I hope you love the products I've recommended below, just a heads up that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means I may earn commissions on products bought via links on this page.
Sleeping is the best part of the day, but as a tall person it can be quite challenging with a mattress that’s too short. Mattress extenders for tall persons are the affordable answer to this dilemma. Unless you want to shell out for a new larger size mattress, an extension to your existing mattress is the best option.
But how do you turn a regular queen mattress that measures 80 inches long into something suitable for tall people?. There are 2 ways to do this and we are going to have a look at your options below.
Because the standard King or Queen mattress measures 80 inches long and a full or twin only measures 75 inches long, tall people are often left to sleep with their feet hanging over the edge of the bed. Or worse still cramped up in an uncomfortable position which can cause injuries to your body. Unless you already have a mattress for taller people, an extension is the next best option.
The below methods of making a mattress longer to cater to a longer torso person can increase the sleeping surface of any mattress by 6″ or 12″ in length.This essentially can give you a queen mattress over 90 inches long or increase the length of a full to 82″ long.
The product and or method you go with will be determined by the type of bed you have. Whether it has a foot board at the end and if so how much gap is between the bed and the mattress. The options available are: 1. Pre-made mattress extensions or 2. Make your own quick and easy to suit any size.
Mattress Extensions For Tall People
The first available option for taller folks needing an extra 6 inches in length are pre-made mattress extenders. The problem is finding them tho. They are not easy products to source out. Especially if you want the extenders to be the exact width of your bed.
Because mattress extenders are commonly used in hospitals, most manufactures make them to fit a hospital bed. Not a queen size bed for example. The same goes if you have a deep mattress which is anywhere from 8″ to 18″ in depth. So chances are, you are going to need to buy multiples of the pre-made mattress extenders in order to successfully make your mattress longer.
On amazon you can pick up this mattress extender which measures 6″ deep x 36″ wide and 6″ tall. To use this on a queen size bed with two adult sleepers, you would need to buy 2 of these extenders. However a Queen mattress only measures 60″ wide. So there would be a 6 inch over hang on either side of the bed.
The 36″ wide mattress extension is perfect for California King sized mattresses as they measure 72″ wide. Exactly twice the width of one of these 36″ mattress extenders. But if you have a California king mattress already, chances are you are happy with the length of the bed already.
Various Size Mattress Extension Options
A slightly wider option is the mattress extension by CM. It measures 42″ wide by 6″ in height by 6″ deep. On the product description page found on amazon, the seller does say that they can custom make this product to fit any size bed. Whether this is true is yet to be discovered.
The CM extender is quite expensive I found, but if you need a 42″ wide extension then you haven’t got too many other options besides making your own which you can see below. If you only need the one item to extend your bed by 6 inches, then I guess it’s not too bad of a deal.
Because it’s hospital grade you do get the assurance of it being safe to use. Marked as ‘ChemSafe’ vinyl with anti bacterial foam you do feel safer resting your head or feet on it.
Medline also do a mattress extension which is suitable for a King size bed as it measures 76″ wide. The exact width of a king size bed and it extends your mattress by 2 inches. However it wasn’t available on amazon at the time of writing. But you can check on amazon here to see if it’s become available yet.
Make Your Own Mattress Extenders Full Queen
Because mattress extensions aren’t exactly designed with tall people in mind (hospital beds), finding the exact size is extremely difficult. That’s why you are sometimes forced to take matters into your own hands. Make your own!.
Making your own extension for your mattress is not that difficult. Using a bread knife you can create the perfect fitting extension for your mattress. Throw a extra long mattress cover over the foam and you mattress and no one will know the difference.
Because we all have different size beds, some gluing may be required. Again very easy and well worth your trouble. So how do you make your own mattress extender for full queen mattress?.
For A Full Queen Size Mattress
Depending on your bed set up, you can add anything from .5″ to 12″ extra in length if you are creative enough. Foam comes in a variety of thicknesses and sizes. So the options are unlimited.
However, for a queen size bed with minimal cutting required, I like to use this 30″ x 30″ 6″ square block of foam by FoamRush (Made In USA). It’s a medium density of 1.8 with a 44 pound compression. But because it’s 6 inches thick I can wedge it in between the bed head and the mattress perfectly.
A queen mattress is typically 60 inches wide. So you will need to do some cutting and gluing. First measure the depth of your mattress. In the perfect world lets say it is 15″. So cut the 30″ foam block in half with a bread knife. Yes, it’s that easy. Draw a straight line on the foam block if you have to.
Next use some foam lock spray such as 777 (made in the USA) on the 2 sides that need to be glued together. Press firmly on them until they are set.
Now you have a full queen mattress extension that measures 60″ x 15″ x 6″ turning your 80″ bed into a 86″ bed. To make the bed longer, simply buy 2 of these foam squares and repeat the process. Then lastly glue the 2 extenders together for a 60″ x 15″ x 12″ extension to your queen bed. How easy was that!.
The Final Option To Extend Your Mattress
The last option is a mattress wedge or bed block. I think these products are brilliant, regardless of whether you need to extend your bed. Ever since I was teenager I have been loosing my pillow down the gap between the bed frame and mattress or digging my toes in between the foot end and mattress because I was simply too tall for the mattress.
What this mattress wedge does is essentially fills the ever annoying gap between mattress and bed frame. Even after using a bed extender I still like to use the wedge as it’s helps tilt my head up slightly while I lay on my side.
The beauty of these bed wedges are that they come in popular bed sizes: Twin, Queen and King. The foam itself is high density, so it’s not some flimsy bit of foam that won’t support your head. It wedges into place and acts as a head support across the width of your mattress.
All the hard work is done for you with this wedge as it has a washable cover. No need to mess around with bread knives and foam glue (unless you want too). The mattress wedge has got you covered. Whats also a cool feature is the little pockets on the side. This is a great idea for those people that watch TV in bed. Or if you want to keep your cell phone close by while you sleep.
But unfortunately the mattress wedge is not perfect. It does fall down every now and them. However, I’ll take it falling down once every month over every night like a pillow does!. All in all its a great solution to extending your mattress if you’re a tall person and sick of wedging pillows down that gap.