S Y's Profile

I used to work in the mattress industry so I love these discussions.

Why I love it? Because mattresses are one of the most marketable products out there. In the UK on the BBC (national TV station) there was a program about sports products. The program concluded that trainers and their relative price points, functions and features at those price points had absolutely no connection to the benefit obtained by the user (for running). Mattresses are very similar. People have real concerns about sleep quality but little knowledge of what will lead to it. Like with trainers, there are a wide range of materials with limitless combinations. Add to that, sleep quality, like trainer quality can also be largely affected by being sold an idea (like lady earlier on clinging onto the quality of a Hastens bed), mattress quality becomes as much what is marketed as what is real.

For me this is not just an observation but a fact. Scientifically speaking (although by no means claiming this is the way to assess sleep quality!), the best surface is one that optimally supports the body. How can the body be optimally supported? Simple,

1) for a given point on your body, the mattress must be supporting that point without getting affected by supporting another part of the body. The deflection caused by the body on one inch square of the mattress must cause minimal deflection to the mattress outside of that inch square.

2) Taking an inch square again, that space must deflect proportionately to the weight exerted on it.

I do not know of any material that has anything approaching the same performance on these two criteria as latex. If you don't believe me, go to a shop, find a mattress where you can expose the latex block, stick your finger into it and see how much the area around gets deformed. Try that then with other materials. Test also the elasticity. The further you stick your finger in, see how uniformly the resistance from the mattress increases.

Add to this the fact that natural latex will easily last 20+ years without losing elasticity (easily verifiable by checking material science data) and has natural anti-bacterial properties, I am sorry but there is no combination of weird and exotic materials that will even approach the same performance and certainly not over a 20 year period. Other bedding materials, even those used in Hastens simply do not have a lifespan without deterioration in performance for such a long period of time. If you don't believe me, research on physical properties of the materials used in bedding, e.g. PU Foam, Cotton, Wool, Springs... Funny thing, in Switzerland, the most expensive mattress is made with high-tech designed PU foam, but that is the cheapest material and the design will have zero effect on performance or durability.

In the end, if you believe a mattress is great, chances are you will have a lovely night sleep and that is the most important thing. Like for me with trainers, I still cannot believe that the one I found comfortable has no positive effect than a much cheaper one and really, even if I feel comfortable only in my mind running with the trainers, so what? I enjoy my run and that is the goal! I only write this rubbish as I love the contradiction but if you are interested then feel free to try out...