New old school innerspring mattress

Beyond Mattresses
1

I have concluded that no one in the US makes the mattress I want and need. So I’m gonna try my hand at it. 40 years of restoring old fabric aircraft ought to have given me the skills. Now I just have to find the materials.

The first thing I must find though is a manufacturer who still makes either an open coil or a continous coil spring set in queen size. 14 gauge is minumum but I’ll looking for 12 gauge.

Once I find the spring set, I’ll cover that all over with heavy duck canvass (1 layer sides & bottom, 2-3 layers on the top) and 2-3 inches of raw cotton batting. No foam or gel of any kind.

This is approx. the mattress that they sold in the 1950’s with a life of 20+ years. That’s what I want and I’m willing to pay for it or build it myself.
Any suggestions?

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Hey there oldtimer114,

Welcome to the Mattress UnderGround.

I hear you, and I absolutely respect the “I’ll build it myself” mindset. With 40 years restoring fabric aircraft, you clearly have the patience and craftsmanship most people don’t.

That said, before you start hunting down 12-gauge open coils, you might want to look at a few makers who are still building mattresses the old way:

  • Shifman – traditional two-sided builds, cotton, wool, and proper spring units.
  • Charles H. Beckley – true old-school craftsmanship; they still do cotton, horsehair, and heavy gauge coils 2 sided designs.
  • Shovlin Mattress Factory (@ShovlinMattress) – smaller shop that may be willing to build closer to your exact spec.
  • Orange Mattress in NJ – still using legacy equipment and natural materials like horsehair, wool, and cotton, 2 sided designs.

One of these shops may be able to build you a flippable, heavy-gauge open or continuous coil mattress with cotton batting and zero foam, essentially what you’re describing from the 1950s and earlier.

The real challenge with doing it yourself isn’t sourcing cotton or duck canvas, it’s getting the spring unit properly tensioned, edge-supported, tufted, and balanced so it actually performs long term. Not everyone, even skilled craftspeople, has the mattress-specific experience to make it feel right and last 20+ years.

If one of these makers can’t get you there, then sure, start sourcing springs. But it may be worth exhausting the craftsmen who are still doing it professionally before you take it on solo.

I know you have the time and patience to do it yourself, perhaps that will be the fun and pleasure of it, but the folks I have mentioned still do things the old fashion way. Shifman has their vintage collection, and @ShovlinMattress has certainly modernized, but still knows how to craft old style mattresses, and Beckley and Orange Mattress, simply just make them that way.

Either way, best of luck, but these folks may be good resources if you still want to do it yourself.

Maverick

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Im not as familiar with innerspring gauges as i am with pocket springs, but i can say saatva uses a very simple old school build in their signature hybrid. Its an innerspring, with pocket springs on top, and a 3" layer of cotton on top of that, and that’s all.

The hotel bed we slept on last night was a simple firm innerspring mattress with a cotton layer on top. Felt old school, felt cheap…but i slept surprisingly really well on it. Uhh…well i did stay up like 24 hours and drive 13 hours beforehand but it was still actually comfortable

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When you utilize the craftsmanship of @ShovlinMattress, Shifman, Beckley and Orange Mattress, you are in a whole another category of mattress making. Even the legacy brands and S brands on their best of days, do not compare with what Beckley, Orange, and Shifman Premium collections make today and from yesteryear. Much like Hastens, for these folks not much has changed in 100 years for these companies. They still make them like they used to. Shovlin is the youngster of the bunch, but they know how to do it right.

Unfortunately, Saatva and others like them are just not in the same league.

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These recommended makers seem to make a fine product. The problem with them is that their products cost many thousands of dollars. Yes, I know quality cost money. And if I had that kind of money, I would buy their products. But I don’t. So I’m trying to trade cost for labor by doing it myself. I’m guessing the largest material expense in an innerspring mattress is the spring set. (That would be after the labor and facility overhead.) By making it myself, I can cut out the labor, overhead and profit markup, saving thousands.

Shifman’s top of the line mattress sells for $12,000. How much of that is actual material cost? Experience in industrial processes and costs allows me to estimate the actual material cost at about 10-15%. That’s $1200 - $1800. I can manage that and still get a better mattress that what that amount will get me on the open market.

I’m just one of those people that hates paying someone else for something I can do myself.

