Are Marks & Spencers Beds any good?

Marks and Spencers (M&S) make reasonably well-made entry-level mattresses. Priced at the £500-£1500 mark.

However, if you’ve read our other hundred or so detailed bed articles you will know by now that the only way to accurately compare mattresses is to know the full breakdown of the mattress upholstery. Some of Marks & Spencer’s mattresses are better than others so it’s important to do your research when looking for a new bed.

It’s important when shopping for a new mattress that you make comparisons to see exactly what your money can get and understand what type of mattress you are looking for. This is where the following key bits of information are essential when choosing a new mattress:

• Spring/support tension for your bodyweight (Which is the support detail)
• What upholstery amounts/types does the mattress use? (Which is the comfort layer)
• What is the mattress detailing and construction type? (ie is it only one sided?)
• What guarantee does the mattress come with?

Marks and Spencer Beds Reviewed

Once again, as with many retailers, Marks and Spencer only give very brief details of the fibres and spring units. However, they do provide detailed cutaways which help us, the mattress geeks, explain in more detail what you’re getting for your money. So to be able to review these beds it’s not just a case of bouncing on them for 2 mins in a showroom. You need to really look under the covers to see exactly what is inside them. We’ve spent hours looking at and uncovering each of the Marks & Spencers mattresses so you dont have to!

We’re going to be looking at the most popular Marks & Spencers mattress models and giving some more detail alongside any alternatives to compare to.

• Ortho Firm Support 1500 Marks & Spencer
• Natural 1250 Medium Mattress Marks & Spencer
• Marks & Spencer Luxury 5800 Mattress
• Marks & Spencers Cashmere Comfort 2000 Pillowtop
• Who makes M&S Mattresses?
• What’s inside an M&S mattress?

Ortho Firm Support 1500 Marks & Spencer

This model is one of Marks & Spencers most popular mattresses. We’ve talked at length about the real niggles with Orthopedic beds and their link with bad backs which you can read more of here. Listed as the ‘super supportive’ option we certainly would think so at an Extra Firm feel. It is worth noting that an extra firm feel mattress needs to be looked at with caution. Your body weight, height and sleeping position really needs to be taken into account. If not, you may find yourself with an uncomfortable mistake of a mattress if you’re not used to such a firm unforgiving bed.

This is a one-sided mattress meaning that the fillings are layered up with more weighting on one side. You usually find one-sided mattresses at the cheaper end of the market. On one hand, you don’t need to turn it (as you can’t you would crush the fillings of the top layer) but it does limit the lifespan of your mattress.

For the price point of nearly £900, we would expect to see at least a two-sided mattress construction method. Also without the GSM, it is hard to see exactly what support the upholstery is providing. The term ‘Ortho enhanced wool & cotton’ causes confusion, as the only way to firm up these natural fibres is to blend them with Polyester. Which would hint that they are not 100% natural blends? Again, its impossible to say without accurate GSM details.

The two alternatives show what you should expect from an entry-level ‘Firm support’ mattress such as our Origins Reflex (at a fraction of the price) or what you should expect from the near £900 mark, our Artisans 1500.

Natural 1250 Medium Mattress Marks & Spencer

The next model we get asked about frequently is the Natural 1250 Medium feel mattress from M&S. Again, frustratingly, this is a one-sided mattress meaning you can only ever use one side. The breakdown shows it has ‘Luxury white fibre’ which we are asked frequently about.

What is White fibre?

White fibre is a term that a number of retailers are now using to describe upholstery in mattresses. White fibre is usually blended polyester and other traces of synthetic fibre. It’s a blend so is cheap to produce. We’re not sure what makes this blend luxury unless it maybe has some cotton or such in their too? Looking at the price point we are thinking probably not. Marks and Spencer will probably be using this white fibre to reduce the price of the mattress upholstery.

The next layer from the cutaway shows a very small amount of lambswool, maybe a 200GSM sheet if we had to guess. The other layer is then listed as Cotton but again no GSM or blend given. It’s based on a 700 spring count synthetic pocket spring unit again no tension given.

We think for this price point you should be looking for a two-sided mattress at the minimum. You’re not going to get lashings of natural fibres at this price point but our Origins Pocket 1500 should be a good comparison at this level.

If you’re looking at a real Natural fibre mattress then our Artisan Naturals should be the mattress to aspire to, although the price reflects this.

