A Brief
History of the Mattress
Since 9500 B.C., humans have
been finding and trying different ways to get a good night’s sleep. Raising
piles of leaves, grass or straw and covering them with animal skin avoided
drafts, dirt and pests during the Neolithic period. Over the years, different
materials were used:
• goatskin filled with water
• palm boughs
• cloth bags stuffed with
hay, wool, or reeds; feathers for the wealthy
• pea shucks, straw, or
sometimes feathers covered with velvet
During the 16th and 17th
centuries, it became more common to place a mattress on a frame, and mattress
covers made of quality cotton or linen were becoming more popular. Different
fibers were used to stuff the mattresses, including cotton, wool, horsehair and
coconut fiber. The mattress was then buttoned to attach the inner stuffing to
the top and bottom of the cover, and sewn around the edges. Traditionally
the working class slept on straw mattress, while the middle class made “flock
mattresses” out of the residue wool. It was the wealthier people
that were fortunate to sleep on wool or cotton mattress and the
very privileged were able to sleep on featherbeds.
For more information:
http://www.novosbed.com/a-brief-history-of-the-mattress/
Benefits of a Wool Mattress
There are many reasons to
select a wool mattress over other mattresses. These may include, but are not
limited to, the following:
* A wool mattress is mold
and mildew resistant. Because wool mattress is a by-product of a natural fiber,
the moisture can move across the fibers without the need of the wool to retain
them. As a result, molds and mildews have no chance of growing in a dry
environment.
* Wool mattresses are also
known to have the capability of regulating the temperature. Whether it is
winter or summer, you would have a good night sleep because your wool mattress
stabilizes the heat or cold temperature.
· If you have health problems, such as arthritis,
injuries and other musculoskeletal conditions, then you will greatly benefit
from using a wool mattress. It has been known among healthcare providers that a
wool mattress helps to alleviate the comfort of patients in the hospitals.
Wool Mattress Care
Back in 1968, Mary Fletcher
bought a mattress in Italy and forty-five years later, she still sleeps on it,
“the most divinely comfortable mattress I have ever slept on”. And with the
correct use it can last 45 years more! In the 1980' s she moved to the UK and
could not find anyone to recard the wool in her mattress. In Italy, there was a
man called the “cardatore” who would come thorugh town every summer with this
purpose. Mary´s mattress was getting thinner and thinner…and she began to
despair that she wouldn’t be able to continue using it. Finally she found
Rhiannon Rowley of Abaca Organic, who makes mattresses in Wales, from organic
British wool. (abacaorganic.co.uk). Rihannon had never made a 100% wool
mattress but took this chance as a learning experience to enhance her business.
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| Mary Fletcher's wool mattress |
Things to bear in mind in
order to keep your mattress in shape:
The mattress should be aired
regularly as the wool needs a constat airflow to maintain it's properties.
Once a year it should
be revitalized by exposure in the sun.
Every 10 years it should be
opened and the wool must be recarded so that it recuperates its volumen and
spring.
Avoid sitting on its edges.
· Protect your wool mattress from water, coffee or
tea spills, using mattress protector pads and sheets.