Hi Peter,

Thanks for your comment asking about mattress foam and side sleeper advice.

We use Vita Foam in our Origins Pocket 1500 mattress, they used to be also known as British Vita. In terms of certification, obviously, all mattress foams need to be compliant with fire regulations and manufacturing standards.

You can find out more here http://www.vitafoam.co.uk/brands

Like you've guessed though, there is a huge marketing exercise about foams and mattress memory foams being 'pure' or certified. In our experience, a lot of these are just 'brand terms' for obvious safety standards.

Certipiur for example is defined as:

Foams that conform to CertiPUR® are notably certified to be made without:

• heavy metals, e.g. mercury, lead or cadmium
• dyes that are carcinogenic or allergenic as described by EU legislation
• phthalate plasticisers
• substances that cause cancer or may cause heritable genetic damage

They are also certified for low levels of VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions.
Our foams from Vitafoam comply with these standards and you can find their certification on the website.

All foams should by the very least follow these standards. Usually, cheap imported foams either don't follow this or may use older foam formulas that still use potentially carcinogenic materials.

Which bed is best for a side sleeper?

Given tour weight and height our advice would be to choose the Origins Pocket 1500 mattress over the Artisan 1500. The Artisan 1500 may be too firm in the top upholstery layers for you. It is a firmer sleep sensation which for side sleepers can be problematic.

Obvious if your budget could stretch then the Artisan Naturals is a far superior medium feel 100% natural mattress with a calico pocket spring. A completely different beast which is reflected in its price point.

Origins Pocket 1500 Mattress Medium Feel:


Origins Pocket 1500 Mattress
1: 300GSM WOOL
2: 750GSM VERY SOFT POLYESTER
3: 500GSM POLYESTER PAD
4: ONE INCH FOAM INSULATOR LAYER
5: 1500 SPUN BOND POCKET SPRINGS
TOTAL: 1550GSM
DEPTH: 30-33CM

Artisan Naturals Medium feel Mattress:

Like we said above if your budget can stretch you will end up with far more mattress for your money in terms of the fibre content and calico spring unit. The Naturals you've been looking at 2 sided and uses calico encased pocket springs in a tailored spring tension. For your weight, this should be a 1.4 gauge or 'medium' spring unit tension.


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

There's a handy info graphic below that should help you see the difference in different mattress price points and other quick tips when buying a new mattress.

If you have any more questions please get back in touch with us on 0161 437 4419.

All the best John & Ryan