John Lewis Mattress Comparisons & Alternatives

John Lewis has a range of around 40 mattresses in their own label range. These are made for John Lewis by a number of different mattress manufacturers. However, this amount of choice for John lewis beds can be rather daunting. We’ve written this guide to help you quickly see which mattress models may be suitable for you and what the alternative offerings are to their mattress range.

John Lewis categorises these beds into 3 main ranges.

• Essentials (Entry level mattresses)
• Naturals (Natural fibre mattresses)
• The Ultimate (High-end luxury mattress model)

Now we’re not going to get through all 40 plus models but based on questions we get asked and their most popular models we have listed the top 5 John Lewis own-brand mattresses to compare to here. All comparisons are based on the fillings and listed tension of each mattress. Prices are of Jan 2019 from the John Lewis website comparing Kingsize mattress models.

John Lewis Mattresses

Before you start trying to analyse the John Lewis range its worthwhile understanding why mattress upholstery GSM is so important and the differences between spring units. Lastly, take care when reviewing ‘blends’ of fibres as its really tricky to tell whether its an even split or one fibre is making up the bulk of the blend.

• John Lewis Essentials
• John Lewis Naturals Range
  • John Lewis Herdwick Wool 8000
  • John Lewis Silk 17,000 Ortho
  • John Lewis Cashmere 21,000
• John Lewis The Ultimate Collection Cashmere Pocket (High-End Luxury)

John Lewis Essentials Mattress

This range is aimed at the entry level mattress market and features entirely synthetic components. Simple single layers of polyester and spun bond spring units are used. Featuring quilted covers which usually indicates a simpler or lower GSM filling this is because tufts are always used on high GSM models. It also doesn’t say where these are manufactured. All of our mattresses are hand made here in Britain and always made to order.

These models should be compared alongside our Origins range, though bear in mind these are all tufted and at a minimum, our entry level Origins Comfort comes in with 1250GSM along with a mattress insulator layer. Have a look at our Origins 1500 as a worthy competitor against all entry-level pocket spring mattresses. We have yet to find a model which matches its GSM, Natural fibre or detailing.

John Lewis & Partners Natural Collection Herdwick Wool 8000 Comfort Support

The John Lewis Herdwick is one of their most popular Natural fibre models. It uses blended Natural fibres to achieve its Medium feel and again Micro or HD springs. The main spring unit is a spun bonded pocket spring system. The specification lists the 8,000 springs as being made from Micro Springs. Looking at the cutaway the spun bond pocket springs look like they are 1,000 in quantity but there’s no detail of the gauge or spring wire diameter.

The two models we provide are the Artisan 1500 which also has a similar spun bond pocket spring system and the Artisan Naturals, our best seller. The Artisan Naturals spring system is far superior as it contained vanadium coated Calico Pocket springs, as used in Savoir mattresses. These are hand tied and never glued.

The two models show the GSM that should be expected at this price point and are great alternatives to consider against the John Lewis Herdwick mattress model.

John Lewis & Partners Natural Collection Silk 17000 Ortho Support

This model has a firmer feel for the sleeper, due to a number of rows of Micro Springs, we’ve discussed the benefits and drawbacks of these here. We prefer the inclusion of more upholstery rather than layers of smaller springs, which is our preferred traditional construction method.

The closest comparator to this model is our Artisan Bespoke, which has a firmer feel in the upholstery layers. Using 1200 GSM of Horsetail and an additional 1200 GSM of Horsehair which gives a firmer responsive feel to the mattress. The White Cashmere insulator helps provide a firmer feel to this mattress.

Unlike the John Lewis model, which uses spun bond Revolution pocket springs, we use Vanadium coated Calico Pocket Springs, hand tied in our model. Highly breathable and hand stitched, not glued, together. You can see the full break down and price comparison below between these two models.

John Lewis & Partners Natural Collection Cashmere 21000 Luxury Support

The Natural Collection Cashmere model has a whopping 21,000 springs contained within it. Care does need to be taken when comparing on spring counts. We’ve discussed this on numerous occasions but there is a golden ration to spring counts in a mattress after which the number just becomes confusing.

