Hi Heide,

Thanks for the question on Litvinfoff & Fawcetts mattresses. We hadn't actually heard of this mattress retailer before so thanks for sending us the link to their site to review their mattresses.

From looking at their listing there's very little detail to really compare or review these mattresses to I'm afraid. From what we can see they make two types of mattresses. Open coil beds and a pocket spring model. They state there are 9 models but we could only see 3 on their site. Their pocket spring mattress is the same upholstery in all 3 but with three different spring tensions. We don't class these as separate models but one model, three different tensions. This is an industry-standard way of defining models.

Looking at their site the one thing that's really confusing is their description of open coil springs as 'precision-engineered'. Open coil springs or cage sprung really are the most basic and entry-level mattress support types, reserved for the sub £300 mattress market only. Their classic cage sprung in a king-size is just shy of £500 where you could easily get a true pocket spring starter model for the same price. Whilst they do give the GSM, it doesn't correlate to the depth of the mattress. For example, you would expect a 3300GSM mattress to be deeper than 20cm. Our mattresses for example start at 27cm for a pocket sprung and natural fibre model with a similar gsm.

Also what's interesting is that their entry range only uses one fibre, mainly recycled wool. These are fibres from clothing that has been shredded and recycled. Which is fine at a certain price point ie entry-level. It does mean that it makes it very hard to fully know if this has been blended during this recycling process with other fibres. For example, the recycled fibres we have seen over the years are nearly always blended with a mix of other synthetic textiles. This is why we don't use them. We can't be certain of the exact blend, response rate or any allergen contaminants in those mixes. It would be great if the industry could up their game in terms of recycled fibres and ensuring they could provide exact details of the blends.

It seems at odds to be using 'recycled' natural fibres with an open coil mattress given its awful support and the fact they have huge transference issues. We're not sure why they don't use a pocket spring given the price.

We can assume from the price point that the pocket springs are spunbond as calico encased pocket springs, like our Artisan mattress range are simply not available for this price point. Also, there's only us, Savoir, Vispring and a handful of others that currently use them in the UK.

Other than that there's very little detail to be able to compare to. They don't give any mattress detailing like side stitching or fabric cover specifics.

Artisan Naturals Comparison Model

If you want a mattress to look at as a comparison of a natural fibre model please take a look at the Artisan Naturals.
Our most popular, unbeatable model with 85% natural fibres. Containing a huge GSM of fillings, including wool and mohair, on a Calico Pocket spring unit. It has a similar medium feel to the John Lewis but is 85% natural fibre so more breathable. It also has a forgiving top comfort layer. We would recommend you look at the medium 1.4 gauge calico spring for your bodyweight.


Artisan Naturals Mattress
1: 1200GSM BLENDED BRITISH FLEECE WOOL AND COTTON
2: HAIRPROOF CAMBRIC COVER
3: 1250GSM REBOUND POLY COTTON
4: 1500GSM 100% PURE MOHAIR
5: 1600 CALICO ENCASED POCKET SPRINGS [49MM ] [1.28MM ]
TOTAL: 3950GSM
DEPTH:: 27-30CM
CHEMICAL FREE COVER

We do appreciate their text about not wanting to confuse the customer and being straight forward which is refreshing. It's good to see a manufacturer disclosing GSM, even if there's little supporting detail about blends. However, more detail and close up images of their construction method would be necessary to assist the customer fully. Our guide below will help provide more detail on exactly what you need to know when buying a new mattress.

We hope that helps and gives you further mattress buying guidance. If you have any more mattress related questions please get back in touch on info@localhost or 0161 437 4419.

Sleep well
John & Ryan