SleepTech Magazine / May - June 2017

78
Mattresses may consist of a
quilted or similarly fastened
case, usually of heavy cloth,
that contains hair, straw,
cotton, foam rubber, etc., or
a framework of metal springs.
Mattresses may also be filled
with air or water. Mattresses
are made up of a variety of
mattress components. And the
quality of each one of those
mattress components has an
important impact on the total
quality of a mattress. Many
parameters such as pressure
distribution, skin microclimate,
hygiene, edge support,
and long-term stability and
durability determine mattress
quality.
Early mattresses contained
a variety of natural materials
including straw, feathers or
horsehair. In the first half of
the 20th century, a typical
mattress sold in North America
had an innerspring core
and cotton batting or fiberfill.
Modern mattresses usually
contain either an innerspring
core or materials such as latex,
viscoelastic or other flexible
polyurethane foams. Other filling
components include insulator
pads over the coils that
prevent the bed’s upholstery
layers from cupping down into
the innerspring, as well as
polyester fiberfill in the bed’s
top upholstery layers. In 1899
James Marshall introduced