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Sure, some mattresses can cost a fortune, but at least with us you can still get a hand made mattress, even in a king, Under $3k easily.

And I am a lot like you and like to be handy around the house. Sure, you are cutting out the labor and other costs doing it yourself, but you can say that with anything. I can rip up and lay down a floor for a lot cheaper than a contractor, but I don’t know electrical work past changing a light switch. I’m not about to open up for panel. Sure, I could watch a video and do it myself, but IF I mess up, not only could I do damage (in your case to you back) but it could end up costing me a lot more money in the end.

I have been in the mattress industry for 14 years. 7 with a Large retailer selling all he “S” brands, and now 7 years with Shovlin. I thought a mattress was just a mattress. I can tell you, the guys in our factory are true craftsmen and women and have been building our mattresses for 10, 20, 30+ years.

Please let me know how it turns out!

James C.
Shovlin Mattress

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Unfortunately $3000 is still well above my budget. I’m hoping to make my DIY mattress for under $1000. (Hopefully well under.) I’m hoping to find a spring set to meet my specs for around $500.

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It seems difficult to buy the wound box type innerspring unit on its own. All I know of what to get is pocket coil units, and even then i only know of 3 sources to buy the actual pocket coil layers. I know how to build one for cheap with the pocket coils. All i can think of is tear apart an old cheap innerspring mattress, make sure it doesnt have fiberglass first and use that spring for your build

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I appreciate your input. But a pocket spring just won’t work. Even if I could find one that has 12 gauge springs (I have yet to find one that has better than 16 gauge.) But pocketed springs are inherently unstable. The pockets are neither strong enough nor tight enough to prevent lean during compression. The old coils spring sets used wire or hemp to tie the springs together and stabilize them so they compressed vertically instead of leaning over during compression. Another method (less satisfactory but still better than pocketed springs) were the continuous coil spring sets. Pocketed springs were developed in the late 50’s and really hit the market in the 60’s primarily because they were cheaper to manufacture. Although they were marketed as “better”. They weren’t and have always had a much shorter life than coil springs or continuous spring sets. A classic example of planned obsolescence at it’s finest. I have located a handful of makers of coil spring sets. 2 in China, one in Italy, and one in Austria. But thus far I have received no reply to my contact attempts. But I won’t quit. It took me 12 years to locate an original gyro compass for a 1944 P-47 restoration. I will find someone who can supply me with an old school coil spring set with 12 gauge springs. I did find a guy selling some old equipment to make a continuous coil spring set. But a 40 ton machine just won’t fit in my garage.

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Thats true they do fall over like you said. Thats why my favorite pocket spring is by texas pocket springs they electronically weld the pocket casings together in a quad formation, meaning 4 springs at a time are joined into a “quad” assembly to prevent that. It also makes it feel different than the typical pocket spring

Good luck on your search. Ill be checking back to see how things go

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I checked out their website. Being a Texan, my ears perk up when I see the word Texas used as a product name. In seeing what they are doing, I suppose this is a small step. But the pocket is still fabric (seriously reduces airflow, provides no real mechanical value, and wears out well before the spring). And they only offer 17 or 18 gauge springs. My minimum is 14 gauge and I’m really looking for 12. Obviously their website is targeted to mattress manufacturers who are more concerned about cost than about build quality.
I have just found a supplier that can provide the individual springs. They are industrial springs. Not designed for mattresses. But the test data is perfect and would work in that application. Can I build my own spring set as well as the mattress??

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On pocketspringstore.com you’ll see they offer 15.5g, 14.75g, and 13.5g.

Of course these function differently than the square innerspring units, so a 14.75 guage is actually firm. Thats what i got from them and i weigh 220 pounds, its almost too firm for me. 15.5g is medium-firm. I believe 14g is about medium on the square innerspring units. The range was definitely much lower when i was scanning through the options on the leggett and platt website. Unfortunately they dont ship direct to customers, I emailed and asked them.

I havent had an issue with air flow, air passes right through my springs and i sleep very cool every night.

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I just found a comparison actually, the open coil at a 14g is equivalent to the pocket coil of 15.5 g, and the 12 to 13 is equivalent to 14.75g pocket coil. Ive been searching for open coil units for you as well maybe there will be something.

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Yeah, it looks like you might have to build your own spring or find someone in person that would sell you one. I dont see any websites that sell anything other than the pocket springs.