Don’t get done, get sprung with our guide to all things mattress springs.
A mattress is just a mattress, right? Wrong. There are a number of minute factors that can determine the type, comfort and quality of your mattress, one of the key elements being the type of springs used inside.
The foundation of a satisfying night’s sleep, we’re peeling back the layers to uncover the past, present and future of luxury mattresses.
The birth of sprung mattresses
First developed in the 15th century, coil spring mattresses really took off in the 1800s thanks in no small part to former Heal’s director John Harris Heal. Patented in 1860, his Sommier Elastique Portatif sprung mattress was a hinged design that could be folded into three parts and proved so popular that it stayed in production for over a century.
Innovative in their day, coil mattresses marked a major step forward from straw or even feather filled beds. Yet fast forward over 150 years and the basic design remains the same with two main types to choose from:
Continuous coil mattress: made from a single piece of wire that is looped into shape
Open coil mattress: contains a number of single springs held together by a wire frame
Find out more about Heal’s Heritage
Don’t be foiled by coils
The saying goes that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Yet when it comes to coil mattresses, this is one design that has definitely outstayed its welcome.
Being a mass-manufactured design, it’s no surprise that coil spring mattresses took off during the industrial revolution and likewise became increasingly cheaper both in terms of their production and quality.
The fundamental problem with these mattresses is that the springs move as one unit. This is quite literally a nightmare for those who share a bed with a partner as you’re more likely to be disturbed by their movements during the night and the coils tend to wear out more quickly meaning you will start rolling together.
Due to the inexpensive nature of coil mattresses, often they are filled with equally poor materials. Natural fillings are preferable as they provide superior long lasting support, such as horse hair which provides added bounce, and are more breathable meaning you won’t overheat during the night.
Read our guide to getting the perfect night’s sleep
The power of pocket sprung
Of course, you’d think with so many drawbacks someone would have come up with a solution sooner. Well in 1900 English born engineer James Marshall did just that by creating the world’s first pocket sprung mattress.
A true revolution in terms of comfort and support, pocket sprung mattresses contain a number of individual springs, each of which is fine tuned to a specific tension (this will depend on the specific mattress) and encased within individual fabric pockets – hence the name pocket sprung.
Key to pocket sprung design is that each spring is able to move independently from one another ensuring more evenly distributed support across the body. This also means less disturbance from a partner when they move with the difference between each of our counteracted by the separate supportive springs.
See how our Pocket Sprung Mattresses compare
We rest our case
Given the weight of evidence listed above, you won’t be surprised to hear that Heal’s did away with Victorian designed coil springs long ago replacing them with modern pocket sprung or latex and memory foam ranges. Handmade in the UK, all of our mattresses are filled with only the finest fillings to provide a supportive, temperature regulating and entirely sustainable sleep.
So if you’re on lookout for a new mattress, remember to avoid the dreaded coil springs by heading over to Heal’s to see how our luxury mattresses compare.