A Guide to Natural Bed Materials

Natural Beds uses natural materials for performance and health benefits.

Synthetic materials are often hot to sleep on, and end up sagging or becoming hard. Here's an explanation of why we use the following materials:

Latex foam is a highly supportive material and we think that it is the ideal substance for sleeping on. Even very soft latex compresses evenly and consistently, supported on all sides by the 3D lattice of the surrounding latex. When lying on latex, weight settles evenly into the surface giving a horizontal, 'straight-spine' effect. Latex is exceptionally durable, lasting for many years while retaining shape, density and feel without sagging.

Carded cotton batting is the basis of futon support. When used in layers it gives solid, stable, firm compression and support. Carded cotton is breathable and feels fresh and dry due to it's humidity regulating properties. We import our cotton from Indian suppliers that assure their cotton plantations and manufacturing is ethical and environmentally sustainable. Cotton has been used for mattresses over many centuries in Japan, Korea, China, India and South East Asia. The cotton we use has been through modern processes of harvest, ginning (the extraction of the hard seeds from the soft cotton fibres), sorting, carding, layering and sizing. We usually recommend a latex core with futons for superior weight support in addition to the thick stability of cotton.

For mattress covers we have selected natural fibres that breath well, are ultra-durable and suit the properties of the various mattresses. Organic cotton and bamboo is a heavy weight fabric that we designed as most appropriate for the firm latex mattresses. It is 100% natural, has high moisture transparency (breathes well), and wears well (doesn't require a mattresses protector). We use a thin but strong 100% cotton canvas to cover futon mattresses. It also breathes well, and the tight weave holds futons ties securely.

Pine is the timber from the Pinus Radiata tree. New Zealand has countless pine pine forests, but we get ours from sustainable plantations grown in Rodney and milled by a local sawmill. Macrocarpa timber is type of Cyprus hardwood, also sustainably grown on NZ plantations. We machine prepare the raw timber into appropriate sizes, then sand and finish the wood. Then add durable steel hardware to ready the components for assembly. For natural colour pine and macrocarpa orders we prepare the timber with Haarlem Oil, a natural tree sap blend, which protects from moisture and brings out the timber's warm tone and texture.