Our new Green Sleep Niu queen mattress and foundation will soon be in our hands, along with a Naturally Organic 1.5" wool topper. The topper, though, is only spot cleanable, which gets us to thinking that we might want to get a pad.
We’d like to get a fully washable and dryable wool one. Thus far, we have noted the Suite Sleep wool pad. It’s covered in organic cotton, less than 1/2" thick, and has a cotton stretch material which covers the side like a bedskirt, fitting under the mattress (and topper). The pad is machine washable and dryable (Many are machine wash only and AIR dry). The cost on this is $270 shipped.
Then there’s another company, which is new to me, called 45th Street Bedding. They’re out of Seattle. They offer what looks like a similar one, but does not use organic cotton in the cover. It’s also machine washable and dryable, with a stretch cotton bedskirt that fits under the mattress and topper. They say that they oversize the thing to allow for shrinkage (insert Seinfeld reference here_____). Three washings generally gets it down to proper size. The cost is $150 shipped.
Does anyone know anything about these products, others like it, 45th Street Bedding company (around since 2009), etc.? It’s hard to tell from the websites how different they are in build quality. The 45th Street bedding one has piping around the top edge, whereas the edge of the Suite Sleep has extra stitching/quilting.
There is more informaton about the pros and cons of different types of mattress protectors in post #89 here.
Both of the wool/cotton protectors you are mentioning would be good choices along with some of the others that are mentioned in the protector post as well and the main difference between them would be in the amount and type of wool (thicker wool layers will have more of an effect on the “feel” of your mattress).
Some of the non organic wool can be just as high quality and “safe” as wool that has been certified as organic and they can also use organic farming methods even though they didn’t go to the extra expense of having the wool certified organic. There is more about organic certifications in post #2 here.
I would have no concerns with the wool used in any of these protectors.
I don’t have any personal experience with any of them (although I do use the NaturaProtect Deluxe which is similar except it has a semi breathable waterproof membrane … and you can see my comments here). Some of the differences between them would be more subjective based on how they would “feel” but these types of products are much more difficult to compare on a more objective or “commodity” basis. The obvious differences would be in the oz/yd of wool (which would have a significant effect on the cost), the thickness and quality of the cover, any organic certifications, the cost and quality or breed of the raw wool, the finer details of the construction (such as finished edges or quilting patterns), and the time and labor involved in making each one (and the labor costs in the country of origin) along with the normal differences between the pricing policies of different businesses.
In most cases I would make these types of comparisons based on a conversation with each retailer or manufacturer and asking them to compare their product and price to the others you are considering so they can describe any significant differences in the materials, quality, or “feel” of their product compared to the others and you can make a choice based on the information they provide you.
Well, when it comes to toppers and pads, I don’t know if stores know their competition that well. Heck, The Clean Bedroom didn’t know certain obvious questions such as amount of wool in one in question they sold, and the retailer at the HQ for 45th Street Bedding didn’t know whether the cotton covering used was knit or woven.
That’s unfortunate and I would think that more premium or specialty sleep shops would have this type of information available … especially about the amount of wool and the type of fabric.
Hopefully some of the forum members that own one of the mattress pads/protectors you are looking at will see you post and share their experience.
The 45th St Bedding topper is also on my list for possible purchase, they offer the same product on Amazon and ebay ( $169 for a queen size). They’ve replied to questions on Amazon if you need more info, limited amount of reviews as I think they just started selling on Amazon.
It looks like a good product, too. Not quite as much fill as the 45th Street Bedding one (7.5oz vs. 10oz/sq.yd). The quilting looks a bit more sophisticated, though.
Just for reference … the St Dormeir protector has 4.5 oz/yd of wool. At one time they listed it as 7.5 oz but they corrected the listing (see this topic) and there are some sites that still list the incorrect specs.
Regarding the St. Dormier vs. the 45th street bedding one. 45th street would make a latex mattress cooler, but firmer than the St. Dormier. The St. Dormier would retain more of the feel of the latex though?
I haven’t needed to wash my king Dormeir very often but when I have it completely fills my washer and dryer when dry. And this is with only 4.5 oz of wool. You would want to make sure that if you are buying something thicker that it will actually fit and be cleanable in your home laundry equipment.
