Got any advice on horse hair beds and toppers?

I slept on a horse hair mattress at a guest room in the early 1980’s. It was fantastic and obviously I hadn’t slept on a mattress to compare.
Were horse hair mattresses ever made in the United States or imported from Europe?
Now is my time to replace the Aero air bed for a real deal. I’ve thought of the horse hair bed from memory of how well I slept on it. I need support for the lower back area.
Springy beds that bounce and Airbeds are off my list.
Do you have suggestions or advice?
Is there any bed out there that has the durability and quality as the horse hair mattress/bed?
Thank you

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Hi Maxie,

[quote]Were horse hair mattresses ever made in the United States or imported from Europe?
Now is my time to replace the Aero air bed for a real deal. I’ve thought of the horse hair bed from memory of how well I slept on it. I need support for the lower back area.
Springy beds that bounce and Airbeds are off my list.
Do you have suggestions or advice?
Is there any bed out there that has the durability and quality as the horse hair mattress/bed?[/quote]

Horsehair is a high quality and costly natural fiber that has similar properties to wool except to a greater degree. Like wool it has great ventilation and has great temperature regulating properties because of its ability to store moisture inside the fiber and away from the skin to maintain a drier and more temperature regulating microclimate and sleeping surface. It is also more resilient and “springy” than wool. It is a very high quality material that isn’t often seen any more in today’s market outside of more premium mattresses because of its higher cost (see one of the VI Spring mattresses here for an example).

While you won’t likely find a mattress that only uses horsehair because it’s generally just one of the materials in a mattress … some manufacturers that still make mattresses that contain horsehair are listed in my previous rely to you in another topic in post #9 here although you will find that mattresses that use horsehair are generally in more premium budget ranges.

There are certainly other materials that are very durable (including latex, higher density memory foam or polyfoam, other natural fibers such as wool, buckling column gel, good quality innersprings and others). I would also keep in mind that while a particular mattress that uses horsehair may be a great “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) … another one that uses it may be completely unsuitable for you to sleep on depending on all the other materials and components in the mattress and how well the mattress “as a whole” matches your specific needs and preferences. It’s also possible that none of the horsehair mattresses that you may consider will “match” the horsehair mattress you remember either because human memory for more subjective things such as “feel” is very short term or because the mattress may be a completely different design even if the materials are similar.

Phoenix

Well there are some US manufacturers still making them, or at least hand making mattresses in which horse hair is a major component. But my understanding is that they cost a very pretty penny. I also don’t quite understand the appeal, but I can certainly appreciate anything still built in the USA today utilizing Old World techniques. There are very few examples still left.

By the way, check out saviorbeds.us. I absolutely love the craftsmanship and would love to visit their store/factory. But rumor has it one of their beds is selling for $50,000.

Can you say “horsehair” . . .

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Thank you very much for the information on the horse hair beds. Trying to be realistic and sensible, it seems to be logical to get the high end bed that will maintain its quality than to replace a medium range mattress every 5 to 10 years.
Is there anyone on the forum that have purchased the Hastens, Savior or other companies known for quality horse hair beds? I’d like to know your personal experiences with these beds.
Thank you again for this wonderful website and forum.
I’ll keep in touch till I make the final decision and there after.
from Colorado.

Well, as an aside, are you aware of the durability of latex beds? Some of these latex beds carry 30-year non-prorated warranties on the latex that guarantee no depressions greater than 1" for that period. 20 years is also common. It’s a testament to latex more than anything. So I wouldn’t consider durability vs alternatives a very valid reason to go with one of these horsehair beds. Exclusivity, perhaps… if that’s important to you.

Hi Maxie,

I would keep in mind that the price of a mattress doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with its durability of the useful life of a mattress and there would be many mattresses in much lower budget ranges that would be just as durable as a mattress that uses horsehair in it’s construction.

Mattress warranties only cover defects in the materials and they don’t cover the gradual (or more rapid in the case of lower quality comfort layers) loss of comfort and support that comes from foam softening that is the main reason that most people will need to replace their mattress. In other words warranties have little to do with the durability or useful life of a mattress or how long it will be before you need to buy a new mattress and longer warranties are more about marketing than anything else. If there is an actual defect in the material it will usually show up early in the life of the mattress. There is more about mattress warranties in post #174 here.

You can see some thoughts about some of the “ultra premium” brands in post #2 here.

I would also be very cautious about using other people’s reviews or experiences on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how suitable a mattress may be for you or the durability of a mattress and in many cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on or vice versa … regardless of the price (see post #13 here).

There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses. There is also more detailed information about the many variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress in post #4 here.

There are many other types of mattresses and materials in lower budget ranges that may be just as suitable in terms of comfort and PPP and just as durable and maintain a suitable range of comfort and support for just as long as a mattress that uses horsehair. I would also keep in mind that mattresses that use natural fibers will tend to compress and become firmer over time (unlike foam that becomes softer). After about 10 years or so the weakest link in the useful life of a mattress may also be the person sleeping on it not the mattress itself so I would treat anything more than about 10 years as “bonus time” regardless of the quality or durability of the materials in the mattress or the length of the warranty.

The type of materials in a mattress is a preference choice and not a “better/worse” choice and the specific design of a particular mattress is always much more important than which “category” the mattress fits in or the type of materials inside it. The biggest reason to buy any mattress (as long as it doesn’t have any weak links in the design so you can reasonably expect a useful life in the range of 7 - 10 years or more) is because it’s a better “match” for you in terms of PPP and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you … regardless of the type of materials that are inside it.

Phoenix

I tried a horse hair mattress at Gardner Mattress in MA today and it felt gorgeous to me. Personally I’d prefer that to a latex bed had I have the budget. And it’s not that pricy at all: it’s about 2k for a queen. They have online shopping website as well.

Hi Miya,

Their horsehair mattresses are certainly a much lower cost than some of the more “ultra premium” mattresses that use it and for those that like the feel and temperature regulation benefits of a pocket coil/horsehair mattress they would certainly be well worth considering :slight_smile:

Phoenix