Benefits of a Cotton Mattress

Have you ever stopped to think about what’s in your bed? It seems like something we should care about, seeing as how we spend a good portion of our lives lying directly on top of it. We all want to know that we are getting the best sleep possible and that can really be affected by the material in our beds.

Cotton was the number one ingredient used for mattresses up until about 30 years ago when companies started filling their beds with foam. Foam is cheap, it breaks down fast and it’s not natural at all. Cotton is durable, breathable and natural. So let’s delve into the differences and see why you should have cotton in your bed.

Durability

All natural, unbleached long staple cotton is the most durable material you can use when building a mattress, take a look at most high-end mattresses ($10,000+) and you will see cotton is in almost all of them. In our beds, cotton is compressed, and tufted, which makes it even more durable and long-lasting, so you don’t have to buy a new mattress every 5 – 8 years, you can have a good quality bed that lasts 15+.

Foam, on the other hand, was introduced to increase margins and drive sales. Foam is cheap and so the manufacturers replaced their cotton, but still charged cotton prices, giving them more profit. That doesn’t seem fair! Foam also breaks down a lot faster, forcing customers to buy a new bed a lot sooner than they would with a cotton bed.

Breathability

If it’s hot, sleep is no fun, and if your bed it contributing to this problem, it could be affecting your health. Foam and memory foam specifically retain your body heat, that’s how they form to your body. This causes your baseline body temperature to rise over the course of the night, causing you to toss and turn, and maybe even wake up multiple times.

The industry has tried gel foams, phase change technology, and a slew of other “solutions” to fix this, but the easiest way is cotton. Cotton is very breathable, which is why it’s used for clothing, sheets, and mattresses. Cotton Incorporated, the people behind “The Fabric of Our Lives” even have a hashtag #CoolerinCotton.

“Natural fibres, such as horsehair, flax, wool, cotton and down are best if you get hot at night. Synthetic memory foam can become hot and may not absorb moisture efficiently so look for products that combat this if it’s an issue.” UK Sleep Council

Natural

Cotton is Natural, period. And the US is one of the top three producers which means we can source all of our materials right from home. Natural means a safer sleep as well, no chemicals, no off-gassing, no petroleum-based product making you sick. All those things are front and center when you sleep on polyurethane foams. I do want to give a shout out to Latex though, it is the only natural foam available and just like cotton, it is a wonder to sleep on.  Maybe we’ll cover Latex next time.

So, let’s review, Cotton is long lasting, adding value to your purchase and extending the life expectancy. It is breathable, keeping your body at its natural temperature, aiding in a more restful sleep, and keeping allergens away from you. It’s Natural, cutting out all the chemicals, off-gassing and ickiness of synthetic foams. Oh, and it’s value blows away the competition.

To learn more about cotton, it’s benefits and how we use it, stop into one of our showrooms and we’ll show you exactly how we build our beds and why we love cotton! You can also check out: https://thefabricofourlives.com/learn-about-cotton/the-benefits-of-cotton for some more reasons why cotton is just the best.