Hi again Iain,

 

Thanks for your follow up question.

 

You could look at it this way. Vi Spring, one of the countries leading manufacturers do not use anything other than natural calico for their pocket springs. Neither do they generally use spring units (single layer) that contain more than 1700 (on a Kingsize).

 

There can be no doubt about it that many of Vi Springs customers are of a similar bodyweight to yours, and with the correct spring tension to accommodate your particular weight it stands to reason that these calico springs are indeed supportive enough to do the job they were designed to do. If pocket springs are not encased in calico then they will be encased in polyprop' (actual term Spunbond') there is nothing else that can be / is used.

 

Calico encased units have different support capabilities than spunbond encased so measuring support capabilities of Spunbond v Calico is not really a valid way to go about your choice.

 

Our Artisan Tailored Pocket 2000 can be manufactured with a spring gauge to suit your bodyweight as of course the Artisan Naturals can. Quality wise - Calico trumps Spunbond and this of course comes at a price.

 

	John Ryan By Design Artisan Tailored Pocket
1	1200gsm Blended British Fleece Wool and Cotton.
2	Hairproof Cambric Cover
3	1250gsm Poly Cotton
4	1500gsm Pure 100% Mohair
5	2000 Double Tier Spun Bond Pocket Springs (Soft/Med or Firm)
Total GSM	3950gsm

 

	John Ryan By Design Artisan Naturals	Vi Spring Regal Superb
1	1200gsm Blended British Fleece Wool and Cotton.	900gsm Blended real Shetland Isle Fleece Wool and Cotton
2	Hairproof Cambric Cover	Hairproof Cambric Cover
3	1250gsm Rebound Poly Cotton	1200gsm long stranded Horsetail blended with British Fleece Wool
4	1500gsm 100% Pure Mohair	1000gsm Bonded British Fleece Wool and Cotton
5	1600 Calico encased Pocket Springs [ 49mm ] [1.28mm ]	1720 Calico encased Pocket Springs [48mm ] [1.28mm ]
Total GSM	3950gsm	3100gsm

 

Intrinsically, the wire springs themselves are the same it is only the material used to contain them that is different - Calico being the long standing traditional method and as they are sewn rather than glued this adds to the overall price. But does this make them better?

 

They are certainly a better quality unit and once again there is no actual data available to say whether 2000 mass produced spunbond pockets are any better or worse (support wise) than 1500 calico pockets. Another justifiable argument that you allude to but cannot possibly be answered is "how many springs do you actually need in a mattress? " Like I said above, Vi Spring utilise more or less 1700 pockets on a one layer construction, but Harrisons et al, produce mattresses that contains spring counts in the thousands - take the Spink and Edgar Empire as an example - this has over 21000 springs!

 

 

Finally Iain.. We welcome questions such as yours. However, we do not want you or anyone else to take what we say as absolute gospel. For each question you raise and for each question we answer there can obviously be many alternative viewpoints and alternative responses. The point of this site is to raise awareness of the myriad of detail that is so completely lacking for you to make an educated purchase decision.

 

I hope this has helped to answer your questions fully but if you do have any further queries please don't hesitate to contact our office on 0161 437 4419. Our office is open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm.

 

Kind Regards, John and Ryan.