Since I already have the 1" Sleeptek/Naturally Organic (1000) wool topper, would I be better off with the St. Dormier over the 7.5oz/sq.yd. 45th Street Bedding one if I’m using it on top of the Sleeptek??
I’m guessing I could return the 45th Street Bedding one as long as I haven’t used it.
UPDATE: I did see the website that mentions that the St. Dormeir uses 4.5oz wool/sq.yd. It’s the St. Geneve website page. But the St. Dormeir website page doesn’t mention the weight at all, at least I couldn’t find a link to that information. Most retailer sites still list this as having 7.5 oz/sq.yd.
There are a lot of variables when you are comparing two wool products including the type and breed of wool, the amount of wool in each one, how the wool is compressed and quilted, and the type of fabric that covers it, and I think this is really only possible to answer based on your own personal preferences and experience and why you are considering one over the other … especially when you already have a wool topper on your mattress.
I suspect that either one would likely be fine since you already have a wool topper on top of your mattress and seem to like the “feel” of thicker wool layers but in very general terms thicker layers of wool will modify the effect of the mattress or foam materials underneath them more than thinner layers.
I believe the 45th St Bedding uses 10 oz/yd of wool. You can see my comments about washing and drying my Queen NaturaProtect protector which also has 10 oz of wool in this post. It’s a full load.
I can tell you that I didn’t prefer more wool. The 1000 and 2000 Sleeptek toppers differ in 1" vs. 3" depth of wool. I found the 2000 too much and a bit too warm, The 1" or whatever is in the 1000 just right. On top of that, we’re getting the mattress pad to absorb some nightsweats and the like that my wife (and I’m sure I do as well, to a lesser extent). We can wash the mattress pad, not the topper. I have not been able to try them out in tandem. We did order the 45th Street Bedding one and it’s on its way.
That’s the entire purpose of our purchase. We don’t want to reduce breathability, we don’t need extra padding. It’s just for a way to protect the expensive (just short of $600) topper. We thought a wool/cotton pad would be the best at doing the trick.
I can’t compare the St. Dormeir and the 45th Street Bedding ones without ordering both and feeling them in my hand (I can’t obviously use them). But whatever keeps full breathability while changing the overall feel and support of the mattress the least will be the one we’d want.
And, by the way, I do have 30 days to return the unused pad for a refund. Sure, I’d probably be “okay” with either, but, as we all are here, we’re trying to be a bit pro-active.
Another thing, I do anticipate that I will not be able to wash this thing in my own home washing machine. When it needs cleaning, I’m guessing that it will be a trip to the laundromat. I have no idea whether the St. Dormeir would fit either. Mine’s an older top loading machine.
I contacted 45th St Bedding to ask if the mattress pad was woven or knit cotton in the skirting. This is the reply…
"The cotton is woven over the entire mattress pad. The skirting is also woven cotton. The only material that is not cotton or wool on the entire mattress pad is the elastic in the gather to keep it on the bed. "
[quote=“funnygarcia” post=39308]I contacted 45th St Bedding to ask if the mattress pad was woven or knit cotton in the skirting. This is the reply…
"The cotton is woven over the entire mattress pad. The skirting is also woven cotton. The only material that is not cotton or wool on the entire mattress pad is the elastic in the gather to keep it on the bed. "[/quote]
Yup. After I described to them at Bedrooms and More what the difference was and how to determine the difference, they were able to tell me it is woven, which is generally tighter than knit. This means that it’s firmer, but generally more durable than knit.
I probably should have said “relatively” thicker layers of wool since you already have a wool topper and are adding a wool protector on top of this although as you mentioned it’s fairly thin relative to other toppers.
It would be rare to see a knit cotton in a wool topper and most of them would use a woven fabric. Even in mattress tickings you may see a knit material on one side of the quilting but the backing is most often a woven material.
Even very thick layers of wool would be highly breathable. You can see a picture here of the large amount of wool used in a VI Springs mattress which is then highly compressed and they are among the most breathable mattresses available anywhere in the world.
