Mattress FAQ

Mattress Education

Have you ever gone into a mattress store and left totally confused? Do all mattresses look alike to you? Does comparing mattresses make you crazy?

If you can answer YES to any of these questions, keep reading and we’ll teach you everything you need to know!

Mattress retailers want to keep you in the dark when it comes to comparing mattresses. Why? Because most manufacturers build the identical product, use different coverings and call them different names – then sell the same mattresses to many different retailers. This makes it impossible to cross shop.

At Majestic Mattress, we’ll show you what’s inside and teach you how to cross compare. Can’t find your answer here? Please contact us today! We are happy to help.

How Do I Shop for a Mattress?

Customers are very intimidated when shopping for a mattress. Different retail stores can be selling the same mattresses only disguising them by changing names and covers. The prices can vary by hundreds of dollars! If a mattress retailer cannot show you a cutaway of each mattress they offer, you should be on guard!

The only way you can compare mattresses or price shop is:

Ask the salesperson what the composition of the mattress is. Namely, what type of innerspring core is used, how many coil springs are inside, ask about the edge support system in the mattress and what are the comfort layers that separate the sleeper from the coil spring. If the salesperson cannot provide you with specific details in the composition of the mattress, you should consider shopping at another store!
What type of foundation supports the mattress?
Disregard model names and brand names as they are often there to confuse you.
Is it comfortable?
Make your decision.

What Questions Should I Ask?

Now that you have the basis of how a mattress is built, you can now cross compare any product from any store! Put aside the label and look inside – this is how you compare. How many coils? Are there 360, 520, 800 ??? What type of coil does the mattress use? How many layers of padding and of what type? These are the questions that must be asked when shopping for a mattress.

The sales person that doesn’t know the answers to these questions or does not want to tell you or write them down is not working for you!

What’s Better?

We now know what’s inside but what is good, bad or better?

The most important thing to remember is you must be comfortable. Then, once you have narrowed that down, compare how the different choices are made. Look for something with a higher coil count – 660 to 800 coils, an adequate amount of padding on top of the coils and a generous quilt. You can also justify an increase in price depending on the quality of foam used – standard polyurethane, memory foam or latex – and the density of foam.

What’s a Sleep Guarantee?

A sleep guarantee assures you that you made the right purchase decision. Usually, the sleep guarantee will offer an exchange or money back after a certain period of time if you realize that the mattress you purchased is not right for you. Always check this policy and it’s restrictions before making your purchase – you may be stuck with something you don’t want.

Mattress Sizes

What’s a Quilt?

To finish the mattress, a quilted cover is added that is comprised of additional foam layers and bed pillow fibre. How this quilt is attached to the body of the mattress determines whether it is a pillow top finish, tight top of euro top.

What’s a Tight Top?

A tight top finish is where the quilt is attached directly to the side wall border of the mattress. This finish produces a slightly firmer feel to the mattress.

What’s a Pillow Top?

A pillow top is a finish or style of mattress. When the quilt is attached to the mattress by a ‘V’ shaped gusset, a pillow top finish is created.

What’s a Euro Top?

A euro top, like the pillow top, is another finish style. The euro top will have a square finish – like a mini mattress on top of a mattress. A euro top is generally thicker than a pillow top.

What’s A Bonnell Coil?

Inner-spring cores can be of four types. The oldest and most common is the Bonnell coil. This is an hour glass shaped coil that was first developed over 100 years ago. The work horse of the industry, you’ll find this core in basic entry level beds. This “stem cell” spring was the precursor to the more advanced hybrid coils discussed below.

What’s an Open End Offset Coil?

The bonnell coil was re-invented into the open end offset coil. This coil, although similar to the bonnell, has a straight profile – not hour glass shaped. The offset coil is also open ended which means the coil ends are not pig tailed into the first turn of the spring. This allows a quicker production time when making the coil – there’s one less step. The offset coil has a broad range in coil counts from low to high.

What’s a Continuous Coil?

With the introduction of computers, the coil spring once again went through a renaissance. The continuous coil was born. This coil is a computer engineered coil that takes one continuous strand of wire and spins a long continuous coil that runs from head to toe. Each row is one continuous coil and each mattress spring will have many continuous coil rows. Although it is hard to determine just how many coils are in a continuous coil spring core, a comparative measure is used to equate it to the offset coil count.

What’s a Pocket Coil?

While computers and engineers were trying to re-invent the coil, a man named Marshall was busy designing his own version of a coil spring. His system employed a straight walled spring encased in a cotton bag. This system eventually became known as the pocket coil spring. For many years, this coil was patented for exclusive use but in recent years, this patent has expired and it is now available to all mattress manufacturers. It’s the most expensive of all spring cores but it’s worth it!

Why is a Pocket Coil Better?

