Silk

Silk Many of us have heard of the Silk Road. The name conjures images of adventure, romance, luxury, wealth, conquest and intrigue. It was the route from China to India, Persia, Egypt and Europe by which silk was carried to market. In ancient times, China was known as the Land of Silk. That is where production of silk began some time before 3500 b.c. In fact, our word “silk” came from the Chinese word si. China is still the major producer of silk, producing about 3⅓ times as much as...

Bamboo

Bamboo Bamboo is the only kind of grass listed in tree identification guides. It is the largest and tallest grass, growing to tree-size, and it is woody. Since ancient times in East Asia, bamboo has been an important building material. It has also been used for musical instruments, cooking and eating utensils, hats, mats, ship sails, and many other things, including fabrics. At least 27 manufacturers reviewed on Beds.Org use bamboo, mostly in cover fabrics. Bamboo is touted as a...

Linen

What is linen? Linen is one of the oldest plant fibers used by humans for clothing and bedding. Our word “linen” comes from linon, the Greek word for flax. It is made from fibers in the inner bark of flax stalks. These fibers are separated from the flax by a process called “retting.” In this process, micro-organisms or caustic agents eat away the softer parts. When the retted flax is crushed and washed, the fibers alone are left. The cross-section of linen fibers is irregular....

Wool

[caption id="attachment_471" align="aligncenter" width="640"] "Flock of sheep". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.[/caption] Wool The simplest definition of wool is hair grown by sheep. It now includes hair from several types of goats as well as llamas. Wool is one of the oldest fibers used by humans, and sheep are among the earliest domesticated animals. From the many breeds of sheep come many varieties of wool, offering many choices to mattress manufacturers and their...

Gel

Infusion of bedding foams with gel was first used in Europe, and is now widely used in the United States. Gel infusion was first introduced to modify the support properties of the foam. Later it was promoted as making memory foam cooler. What is gel? Gel can be called a semi-solid. It is both solid and fluid. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry defines it as this: “Gel: Nonfluid colloidal network or polymer network that is expanded throughout its whole volume by a...

Polyurethane Foam

One of the common ingredients in mattresses and upholstered is polyurethane foam. In descriptions of mattresses, it is often called "poly foam." With differing densities, resiliency and other characteristics, it can be a base pad, support core, comfort layer, or quilting foam. It was used before the invention of memory foam, which itself was developed from polyurethane. Polyurethane (PU) foam is made by linking large molecules, usually isocyanates, to each other with modified oil molecules...

Beware of Biased Reviews

by Wesley Vaughn A Bed and Mattress article on Beds.Org discussed the importance of impartial bed and mattress reviews. Finding honest, unbiased, impartial mattress reviews and bed reviews is vital if we use them to determine which bed or mattress to buy. But while looking for impartial reviews, we need to be wary of those which are slanted, especially those which are fraudulent. What is the purpose of a review? A review is usually considered a careful, honest evaluation. Reviews of...

Foundations

Overview Just as a foundation supports a building, so a foundation supports a mattress. When mattresses were first made, they sat directly on the ground or the floor. Sometimes the mattress was set on a raised area, a platform or ledge, which then became the foundation. This helped keep the bed dry and warm. At some point in time, those who could afford it had beds with legs built to hold the bed off the floor with free space underneath. Raised beds are not new. The Old Testament book...

Latex

Latex is used in several ways in mattresses and bedding. It is commonly used in pillows and mattress pads/toppers. It can be found in cover quilting and comfort layers on innerspring mattresses. Even memory foam mattresses may have a latex layer. Then there are latex mattresses, usually a latex comfort section over a base foam support core. Some latex models also have a latex support core, either (mostly) a high-density and high resiliency latex foam or (seldom) a solid block of...

Memory Foam

[caption id="attachment_249" align="aligncenter" width="302"] Hand Impression in Memory Foam[/caption]   Visco-elastic memory foam was developed from polyurethane. It is denser than polyurethane, and is also more sensitive to heat. When someone sits or lies on it, the memory foam becomes softer, allowing the person to sink into it. This way it conforms to a sitter’s or sleeper’s body contours. The memory foam can be formulated to be more or less heat sensitive, therefore...

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