A kingsize mattress can only hold so many layers of springs before the upholstery GSM and value starts to be reduced. This is because springs are taking up space where thicker upholstery layers could be. In the Cashmere 21000 for example, 20,000 of the total spring count is made up if a small synthetically cased micro pocket springs. Which leaves only 1,000 pocket springs for the bulk of the main support system.

Usually, the most you will see in a single tier of springs is 2000 in a Kingsize. Any more and you’re looking at two tiers or micro-springs.

We have avoided using micro springs as we find them to have little to no value when used in this method. They are quite useful in toppers, but in a main mattress, our experience shows that a high-quality calico pocket spring unit is far more suitable and durable than thousands of tiny springs. Micro springs tend to compress incredibly quickly and simply don’t have the size or strength to offer any real support other than a quick soft sink. Calico pocket springs also breathe far better than a polyester stitchbond covered spring like the John Lewis model.

We compare our Artisan Bespoke 004 and our Artisan Bespoke 003 to this model in terms of feel. The upholstery and spring units are vastly different. Both of which use Vanadium coated hand tied calico pocket springs never spun bond or micro-springs. The Artisan Bespoke 003 uses high-end Alpaca 1000 GSM and also uses 1000GSM of Coir as the spring insulator. The John Lewis model uses a flax blend as their insulator layer.

John Lewis & Partners The Ultimate Collection Cashmere Pocket Spring

This is where mattress composition and manufacture become high end serious. The John Lewis Ultimate mattress range is a worthy contender to the likes of Vi-spring and Savoir. The price tag of around £14,000 reflects this and the time taken to manufacture such a mattress.

It features a plethora of natural fibres, sadly again, John Lewis won’t disclose the actual GSM’s which is a shame. Also, its still using blended fibres which can be frustrating for a customer paying this price tag. There’s no need to blend such luxury fibres as they are perfect as stand-alone materials, a bit akin to blending fine wines. Again it’s using micro springs but at least this time they are calico coated to try and reduce the heat retention of the synthetic versions.

The comparison to this model is our Legacy Sleep System, arguably the Worlds Finest Mattress. It’s a bit of an unfair comparison in all honesty as the Legacy is made up of three separate components. The Legacy Mattress, Base Pad and Hand Made Sprung Edge Base & headboard. With the Legacy mattress, you’re getting an entire sleep system not just a mattress. So please bear that in mind!

John Lewis & Partners Essentials Collection Pocket 1000 Luxury

The John Lewis Essentials Pocket 1000 is their entry level synthetic fibre mattress. It features 1000 synthetic spun bond pocket springs in a medium tension and a polyester comfort layer. There sadly isn’ any information about the GSM of the Polyester but from the cutaway, it looks like its around 500GSM. The single layer of Polyester acts as both the comfort and the insulator layer on top of the springs.

The fact this has a quilted cover and is not tufted supports this. You can only quilt foams or mattresses with lower upholstery GSMs if you try and quilt multiple layers they tend to shift and move when you sleep on the mattresses. This is why tufting is required when models start to see significant upholstery. Tufting is used to keep the layers in place and compressed. This model is not tufted but quilted, probably due to the single layer of synthetic fillings.

Our Origins Comfort is the closest alternative to this model though it has a softer feeling in the top layer. Featuring a medium 1000 Spun bond pocket spring support unit and then three layers of upholstery fillings. Featuring 750GSM of Soft Polyester, an additional 500GSM of Polyester plus a foam insulator on top of the spring unit. It contains 1000 medium gauge pocket springs and is side stitched with turning handles.

Who makes Mattresses for John Lewis?

There are a number of manufacturers who make for John Lewis’s own label mattress range. One being Spinks and Edgar, you may recognise this from Harrison Spinks the mattress manufacturer brand. Harrison Spinks make the following bed ranges Harrison, Somnus, Hybed and Spink & Edgar which are their brand names. Hypnos also make ‘exclusive’ mattress for John Lewis. You can find further details on each of their product listings as to which manufacturers make each model.