Hi Paul,

Many thanks for your question about the Bensons Pure Tranquillity mattress. Sorry to hear their poor customer service has caused you to cancel but you may have been able to avoid on the main drawbacks in mattress construction. The dreaded pillow top mattress method. We've written about why there are literally thousands of complaints online about pillowtop mattresses failing.

Bensons Pure Tranquillity Mattress Details:

Let's take a closer look at the description from Bensons on the Tranquility mattress.

• 4000 premium pocketed springs for superior support
• Posture Perimeter Plus for true edge to edge support
• Luxurious layers of natural British wool, cashmere and silk
• Hand-tufted for a firmer, supportive feel
• Easy care, non-turn mattress

Whilst there seems to be a lot of detail when we look closer there's actually very little discernable detail that we or you can use to help assess this mattress model.

Bensons Mattress Upholstery Explained:

For example, there's no detail on the weight of the upholstery, one of the key parts of understanding exactly what's inside any mattress. You really need to know the GSM (grams per square meter) to be able to see how the mattress feels and whether its good value for the price. This is why we detail exactly what's in our entire mattress range so you can see inside to make an informed decision. It's worthwhile remembering that the mattress comfort is always provided by the upholstery and not the spring unit.

Although this model 'contains' natural fibres, looking at the price it's going to be very minimal and also looks like they are blended. Given that it is a medium firm feel mattress there must be some polyester in there to help firm up the softer wool, cashmere and silk blend. Have a look at the table below to see more on upholstery types and costs. This will help you assess whether the price being asked can actually contain fibres.

Pure Silk in a 500gsm level for example is usually only found in mattresses at £2000 plus. So will it really feature in an £1000 mattress other than a few fibres blended wth other cheaper synthetic ones?

Upholstery Layer	Fibre Type	How it will feel?	Price Point
Polyester	Synthetic	Soft	Cheap
White Fibre	Synthetic	Soft/Medium	Cheap
Recycled Fibre / Eco Fibre	Synthetic	Medium	Cheap
Memory Foam	Synthetic	Medium/Firm	Mid Price
Igel / Hybrid Foam	Synthetic	Medium/Firm	Mid Price
Polycotton	Synthetic/Natural Blend	Soft/Medium	Mid Price
Linen	Synthetic/Natural Blend	Medium	Mid Price
Wool (Pure)	Natural	Soft/Medium	High-End
Cotton (Pure)	Natural	Soft	High-End
Silk	Natural	Soft	Expensive
Horsehair	Natural	Medium	High-End
Mohair	Natural	Medium/Firm	High-End
Hemp	Natural	Medium	High-End
Latex (100% Natural)	Natural	Medium/Firm	High-End
Coir	Natural	Firm	High-End
Flax	Natural	Firm	High-End
Coarse Cashmere	Natural	Firm	High-End
Bamboo	Natural	Super Soft	Expensive / Exclusive
Horsetail	Natural	Firm	Expensive / Exclusive
Alpaca	Natural	Soft	Expensive / Exclusive
Cashmere (Pure)	Natural	Soft	Expensive / Exclusive
Vicuna	Natural	Super Soft	Expensive / Exclusive

Bensons Pocket Springs Explained

There's been a recent race to get more and more springs in mattresses which we've covered in detail in the video below. Mainly why you should avoid using the spring count as a metric for choosing a mattress. Mainly because spring counts over 3000 use micro springs which are pretty much useless in a mattress for support or comfort. They are often used instead of comfort layers, ie upholstery just to increase the spring count.

You also need to know the spring gauge of the pocket springs to known if they are suitable for your bodyweight. Pocket springs are made for weight ranges so you need to know which gauge, 1.2, 1.4 or 1.6 is suitable for your bodyweight. When retailers don't disclose this it can make choosing a new mattress a complete guessing game.

Spring Tension	Wire diameter (Gauge)	Weight Range
Soft	1.2mm	Bespoke Tension (Please Call)
Medium	1.4mm	Upto 16 stone
Firm	1.6mm	16 stone plus
Extra Firm / Orthopaedic	1.9mm	20 stone plus

Pillowtop and One Sided Mattress Issues:

We would always advise avoid pillowtop mattresses for the reason they are always one sided and once the fabric upholstery in the pillow layer compresses there is nothing that can be done to salvage the mattress. As this layer cant be removed or turned to even out settlement. I have never actually heard of a 2-sided pillowtop mattress. As such we don’t retail any mattress close to this.

Alternative to the Bensons Pure Tranquility Mattress:

For a medum feel natural fibre mattress that is two sided Paul have a look at our hand made Artisan Naturals mattress. This is a true medium feeling model in the top layers providing a slight sink but not too much. This mattress is constructed with 85% natural fillings, which will provide a cool sleep surface. We also disclose all the GSM, Spring and mattress detailing to allow you to compare.

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 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