Glossary

• Breathability

  Mattresses need to breathe. With the amount of fillings and areas of space within a mattress, they can quickly hold heat and moisture. Over time this can influence the way a mattress behaves and also effect the life span of a mattress. 
  
  Manufacturers have developed different ways of tackling the problem of Breathability in mattresses. Some brands have used vents to allow air to pass through the mattress. Some brands use state-of-the-art materials to cover the mattress, such as Coolmax or Outlast. Memory Foam has a reputation of storing heat and moisture, as foam requires heat to soften up.Memory Foam brands have overcome this problem by applying Coolmax and Outlast, they also use Open Cell technology. This technique is to simply allow the foam to settle with larger spaces between the foam cells. This allows heat and moisture to move freely without getting trapped.
  
  Some mattresses are created in such a way that they do not require any additional Breathability methods. These mattresses are generally the entry level mattresses with Open Coil spring units and not a great deal of fillings.
  
  

• Fibre Most mattresses will have layers of fillings under the surface to increase comfort and separate the spring units from the surface. The most common fillings used in mattresses are cotton, wool and polyester among others. Mattresses require fillings to create a soft surface tension on which to sleep. The fillings normally compliment the internal spring unit by adding comfort to the support offered (by the spring unit) The tension of the surface fillings can be tuned by the density in which they are packed as well as by the method in which they are bound together. Tufting results in a slightly firmer feel than quilting.
• Pocket Sprung

  Pocket Sprung units are an adaption of the traditional open coil/continuous spring unit. By placing each spring in its own individual 'pocket' (a fabric sock-like pouch), the spring is not joined to any other part of the mattress. The pocket that supports the spring is then joined to its neighbouring pockets and this effect creates a unique feel.
  
  By creating a spring unit in this way, it allows the springs to move independently, rather than sharing the pressure with surrounding springs. This effect allows for much more accurate contour following and a more comfortable feel overall.
  
  If you were to push your hand into a traditionally sprung mattress, the area around your hand would dip/sink too. With Pocket Springs, this sunken area is much more remote and therefore more accurately follows the contours of the pressure source. There are differences in the techniques used to create Pocket Springs, but more or less they remain the same.

• Turn / No Turn

  Some mattresses require turning over, to aid even settlement. Others do not require turning, but will still require rotating.

• Tufts

  This is the dimple like way of binding the various layers of the mattress together. A cord is fasted from the bottom of the mattress to the top, and held tightly in place.