Have you ever stopped and wondered what is inside your mattress? After all, we entrust one-third of our lives to what we sleep on. For most people, the awareness of what they sleep on extends to knowing whether it's a foam mattress or a sprung mattress. Casually mention that they could be sleeping on a mattress filled with cashmere, lambs wool, mohair or Angora goat hair and you may get some very strange looks.
For top mattress and bed manufacturers such as Hypnos and Relyon who respectively claim to make the most comfortable and best beds in the world, the carefully selected fillings, proportionately balanced with the highest standards of pocket-springing, ensure that their seemingly preposterous claims have never been successfully challenged. The combination of deep passion, hard-earned skill, and painstaking craftsmanship in every product is a metaphoric reflection of the right combination of sumptuous upholstery, robust and carefully tempered pocket-springing, and the selection of the most appropriate natural and, when Nature rarely fails, synthetic fillings.
Fillings are chosen for their resilience, durability, flexibility and ability to dissipate body moisture and can be natural, synthetic, or a combination of both.
At the less expensive end of the scale, mattress upholstery comprises layers of prefabricated synthetic pads. At the highest end of the quality-scale we find hand-selected all-natural fillings lovingly hand-teased into place before ending up in the beds of luxury hotels, palaces, homes and other prestigious establishments all around the world.
Even in some of the most comfortable and best mattresses in the World, different types of synthetic fillings and layers may be found. Various kinds of foam, synthetic latex (as opposed to natural Talaly latex), polyester, and synthetic fibre all have their uses to plump out and soften the feel of a mattress. With such products, however, may give rise to or exacerbate heat-retention, chemical odours and other detrimental side-effects. One or two are, however, desirable.
For example, Amicor Pure™ is a combination of anti-bacterial fibre and anti-fungal fibre, exclusive to Relyon beds but copied in others, interwoven either with the ticking or the layer immediately below it. It is designed to prevent the growth of bacteria and dust mites through the removal of the fungi which support their environment. It's a remarkably effective way of combatting what many argue to be the primary source of allergens in beds and mattresses.' something which Mother Nature has yet to match.
To more wholesome matters. Let's take a closer look at some of the natural fillings found in the best mattresses.
Cashmere is historically regarded as the softest of natural hair, coming in a variety of forms. Some say it also has very high heat retention properties (viz its evolution in the cashmere goats' natural habitat and its human popularity in such products as winter warmers and "long-johns"). In mattresses cashmere hair is teased out to form a fine upholstery insulation layer that is soft and warm to lie on. Silk is often combined with cashmere to add strength and resilience to the layer.
Lambswool is another sumptuous element that is primarily used for its soft, luxurious feel. It's a natural insulator, so much so that it helps to keep one warm in winter but feel cooler in summer. It's also excellent at aiding moisture control, as the air trapped in it allows body moisture to evaporate more easily. The highly sought after Merino lambswool is used in some mattresses and is considered by many to be the finest wool available.
Consider the fineness of gauze, the softness of flannelette, the absorbency of terry towelling, the coolness of seersucker and the strength of sailcloth. Such versatility fully explains why cotton is a very popular choice of natural mattress filling. No more need we add!
Picture an Angora goat fast asleep whilst perched precariously on some high and windy rocky outcrop. How does it stay comfortable? The answer lies in its coat of very long soft and silky mohair which provides a resilient cushion twixt rock and skin. In your mattress, it provides a similar durable and sumptuously resilient cushion between the springs and your body, and helps prevent "settlement" of the fillings through continuous use.
Another similarly resilient ingredient is horse hair. Its springiness lasts for so long that it was quite traditional for some families to pass horse-hair mattresses down through generations, simply renewing the "tick" from time to time. The remarkable properties of this amazing product are illustrated in its cost and use in some of the World's finest white horse hair violin bows.
The features of all these fabulous fillings combine to benefit and enhance the quality of your sleep. High quality sleep, of course, enhances your quality of life and, according to current medical research, has major health benefits, too, including some say, improving your memory. The paradox is that by day you may only remember the oblivion of blissful sleep, night after night after night. And the next time you hear the question "what's in a mattress?" you'll know that deep inside the very best and most comfortable ones there's a very large layer of well-being and joie de vivre!
