The Swedish temple of flat-pack is the obvious go-to for certain things in life: cube storage shelves, reasonably priced rugs and, of course, meatballs. But would it be your first thought for mattress shopping?

Perhaps because it's known for its cheap prices, many of us wouldn't consider shopping at Ikea if we're looking for a quality mattress. But since our testing regularly reveals that cheaper products often match or outperform more expensive ones, it raises the question: should Ikea be at the top of your list for mattress shopping?

We'll talk you through all things Ikea mattresses, plus, for CHOICE members, we'll reveal which ones are our top picks. 

We've tested to find you the best.

Ikea mattresses are definitely worth considering – some more than others. Just make sure you're buying the best that the Swedish retailer has to offer. 

"Ikea makes middle-of-the-road mattresses – they're not the best on the market, but for the price some of them are good. So, depending on what you're looking for, an Ikea mattress can be a solid choice," says CHOICE mattress expert Peter Zaluzny. 

"But for some of the pricier Ikea mattresses, you can probably find a better product for the same price from a different brand."

Read more: 5 mattress shopping mistakes you never want to make

Here are some of the things you'll need to keep in mind if you're thinking of buying a mattress from Ikea. 

If you're lucky enough to be getting in eight hours of sleep every night, then you'll spend around a third of your life in bed – so finding your perfect mattress match will make a huge difference to your wellbeing. 

But lying on a mattress for two minutes while a sales assistant hovers nearby won't exactly give you the best idea of how you'll feel about it night after night. 

Ikea's trial period of a year is three times longer than Koala's or Sleeping Duck's, plus their guarantee for many mattresses lasts for 10 to 25 years

In recognition of this, many mattress retailers now offer trial periods so you can make sure you're in love with your new mattress before you commit to it for the next 10 years or so of your life. And Ikea's trial period is incredibly generous: 365 days. They also offer a solid warranty period.

"Ikea's trial period of a year is three times longer than Koala's or Sleeping Duck's, plus their guarantee for many mattresses lasts for 10 to 25 years," says Peter. 

But if you do decide to exchange your mattress, there are a few things you need to know.

In an era of online bed-in-a-box shopping, there's still something appealing about trying out a mattress before you buy one.

"The benefit of buying from a bricks-and-mortar store like Ikea is that it's easy to try each mattress in store before entering the free trial period. Plus, they have quite a few models to choose from," says Peter.

Of course, the drawback of going into an Ikea store is the maze-like layout from which you may never return, and the tendency to go wild buying all the things because they're so cheap. So perhaps you should factor the time and extra money into your mattress shopping budget!

Read more: How to dispose of your mattress and pillow

If you already know what you want and you're trying to avoid the Ikea maze and associated shopping spree, you can order through the Ikea website, either for delivery or for click and collect from the store.

While these options are all helpful if you live in an urban area, your Ikea mattress could end up costing you considerably more if you live outside a major city. For a rural area, for instance, you might have to pay $599 for delivery – that's a huge cost increase to factor in.

Ikea also offers a mattress removal and recycling service, which cost $55 per mattress when we checked the Ikea website. This is comparable with another mattress recycling service, Soft Landing, which collects your mattresses for a fee and then recycles the materials. (And in fact, Ikea recommends Soft Landing for mattress removals when you shop online.)

Again, these services may not necessarily be available in your area, or they may be prohibitively expensive. 

We've tested to find you the best.

With the vast array of mattresses available on the market, we have to be selective about what we test so that we can provide the most useful information to the largest number of people. 

So, based on feedback from members, we test firm mattresses where available, and we buy double- or queen-sized mattresses as that's what most people shop for. 

In terms of Ikea products, these are the models that are currently available that we've tested:

In previous years, Ikea's Hokkåsen mattress was routinely on our list of mattresses to avoid, scoring just 61%. However, Ikea has since discontinued the mattress. 

Now the mantle of the lowest-scoring Ikea mattress has been passed on to a new model: the Fillan. With a score of 67%, it's definitely ahead of the Hokkåsen, but at $1099 it costs nearly twice the price.

It's not terrible – it received excellent scores for comfort retention – but for the price you can definitely do better. 

Because we're a diligent bunch here at CHOICE, you'll note that there are many, many scores in our mattress reviews – even more than in our other reviews, which are already very detailed. 

That's because buying a mattress can be complicated. And since we spend a third of our lives in bed, it's especially important to make the right choice. 

Here's what we test for and how much each component contributes to the overall score:

*The comfort retention score is a measure of how much the mattress's comfort has changed after eight years' use. We assess this by rolling a cask-shaped roller over each mattress for 30,000 cycles to simulate approximately eight years of use. The higher the score, the closer the mattress will feel to how it did when it was brand new. 

So you don't become overwhelmed by all the numbers, here's what to make of them. 

Because all bodies are different, the perfect, cloud-like mattress for one person can feel like a bed of nails for another. While we stand by our comfort scores for unused mattresses, you should find something that's comfortable for you. 

What matters most here is how the mattress fares after eight years' use – if it's comfortable for you from day one, then a mattress that scores highly on this test will still be comfortable for you eight years later.

"You also want to look out for a stable mattress, especially if you share a bed with someone," says Peter. 

"This is basically a bounce test that looks at how movement affects the other sleeper. If you roll over in the night and that makes the other person bounce, then the bed isn't stable. The higher the score in this test, the more stable the mattress."

Want to know more? Here's extra info about how we test mattresses.

Here are the Ikea mattresses we've tested, ranked from best to worst. 

Only CHOICE members can access our detailed mattress testing data. If you're not yet a member, join CHOICE to get instant access to all of our expert, independent reviews, from fridges and washing machines through to TVs, health insurance and more.

Or log in to unlock this article and find out which Ikea mattresses will give you the best night's sleep.

Stay informed. Get the latest product reviews, money-saving tips and more.

We at CHOICE acknowledge the Gadigal people, the traditional custodians of this land on which we work, and pay our respects to the First Nations people of this country. CHOICE supports the First Nations people's Uluru Statement from the Heart.