Love bridges solve my bed problems
23/6/2026
Translation: Elicia Payne
Pictures: Stefanie Lechthaler
I’m fed up of sleeping in the gap between my two mattresses. So, for half a year now I’ve been testing three so-called love bridges – essentially mattress gap fillers. Are they any good? Which ones are you better off avoiding?
What might sound like an adult toy to begin with, is actually a useful product that turns two mattresses into one. The T-shaped gap filler – or love bridge – fills the annoying ditch in the middle and lets me move back and forth in bed without sinking into the gap.
To find out which love bridge could withstand a restless sleeper like me, I slept on three different models for half a year and compared them.
Flipline: the strap-on wedge
First impression: Stylish! The Flipline, including the tension strap, arrives in a bag. This gives me the impression it’s of high quality. Having said that, I can’t see myself stuffing the Flipline back into the bag again.
This love bridge is made mostly of polyester with memory foam effect. When I squeeze it, the material gives slightly before springing back to its original shape. The 18-centimetre-wide contact surface is lightly padded and covered with fabric. This prevents the bed sheet from resting directly on the foam. However you can’t wash it.
To help the mattresses stay together, the Flipline comes with a tension strap, which I first thread through the loops and then wrap around both mattresses. The idea being that the strap presses the two mattresses together so tightly that the wedge is squeezed between them and can no longer be removed. The grooves in the wedge are designed to enhance this effect, like hooks.
In everyday life: I pinned all my hopes on Flipline. Of the three models, this one looked like it was the most well-made. But it didn’t take long before something started getting on my nerves. When I lay on it, it was too hard, despite – or perhaps precisely because of – the memory foam.
Fortunately, though, that changed after a few weeks because the material gets softer. Sleep was more comfortable. But I soon got annoyed again. It was still comfortable to lie down, but the wedge would slip more and more into the gap and stay squeezed in there. Probably because there isn’t much of a contact surface to lie on. Almost every day I would have to fish it out from between the two matrasses.
I feel the same way about the strap. At first, I saw it as a blessing; later, as a burden. I had to tighten it every few weeks to make sure it held the mattresses together properly, and when I changed the sheets, it’d always get in my way.
Rosenkern: short but wide
First impression: Less charming than the Flipline and merely covered in some plastic: that was my first impression of Rosenkern’s mattress gap filler. And there’s not much more to it than that really. The contact surface is 25 centimetres wide and covered with a terry cloth cover made of 75 per cent cotton and 25 per cent polyester. It feels slightly scratchy – not that you lie directly on it anyway. The short wedge part is made of polyester (PU foam). Of the three models, the Rosenkern is the only one that’s washable at 30 degrees.
At first glance, I thought the model was overpriced. The material looks cheap, and the super short wedge problematic – I found it hard to believe that the Rosenkern love bridge will serve its purpose.
In everyday life: I was pleasantly surprised when I tested it. Although I could feel the edges slightly, I didn’t notice them while I was sleeping. Maybe because I had already gotten used to the feeling of a love bridge ever since using the Flipline, or because it feels like an extension of the mattress. I slept on it every day, and never once fell into the gap. The wide contact surface probably distributes my weight more evenly, which is why it doesn’t dip. I didn’t have to pull the material out of the gap in the middle of the night, and I didn’t feel stiff from an uncomfortable sleeping position. Although the Rosenkern started to sag slightly in the middle after a few weeks, it never fully collapsed. I’m impressed!
Softsleep: the cheap underdog
First impression: Softsleep didn’t put any effort into the packaging at all. It lies loose in a cardboard box, without any protective film. So, it’s no coincidence the price tag reflects that.
Even the product material is basic: foam. No textured or velvety surfaces – nothing. Just the bare essentials. This love bridge can be flexibly bent in all directions, and the sleeping surface is 20 centimetres wide. This makes it only slightly wider than the Flipline. The foam isn’t smooth either. It feels like the underside of a mouse pad, that has slight resistance when you run your finger over it. To be honest, the model looks cheap. But it has one advantage over the other wedges – you can cut it to the desired size. However you can’t wash it.
In everyday life: I’m amazed: when I’m lying on the wedge, I simply don’t notice a thing. It’s as if the two mattresses had grown together and it stayed that way for the duration of the test as well. But, if I accidentally kneeled on the foam, it would slide into the gap and I’d have to pull it back out. I need to be more careful with this one than with the others because of the surface friction. Once I got caught on it and it ripped.
The surface friction has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it keeps the love bridge from sinking into the gap; on the other hand, it gets caught on the bedsheet when I change the sheets. Dust is also magically drawn to it. While I tested the other models, this love bridge lost its colour. Instead of being bright white, it turned yellowish as the weeks went by. It’s not particularly pretty, but it’s not that bad under the sheet. I imagine the material could become brittle or damaged over time. And yet it offers good value for money.
Verdict: which one should you choose?
If you have a wide gap between the mattresses, you can rule out the Flipline right away. Although it has the highest-quality finish of all the models tested and is actually well-designed, it will keep slipping into the gap because of its narrow contact surface. The strap also needs tightening regularly. With this in mind, I personally wouldn’t consider Flipline as a long term solution.
As for the other two models, it’ll likely come down to the price. The Rosenkern costs almost three times as much as the Softsleep, but it seems more durable and does the job just fine. The Softsleep, on the other hand, is super discreet under the bedsheet, very comfortable, and can be cut to size. However, I’d need to test it for longer to see just how flexible and durable the material remains over time.
In short, a wide contact surface is a huge plus. It distributes the weight of the person lying on it more evenly than a narrow one, and as a result sinks less into the gap. I’ll find out how the two models perform over the next few years. Until then, I’m happy the gap’s filled and I can enjoy rolling around the entire width of my bed.
Header image: Stefanie Lechthaler
Painting the walls just before handing over the flat? Making your own kimchi? Soldering a broken raclette oven? There's nothing you can't do yourself. Well, perhaps sometimes, but I'll definitely give it a try.
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