The majority of Majestic Mattress Manufacturing’s beds use the pocket coil system, which we believe to be a superior product. The pocket coil spring is a softer spring which gently contours to your body shape while providing unparalleled support. Pocket coil is designed to allow the coils to operate independently from one another, thus drastically reducing any shock waves throughout the mattress. In other words, a restless sleeper is less likely to disturb his or her partner on a pocketed coil mattress. The pocket coil spring is the only coil that a person can spend the night on without any additional padding layers and still have a comfortable nights sleep! They are very forgiving for pressure points and will help side sleepers with hip or shoulder issues.

What’s On Top of the Spring?

On top of the spring core, comfort layers made of polyurethane foam, latex foam, memory foam or cotton will be added. The different combinations and amounts of these layers ultimately determine the firmness and thickness of the mattress.

What’s Foam Density?

Foam density is a measure of the quality of the foam – NOT it’s firmness. Polyurethane foam is usually between 1.0 – 3.0 pounds per cubic foot where 1.0 is an economy quality and 3.0 is a premium quality. A 3.0 lb foam can last up to 10 years where a 1.0 lb may not even last a year!

What’s Memory Foam?

Memory foam or visco-elastic foam is a polyurethane foam developed by NASA to reduce pressure points. Memory foam is pressure and heat sensitive. As the foam warms up from your body heat, it softens and contours to your body’s shape.

What’s Latex?

Latex is actually made from the sap of the tropical “rubber tree”, also called rubber serum. When converted into a layering material, it creates a very nice eco-friendly environment for sleep. Latex has been an integral part of our life since the 1920’s. Latex is present in many consumer products we use everyday, such as the paint on our walls, the tires we ride on, the balls and balloons our children play with and, yes, the mattresses and pillows on which we lay. The word “latex” literally means polymers suspended in water.

What About Latex Allergies?

In the late 1990’s, latex allergies became a topic of concern for many people. Much has been publicized about anaphylactic shock, an allergic reaction that affects a very small portion of the public exposed to a protein found in natural rubber latex. These issues can be confusing and it is important to become aware as we educate ourselves regarding the facts of latex.

The word “latex” literally means polymers suspended in water. These polymers take many forms, most of which are synthetic polymers. Synthetic polymers do not stimulate an allergic reaction. It is only proteins contained in natural rubber latex that can cause a reaction. There have been over 250 individual proteins found in natural rubber sap. Some of these proteins can produce allergic reactions, most of which take the form of simple skin rashes, in a very small number of people.

Since the late 1980’s, the use of natural latex has grown dramatically. This growth is especially visible in the healthcare industry due to latex’s effectiveness as a disease-protecting devise. Natural latex gloves are an example of these protective devices. This increase in usage is posing a problem to workers in the healthcare field whose risk increased due to higher direct skin exposure to the proteins found in natural latex. These products are made using a dipped vulcanization process, which is different from the process used in the creation of latex mattresses. These medical products are often produced in third world countries that do not have strict GMP manufacturing codes used in North America.

All of Majestic Mattress’s Talalay Latex cores and pillows undergo a five stage washing process to prevent this allergic reaction from occurring. Unlike dipped products, the openness of the latex foam’s cells allow thorough washing. This unique washing process removes the vast majority of proteins while enhancing the quality of the overall product.

The FDA monitors complaints for allergic reactions to natural rubber latex. To our knowledge, there has never been a single complaint in the past 50 years stemming from the natural rubber found in mattresses and pillows! Latex mattresses and pillows are resistant to dust mites and are naturally resistant to mold and mildew which are contributors to asthma and pulmonary function allergies.

In short, latex allergies are concerning. Fortunately, these allergies can be prevented through proper formulation and processing. No one can say that there will never be a reaction to Majestic’s Talalay products, but to date there has never been a reported problem. We must recognize the long, long track record of safety with latex. We paint our walls, we wear it on our clothes, we use it in our businesses and most importantly, we get the best night’s sleep because of latex!

What’s Talalay Talatech Latex?

Talalay is actually a process where the sap of the tropical rubber tree is combined with synthetic latex, soaps and rubber curing agents, in a temperature controlled environment. This compound is then poured into molds, flash frozen to ensure consistency and then heat cured. To finish the process the core is then washed and dried.

Talatech is the name of the foam that is a mixture of synthetic and natural latex product.

The Talatech (Talalay) Latex foam, Majestic Mattress carries, has been certified by Shirley Technologies Ltd. to be Oeko-Tex Standard 100 to contain no harmful substances.

The manufacturer’s warranty on Talalay Talatech Latex is 15 Years.

What’s Talalay Talatech Natural?

The Talalay process provides a more consistent foam core. The Natural Talalay is produced with a proprietary compound ix and includes raw materials, such as natural rubber latex, natural fatty acid soaps, natural reinforcing agent and curing agents which are needed for the foaming and vulcanization of Latex foam.

100% Natural Talalay Latex Rubber Foam is certified by Oeko-Tex standard 100, product class II, to contain no harmful substances.

No man-made or synthetic latex is found in the 100% natural Talalay Latex Rubber foam formula.