Marks & Spencer Luxury 5800 Mattress

This is Marks and Spencers ‘twin up’ mattress which contains two layers of springs. Twin up or dual-layered mattresses offer a very lively progressive comfort. You really do need to try this to see if the responsivity is something that you get on with. Some sleepers love it others feel it reacts too quickly compared to a single layer of pocket springs.

The manufacturer has decided to use Micro springs which we have detailed the drawbacks of at length here. A true twin up should really use the same spring twice for the desired effect and be two-sided. Again this model is still a no turn one-sided model which is a real shame given the £1000+ price point.

The upholstery layer detail gets even more brief on this model. From the specification and cutaway we can see there are the following layers:

• Polyester (synthetic fibre)
• Blend of Polyester and Cotton
• Natural Lambswool
• Sumptuous Natural Wool, Cashmere and a deep Silk layer

There’s zero GSM given and looking at the cutaway the Natural Wool, Cashmere and Silk has to be a blend. It’s still using synthetic springs which is a surprise. At the £1000+ price point, you should expect calico encase pocket springs which are far more breathable and progressive.

The nearest comparison we have for review is the Artisan Tailored Pocket 2000 featuring a ‘twin up’ of Spun bond pocket springs. It also is two-sided and features a huge 85% Natural filling content.

If budget is no option then the next model with a similar feel would be our Artisan Sublime which is 100% Natural fibre and has an eye-watering total GSM of 5400 and a 15-year guarantee.

Marks & Spencers Cashmere Comfort 2000 Pillowtop

If you haven’t already seen our reviews of pillowtop mattresses then definitely read why you should avoid them first. They are fraught with settlement problems and once the pillowtop fails that’s the end of your mattress as you can’t remove it. So the biggest initial issue with this M&S Cashmere Comfort mattress is the poor construction choice of using a pillowtop. This permanently adheres to the mattress meaning if it settles or sags there is no way to remove it. Often rendering the mattress unusable and needing to be replaced.

The Cashmere Comfort struggles with the same issues with the other Marks & Spencers models in that there’s very little information to accurately compare to. This model has zero information about the fillings of the actual pillowtop for example, which is the prime comfort layer. When we tested the mattresses had a very soft top comfort layer due to the pillow top but then we could suddenly feel much firmer support from the core mattress. It felt quite awkward. As in there was a big jump between the feels of the upholstery layers of the mattress.

It features a dual spring unit of synthetic pocket springs and then some of that ‘White fibre’ again which at £1299 is a shame. For this price point, you should expect to start seeing a decent amount of natural fibre in a mattress.

What we would actually recommend to get a similar feel as the Cashmere comfort, and save a small fortune, would be to pair our Origins Comfort with a separate topper of your choice. You will get the same soft sink and medium support but without any of the pillowtop drama.

If you’re wanting a 100% Natural fibre mattress instead then our Artisan Bespoke 004 is unbeatable for the price in comparison. Both of these alternatives are two-sided and fully turnable.

Who makes Marks & Spencers Mattresses?

Relyon used to make ‘white label’ mattress goods for Marks & Spencer, though it is hard to find out if that’s still the case. We would guess that they have a number of manufacturers supplying their products looking at the product range. It covers everything from pillowtop one-sided mattresses to firm orthopaedic models and then memory foam quilted mattresses.

What’s inside Marks & Spencers Mattresses?

We must admit we were thrilled when we saw the tag ‘See what I’m hiding. Open me’ written on the M&S mattress range in store. However, sadly the detail provided is brief at best and won’t actually allow you to accurately compare Marks & Spencers models with other branded mattresses.

The biggest issue with M&S mattresses is the lack of detail as to what’s inside them. Unless you’re a mattress expert like us, you’re going to really struggle to understand which mattress is suitable for you. On face value the mattresses all look similar and without the additional detail, the chances of you choosing the correct one are slim. This is why we’ve spent the time to help you understand how each of these M&S mattresses compares to each other and then alternative models.

Is such a shame that there is no GSM or spring gauge detail given by M&S. Making the information given by M&S on their mattresses too scarce to use properly when buying a new mattress.

To recap: to be able to compare mattresses properly you need to know the following:

1. Spring count, type and gauge
2. Grams per square meter of each upholstery layer
3. Mattress detailing specifics

Once you have this detail buying a new mattress is far less risky as you can see exactly which mattresses are suitable and just as importantly avoid ones that are going to be really uncomfortable for you!