Returning crusaders brought with them cushions which they threw on the floor and slept on. A novel idea in medieval Europe, but it soon caught on and Europeans absorbed enough Aramaic to put together the word we still use today – mattress
.
‘Mattress’ has been in our vocabulary for almost one thousand years and the image of it is nearly universally understood, yet most consumers have no idea what goes into them. Without this knowledge of material and function, it is impossible to make an informed buying decision.
In the beginning, Europeans stuffed mattresses with natural materials such as straw and feathers. As time went by and technology changed, mattress interiors became more synthetically complex. Today, we use things such as latex, viscoelastic, or other polyurethane-type foams to compliment or replace innerspring cores.
Although water and air mattresses
have evolved over time, it’s pretty well a no-brainer as to what they contain, so the following breakdown will be of a conventional mattress:
Anatomy of a mattress
Ticking
– This is the layer that you actually see. Generally ticking is made from polyester or cotton-polyester and is stitched to the top padding in that familar criss-cross pattern. Ticking can vary in ’softness’. The tighter its stitching pattern, the firmer it is.
Quilt Package – This is what gives the ticking its pillowy bounce. Quilt packages are commonly made from polyurethane foam. With some mattresses, manufacturers add polyester batting. Don’t let thickness fool you, anything more than an inch could result in your quilt package developing those unsightly and uncomfortable sag points.
Padding – This separates the springs from the ticking. Consumer Reports recommends that you search out mattress padding made from latex and/or visco-elastic (known to you and me as ‘memory foam’). Latex’s pillowy firmness and ability to bounce back combined with memory foam’s ability to shape to your body helps to increase movement isolation. ‘Movement Isolation’ is a fancy phrase. Basically, the better the movement isolation of a mattress, the better chance you have of getting out of bed without waking your partner.
Coils – These give your mattress its real support. From their position beneath the padding, they determine how firm your mattress is. Manufacturers attempt to tell potential customers that their coil system is vastly superior to their competitors, but among the most popular types used, all were found capable of providing the same degree of support. The real difference between coils is their guage. The thicker the spring, the stiffer it is. This, of course, relates directly to the firmness of the mattress.
Extra Support – Some mattresses are given a little more than others. Such support might include specific areas packed with more springs, stiff foam reinforcing the edges, stiff foam laced between the coils and increased thickness of the springs.
Foundation – This keeps your mattress from rolling together like a hammock. Its sole purpose is support and therefore has no spring. Rather ironic that it is referred to as a ‘box spring’. The only real difference in foundations, is their height. Something you may want to consider, if you’re thinking of purchasing a thicker-than-standard mattress.
So now that you know what’s inside of it and underneath it, you’ll enjoy yourself more when you’re on top of it.