The manufacturer’s warranty on Talalay Natural Latex is 10 Years.

What is Dunlop Latex?

Dunlop refers to the traditional method of latex manufacturing which has been used since 1929. The latex sap is whipped into a froth, poured into a mold, covered and steam baked. The natural sediments in the mixture tend to settle on the bottom of the mold, which makes Dunlop slightly firmer on the bottom side.

Where we get our Dunlop latex?

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What is GOLS Certified Organic Dunlop?

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What is the difference between Talalay Latex and Dunlop Latex?

Both are different methods for preparing latex, not different “types“ of latex. In other words, you can take the same source of latex and produce either Dunlop or Talalay Latex from that source, depending on the method. Talalay is a newer method of preparing latex, which adds 2 additional steps to the process. The latex is whipped into a froth, injected into an aluminum pin-core mold, and is then vacuum sealed. The latex mold is then flash-frozen, which prevents the particles from settling and results in a more consistent cell structure. The latex foam is then baked to cure the foam.

It is a more expensive production method, but generally results in a softer feel than Dunlop.

A common misconception is that Dunlop is the ‘natural’ latex, and ‘talalay’ is synthetic latex. Not entirely true, because both methods can be either 100% naturally derived, a blend of natural and synthetic materials, or all synthetic (a man-made copy of natural latex.)

Which is better- Dunlop or Talalay Latex?

The reality is that neither is superior to the other. They’re just different methods.

Dunlop tends to be denser, which makes it slightly firmer than Talalay. Talalay creates a more pillowy-soft feel. Both are great and work very well, and tend to work very well together, such as when using a bottom Dunlop layer and a Talalay top layer or vice versa.

The important thing to remember is that latex is a great natural material, and harvesting the sap does not harm the tree. After the serum is collected, the trees bark heals very quickly, and the trees can yield latex for up to 30 years. In order to appreciate the value of latex, it is important to understand that each rubber tree weeps 15 grams of latex daily. The core of a queen size latex mattress requires the daily output of 2500 trees that spread over 12 acres of rubber plantation. These rubber trees account for the removal of 143 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide from the environment over one year.

Latex is also naturally biodegradable, and considering that, a latex bed will still last longer than virtually any conventional mattress without losing their shape and resilience.

What are the Holes for?

The pin holes are created in the manufacturing process to create an aerated cell structure and provide breathability through air circulation.

What are the Benefits of Latex Foam?

Naturally conforms to the body’s contours for optimal support and relief from pressure points.
Latex is long lasting foam and body impressions are minimal.
Low maintenance as it does not require turning or flipping.
It is inherently antimicrobial, inhibiting the growth of bacteria, mold and mildew as well as being hypoallergenic.
Dust mite resistant.
It is a highly resilient product with superior comfort and a long life!

How do I determine Firmness?

Most latex mattresses are measured by ILD (Indention Load Deflection), what is really “compression”. The higher the number, the firmer the latex will feel when you lay on it.

Available in all sizes, however, the king size may require a glue join. Custom sizes also available as well as cut to size pieces.

Talatech/Talalay Latex

ILD or Compression	Firmness	Remarks
15/19	Very Soft	Excellent for toppers, all sizes
25	Soft	A bit firmer topper, can also be used for upholstery
28	Medium Soft	A soft mattress at 6” as well as a soft upholstery cushion or back
36	Medium	Medium Mattress at 6”
44	Firm	Excellent as a Firm Mattress

100% Natural Talalay Latex

Product No.	ILD or Compression	Firmness
N2	20-24	Soft
N4	30-35	Medium
N6	44-48	Firm

Why’s My Bed Frame Important?

Your bed frame is the support mechanism for your sleep set. It provides the necessary support to the cross members of your box foundation and will maintain a level base for your mattress. The proper bed frame must be used for the size of sleep set you are purchasing otherwise your warranty may be void.

Why Should I Use a Mattress Pad?

A mattress pad keeps your mattress clean and reduces dust and skin cells from entering your mattress. A Sentinal or Guardian mattress pad can prevent liquids and perspiration from entering your mattress maintaining a clean, soil free mattress. Any mattress that is dirty or soiled will have it’s warranty voided. Protect your investment.

Does my Mattress come with a Warranty?

Yes! Every mattress purchased from Majestic Mattress comes with our Manufactures warranty.

What Happens if the Mattress Cannot be Repaired?

In the unlikely event that you have received a product that can not be repaired during the warranty period, we may, at our option, replace your product with a product of equal or greater value. This option will always be discussed with you before this decision is made.

Can I Return my Mattress if I am not Satisfied?

If for any reason, within the first seven (7) days of your stock item purchase, you wish to return your Majestic Mattress product, we will refund your money in full! All returns must be in clean, undamaged condition – just as you received the product. We’re so confident of your satisfaction, we print this policy on every invoice! Special orders and custom sizes are not returnable as they have been made to your specifications.

Can’t find your answer here? Please contact us today! We are happy to help.