Mattress making the odd way

Step One

The Springs

Each and every mattress we make starts with a spring system at its core. Its role is simple – to provide optimum support for your entire body in order that your muscles can relax while you sleep, and you can therefor wake feeling fully rested and ready for the day ahead.

Although we use two types of spring system in our mattresses – the interior spring and the pocket spring, it is the more modern pocket spring which performs this task best. Each spring is 6” (15cm) tall and occupies its own fabric pocket. Being produced in this way means the springs can move independently from one another, moulding themselves to the curves and contours of your body, without falling over inside the mattress. By being able to form around your body in this way a pocket sprung mattress can give the sensation of weightlessness allowing you to drift into restful and relaxing slumber.

Step Two

The Fillings

Our spring systems are sandwiched between deep and luxurious layers of cotton, lambswool, horsehair or cashmere. These fillings work in conjunction with the spring system to create, when lain upon, a sumptuous experience of nightly bliss. It is our view that the fibres that make up these fillings are unrivalled in their ability to contribute to the best possible sleep. Hypoallergenic and heat regulating these natural fillings control your body’s temperature during the night, drawing away moisture and therefore helping keep you cool in the summer and cosy throughout the winter.

Step Three

The Hand Side Stitching

Hand side stitching is one of the most technically difficult and time consuming tasks that is undertaken in the making of our mattresses. This process sees a 10″ long, double ended needle used to pass thread back and forth through the mattress in order to bind the mattress’s side to the pocket spring system. In doing so a more supportive mattress edge is created allowing the entire top surface of the mattress to offer the same level of support no matter where you lie.

How time consuming I hear you ask? A standard King size mattress with two rows of side stitching can take upwards of three hours to complete, with a single thread, some 14 metres long, being used to go around the entire bed.

Step Four

The Tufting

The final step in the crafting of your mattress is tufting. Tufts are not there merely for decoration, although they do give the surface of the mattress a subtle undulating appearance. Instead they play an important role keeping your fillings in place, preventing them from moving as you naturally alter your sleeping position throughout the course of a night.

Using a tufting press the mattress is squeezed by two large panels which are placed either side of the mattress. A needle and thread with the tuft attached are then carefully passed though the mattress at specified points. Once the needle and thread appear on the other side of the mattress a second tuft is attached. This process is repeated 40 or more times until the surface of the mattress has been adequately tufted. As the press is slowly released these threads tighten creating a dimpled surface to each side of the mattress which not only looks visually appealing but indicates that the natural fillings are being held securely in place.