Springs and Pocketted Springs

Mattresses can be made in many ways. In this country the two ways most used to make a mattress are by upholstering open coil bonnell springs or by upholstering pocketted spring units.

Open coil bonnell springs still make up the majority of mattresses sold in the UK and can with the right levels of upholstery make a perfectly good mattress that will last with comfort for up to twelve or more years. These springs are of hour glass shape as seen in cartoons joined up into spring units by a twist of wire or helical. These springs give support to one another under pressure, if one is pressed down those springs surrounding it will help bear the load.

When laying on the open coil spring of the correct wire thickness in relation to the weight of the sleeper the spring unit will allow the hips and shoulders of the sleeper to sink in but the springs will remain standing to support the spine and back between the hips and shoulders. You will get support along the length of the back. (see buying hints page) When this spring unit is correctly upholstered it is the upholstery that comforts the body and supports the area in between the shoulder blades.

Cocketts Mattresses use a range of wire thicknesses of spring to cater for differences of height and weight to give the sleeper the best nights sleep possible.

Pocketted Springs are the next largest type of mattress sold in the UK and are used for higher quality mattresses. These springs are barrel like in shape the top an bottom of the spring being narrower than the middle. These springs are then stitched into a series of fabric pockets giving the spring type it's name. A length of these springs looks a little like a string of sausages but joined along the length of the sausage not at the ends. These strings of springs are then formed into spring units. The design of this style of spring means that each spring will act on it's own, it will not get help to support pressure from the neighbouring springs who will be bearing their own load. This is the pocketted spring's advantage and dissadvantage over the open coil bonnell spring.

When laying on the pocket spring as explained above the sleeper should sink into the unit to give support to the length of the spine. However the pocketted sprung unit will also start to comfort the body and support between the shoulder blades without the need of upholstery.

On balance pocketted sprung mattresses are better than open coil but not greatly they are however dearer than open coil spring mattresses.

Foam and Latex

At Cocketts Mattresses as well as making inner spring and pocketted spring mattresses we can make foam, latex, rubberised hair and visco elastic memory foam mattresses.

Foam has long be used for mattresses, cushions and seating. Foam can be cut to any size or shape and to provide good value mattresses and cushions. There are several densities of foam from which we select the correct strength dependant on the usage. If we are making to shape then simply send us a paper template for use to cut to. We can give you a choice of two finishes standard which is the foam covered with fully woven cloth or the extra where we put in an extra layer of upholstery each side and finish by covering and buttoning. This gives a better looking and longer lasting product.

Latex again has been long used for making mattresses, most famously by Dunlopillo. It is very supportive and gives continous support across the back and body. We have the choice to use either the Dunlopillo Brand Latex or a better value standard latex. We then use the latex as the core of the mattress and add other layers of upholstery to your choice, this will then be covered and buttoned.

Memory Foam is also known as visco elastic or viscose elastic foam and is used by tempur-pedic and others. These types of foam were originally developed for NASA and feel strange when compared to other foams or types of mattress but they are good are reducing pressure to the body and although expensive are becoming more popular.

Another product we can use is rubberised hair. This is animal hair that has been coated and set by latex rubber. This makes the horse hair more usable and the latex also gives the hair more spring. This product is often used as a replacement for foam in cot mattresses. Rubberised hair is used as a mattress core but requires additional upholstery to finish the mattress or cushion.

mattress [matress] n. from arabic via french, matelas: a place where something is thrown.