Does anyone have experience with wool mattresses (not latex plus wool)? I am trying to decide between natural latex with a wool topper or straight wool mattress (yes, they have cotton, etc) and was told buy a mattress salesman wool mattresses don’t provide adequate support and are like sleeping on just a pillow (of course he has negative things to say about products he doesn’t carry while he might be correct).
Wool mattress websites I’ve “studied” allege spine support while they do look like a thin, large pillow.
I’m leaning towards wool-only while I’d really like some real-world experience before purchasing an expensive mattress that might be awful (because of the nature of the mattress it seems wool-only don’t tend to be returnable or have trial periods).
If anyone has tried a wool-only mattress will you please share your experience?
While I don’t have any personal experience sleeping on an all wool mattress … they are a very specialized mattress that would be very different from the types of mattresses that most people are used to sleeping on. They would be closer to the “feel” of a futon than a more traditional mattress. The people who love them tend to prefer firmer and highly breathable mattresses and wouldn’t sleep on anything else but like all materials or types of mattresses they aren’t for everyone and there are also many others that would much prefer a more “traditional” or softer feel that comes from materials they are more familiar or comfortable with.
While densely packed wool can certainly be supportive and a layered wool mattress that is a good "fit’ for you can provide good alignment … it will also tend to be firmer than soft foam and it will have a “feel” that is very different from other types of material. It may also be a good idea to consider a firmer wool “base” mattress that is denser and more highly compressed and then adding a softer wool topper on top of it for additional pressure relief similar to the layered designs of mattresses that use other types of materials that use firmer materials or components on the bottom and softer materials on top. I would also keep in mind that wool will become firmer as it compresses over time.
I would be very cautious about choosing a mattress that uses materials that you are unfamiliar with without a good return policy because only your own experience will be a reliable way to know how you feel about sleeping on an all wool mattress but at the very least I would spend some time talking with some manufacturers or retailers that make or sell all wool mattresses and ask them lots of questions so that you are comfortable that this type of mattress would be a good “fit” for your specific needs and preferences and you have realistic expectations about the feel and performance of an all wool mattress.
Our Manufacturer Memberships :: The Mattress Underground They sell DIY materials that you can use to make your own wool mattress and a hand made wool mattress as well. They are a member of the forum and have helped many of the forum members here with their posts and are also very knowledgeable about wool and wool mattresses.
This should give you some knowledgeable sources to talk with so you can hear several perspectives about wool mattresses and which will hopefully give you a better overall sense of what they would be like for you to sleep on.
Have you discovered Heart Felt Collective? The company is started by the founder of Shepherd’s Dream (I think) and takes wool mattresses another direction. She creates wool felt layers for firm wool bedding layers.
Her technique of stomping on wet wool is reminiscent of the Mongolian system for felting the wool for their yurts. I can’t wait to perfect the method myself.
I have not discovered Heart Felt Collective. I’ve run across Shepherd’s Dream on many websites and have been most interested thud far in The Wool Mattress Co or a wool-covered natural latex. I will check them out - thank you!
The Heartfelt Collective is amazing and definitely ideal while moving into a small apartment I won’t have space for all the care involved in cleaning so I decided to go with the Wool Bed Company. I spoke with the owner (9/30/14 there is a sale going on for about a month on mattresses) at length and feel pretty positive about what I’m getting. The company has been around over 20 years and started by the owner with a couple lambs.
The owner (as you’d hope) was very knowledgeable and definitely not pushy (she had recommendations and talked to me about what would work for me on a budget). A very cool thing is that if I decide I want a thicker or larger sized mattress in the future they will take my mattress and “renew” it and put the materials into the upgrade and give me 50% off.
The company was developed in conjunction with a doctor and the 9" mattress has a pre-compressed center and comes with w a 2" topper and is alleged to “last a lifetime”. The tufting controls the firmness of the mattress and when I explained I have bad arthritis in my hips and end up buying a 3" mattress topper or sleeping on pillows at other people’s houses even on top quality mattress I was told that did not mean a topper was necessary for me as they have apparently done research with people with arthritis, fibromyalgia, and polio survivors. The word is about 50% of customers buy a mattress topper (whether with the original purchase or later I didn’t ask).
I liked the focus on health of this company (as with the Heartfelt Collective) and will let you know what it’s actually like when I get the mattress (I ordered the thinner one for children or people under 140lbs that works for me). It will take about three weeks to make and then ship so in due time.
I’ll be looking at the Heartfelt Collective for the “accessories” as I just ordered the mattress with plans of shopping around for a cover/pad and frame.
I think you did some great research and ended up making a great choice for a mattress that “fits” your criteria and I’m really looking forward to your feedback when you receive it and have had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.
I also found that they were very knowledgeable and helpful when I talked with them on the phone (see my comments in post #3 here).
I have a Shepherd’s Dream wool mattress and I love it. My quick observations are:
It is very firm.
The dust mite resistance is overrated.
Carpet beetles will eat it.
After two years it still smells like wool.
Now, I love a good, hard mattress, so that’s why I went with this. It has just enough springiness to prevent pain at your contact points. I have very bad dust mite allergies, so after about a year and a half of ownership, I went against the manufacturer’s advice and added an allergy encasement. (I got a fancy all cotton kind with a 2.9 micron pore size) This may inhibit the mattress’s breathability, but I need to breath, too, and this was helpful. As for the carpet beetles, I already knew those were in my house, so it was no surprise when they went after the mattress. I think the allergy encasement should help keep them off it. For this reason, I think having a cotton exterior rather than a wool one would help to dissuade pests.
I’ve been looking at mattress protectors to protect my investment as there are supposedly a good deal of dust mites where I just moved. What I found seems ridiculous - many “high-end”, bed bug, dust mite-proof claiming mattress protectors are fitted sheet style! I am not an entomologists while it seems bed bugs and mites are qualified to get into a mattress from underneath and without a barrier underneath those claims seem like red flags.
I have severe mold allergies (mold grows on dust mite droppings amongst other things) and I do need my mattress to breath while keeping out pests.
I do want to let you know about a device that might help you with dust mites called a Raycop (vacuum). It’s for use only on furniture upholstery and mattresses as far as I know and uses vibration, UV-C sterilization, vacuum suction, and HEPA to kill bacteria, dust mites, other microorganisms, etc and remove them. Before I moved cross country and found myself purchasing new furniture and a mattress I was using this regularly. They can be difficult to find and I think I bought mine off amazon. I’m hoping to use this on my new mattress and that the suction is not so strong that it pulls the wool fiber out of the cotton encasement (the owner of Wool Bed Company told me a customer ended up pulling the wool out of her mattress using a Dyson).
Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope mine might help you - we need our beds free from allergens!
Now to only find the balance of quality, chemicals, and budget in a mattress protector…
There is more about mattress encasements (that surround the mattress on all sides) that can protect against dust mites and bedbugs in post #2 here and the sources of information that it links to that may be helpful
As you mentioned … a fitted sheet style mattress protector wouldn’t be suitable for bed bugs although it would certainly help to some degree with dust mites because it would help prevent skin flakes and moisture from entering the mattress which is their main source of food and liquid.
Yes I bought an all wool mattress- they called it a topper at " home of wool"
You can get a cotton cover a linen cover or a wool cover. I bought a 4 inch raw wool ( one can buy eco or organic) the wool is loose. The stitching impeccable. Mine is thick enough to be used as a mattress. They also have actual mattresses. I also recommend Kelly green organic mattresses. ( full disclosure, the owner is a dear friend of mine, but she has been making beautiful mattresses for over 20 years ( which is much longer than I have known her.
