Mattress innovations

Staying with the theme of beds from my last post, some fairly new and almost radical mattress designs have appeared over the last few years. Many of these innovations have come about through the need to come up with better orthopedic mattress beds and the Octafoam model is a prime example.

The Octafoam mattress has a build of memory foam, but the bed is not solid. Rather it has the same composition as a pocket spring mattress, only the springs are formed out of the visco elastic or memory foam.

All told this is quite radical and it compares with the use of gel in the top layer of mattresses by companies like Kaymed. Kaymed specialise in what many would describe as therapy or orthopedic quality beds and they mix memory foam, gel and latex in some of their mattresses.

Even with the apparently straightforward memory foam bed things are not as simple as they first appear. Most beds of this type are not made from a single slab of foam, but rather a series of different foam layers that are bonded together. Each of these layers serves a different purpose and the lower layers are known as base layers or support layers. The high quality memory foam is found at the top level of one of these mattresses.

There is no doubt that bed manufacturers are constantly trying to find the next big thing. They are also more highly motivated by the fact that with the online revolution, it is now as easy for a manufacturer to sell online as it is for a traditional retailer. This means that any innovations, new inventions or industry changing research benefits them more than ever before.

What is next in the mattress world is a matter of speculation. As far as an orthopedic mattress is concerned there is no doubt that the waterbed still offers the closest thing to floating support – ultimately you are floating. Despite this, no mainstream manufacturer seems keen to pursue the waterbed principle as a primary product. No doubt one will at some point and when they do the mattress world will change again.

For now the main beds are springs, be they continuous or pocket, memory foam, be it in layers, slabs or shaped like springs, latex foam, with its cool feel, gel, with an even cooler feel, water, perfect for support, and air, used mainly in hospital applications, or for temporary inflatable put-me-up bed uses.

Then of course there are adjustable and electric beds, but that is moving away from the intrinsic mattress material and into mechanisation and personal customisation. I might write more about that next time.

Bedding, mattresses, associated products, delivery etc

One of the big changes to occur with the online sale of beds is the selling of every conceivable bed related product from the same company on the same website and in the same virtual basket.

When only high street retailers were around the problem was showroom space and storage space, however with an online store the showroom is virtual, limitless and capable of housing an infinitesimal number of items. The result is that valuable space does not need to be reserved for beds and mattresses only.

Virtual stores now sell everything, so beds and mattresses, whilst being the big sellers, are just one product line. This means that headboards and duvets are in the mix (not surprisingly), but so too are chests of drawers, wardrobes, sofa beds, pillows and many other bedroom related products.

The other good thing about this is that next day delivery is offered by many online retailers, but only if you reach a certain spend level. By being able to top up your purchases with sundries like pillows or a bedside cabinet, means that it become easy to reach the threshold of free next day delivery.

Delivery is also a big selling factor with many of the bed retailers who sell online. They tend to have large warehouse complexes that store thousands of beds and bed related items and because they deliver direct this makes the next day delivery option possible.

One downside to the online store is a general lack of up markets mattress products. These stores flourish on selling cheap and budget priced beds and this means that they do not tend to stock too many orthopedic mattresses. Equally, many bed manufacturers do not allow their “top of the range” mattress and bed items to be sold through online shops that have an association with the cheaper end of the market. This means that you can get standard memory foam beds, but finding a multi layer orthopedic memory foam mattress may be more difficult.