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Questions about GSM

Martin Jackman asked
27th February 2012

Hi John & Ryan, I have just found your site and have been reading various articals and comments with interest as we are looking to buy 2 beds in the near future. I have seen mentioned how important it is to know the Grams per Square Metre value for the various fillings used to make a bed. Should this not be Grams per Cubic Metre?

A square metre of a filling that is 100mm thick will have a higher GSM value than if the same filling is 75mm thick?

You need to know the weight of the filling for a given volume (i.e. cubic metre), the weight for a given area (i.e. square metre) is meaningless unless you know the thickness. Regards, Martin Jackman :PS I will call in the next day or two regarding our requirements?

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1 Answer
Lee Staff
answered 12 years ago

Hi Martin,

It is Grams per Square Metre.

For each layer of material whether this be horsehair, wool, silk etc.

The depths / loft being different on all components means that it is an accurate way of seeing how much is being used by weight in a given area.

The thickness of the material is irrelevant.

If we take wool as an example: 1000gsm Bonded wool and cotton is about one inch thick and yet 1000gsm Blended wool and cotton can be up to three inches thick.

But the same weight is there regardless.

I’m looking forward to chatting with you.

Having said that ( and aside from seeing how much a combined filling weight is used in any particular mattress ), it should initially be used as a ‘like for like’ measurement: Take a mattress using polyester as the ONLY or MAIN filling – If the description on every polyester based mattress had the actual weight included, you would soon see with relative ease which mattress had the most filling for the money being asked.

Give me a call when you’re ready 0161 437 4419

John and Ryan.

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