European sleep works + featherbed

Mattress Talk Additional Components & Accessories
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Have been going down the mattress buying rabbit hole and finally settled on the european sleep works alpine hdm. however i was planning to pair it with a featherbed (from john lewis). the mattress itself is on the firmer side of what i’d tend to go for, though within my comfort range, and i’m not planning on getting a pillowtop.

has anyone tried a similar combo? adequate support is definitely a priority for me.

@EuropeanSleep

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Thanks so much for getting a mattress—really appreciate it!

As for the featherbed, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Featherbeds can vary quite a bit in both quality and construction (John Lewis is usually decent to good), so performance really depends on the specific build.

Generally, a box-quilted featherbed with a denser fill is more likely to add comfort and provide a touch of pressure relief. In contrast, ones with a looser fill or channel quilting tend to shift around and are less likely to be helpful.

Potential pros:

  • A firmer, box-quilted featherbed can add softness and improve surface feel.

Potential cons:

  • The woven cover of the featherbed might add surface tension, which can reduce the benefits of the mattress’s stretch-knit surface.
  • Feathers can compress fully under the hips and shoulders, potentially feeling just as firm (or firmer) than the mattress underneath.
  • They also tend to feel more humid, which can negate the breathable benefits of the wool layer in your mattress.

If you already have the featherbed, it’s definitely worth trying it out—just keep in mind that the mattress itself will take about a month to break in, and will feel firmer at first compared to a demo model.

If you didn’t already have one, I’d probably recommend skipping it, based on experience. And just a reminder—the stretch-knit washable cover that comes with the mattress is a key component, especially if you’re at all sensitive to surface firmness.

Hope that helps (and doesn’t just make things more confusing, ha)!
Cheers!

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Side-note of no importance! The microcoils in the Alpine HDM are the same as the Harrison Spinks mattresses at John Lewis. :slight_smile:

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