushioning without any drastic changes to bed height.

This mattress topper may not be the cheapest we tried but, having slept on it, we can safely say it’s worth its weight in gold. The blurb states it’s able to reduce the bed temperature by 3C, and, despite our scepticism, we reckon this is a pretty accurate estimate.

Our theory is it’s down to the way the topper is divided into three different zones – after all, different parts of our bodies heat up and cool down in different ways, so, it makes perfect sense that a topper engineered to reflect this will have superior cooling qualities.

Its cooling ability is even more impressive, given this is one of the thickest toppers in our selection, thanks to the use of memory foam – a material we regarded (until now) as a notorious heat trapper. Dormeo, we salute you.