The Woolroom Shetland bed vs John Ryan By Design mattresses

Hi Philipa,

Many thanks for your question about comparing Woolroom mattresses to our own handmade natural fibre beds.
All new mattresses will feel firmer when they first arrive until they bed in and settle. Usually, this takes 2- 4 weeks and a bit like a new pair of shoes it can take a while to adjust to the feel of the new bed.

However, let’s take a look at the technical details of the Woolroom Shetland mattress model to see how it should feel.
The Wool Room Shetland – Technical Specifications:

• Spring Count: 13250 (based on a K/S)
• Spring Type: Cortec Quad (750), Posturfil (1000), HD 2.5k (2500), HD 4k (4000), HD 5k (5000)
• Mattress Depth: Approx. 29cm
• Fillings: Hemp, Flax, Cotton, British Wool, Wensleydale Wool, Egyptian Cotton, Mohair
• Ticking: Natural Merino/Viscose Blend (No fire retardant sprays used)
• Tufting: Hand-tufted with wool pom-pom tufts delivering reduced movement of fillings during the life of the mattress
• Side Stitching: 4 Hand-stitched rows for edge-to-edge support
• Chemicals: None including no glue used
• Available Tensions: Soft, Regular and Firm

The first thing to say is that this is a one sided mattress. Meaning there are only fillings on one side. The benefit of this is that it doesn’t need lifting to turn each month. However, this is also a huge drawback as it means you’re going to put on all of the strain onto one side of the mattress meaning settlement will happen far quicker (as you can only use one side) and it means you can’t turn the bed to even out wear.

Image from http://www.thewoolroom.com/product/shetland-13250-mattress/

There is a whopping 13,000 plus springs of different kinds in this mattress which is maybe why it feels firmer than expected. This is because each row of both pocket, mini and cortex spring takes up a certain proportion of the mattress meaning less and less space for much-needed comfort layers.

Comfort layers are the softer upholstery layers that provide the feel of the mattress. Whereas the spring tension(s) are nearly always matched by your body weight.

Looking at the breakdown the only ‘soft’ feel comfort layers are the wool and cotton. Flax, Hemp and Mohair are all medium to firmer feel comfort layers.

We need to also take this with a pinch of assumptions as the Woolroom sadly doesn’t disclose the grams per square meter of their mattresses so it really is a bit of a guessing game.

Looking at the cutaway below we would guess that the firmer flax and hemp are the two layers directly above and below the spring unit with the wools being the final layer. Again without knowing the GSM it is hard to know how these should feel.
Looking at the cutaway we would list this as a medium feel mattress. Being one sided we would say its less forgiving than a two sided mattress as all the layers are concentrated on just one side. It goes without saying that if these layers where on both side their would be more ‘padding’ to soften the mattress slightly.

The softest 100% natural mattress we do is the Artisan Luxury which is a great place to start Phillipa to find a comparator.

Artisan Luxury Soft Feel Pocket Sprung Mattress: 

The Artisan Luxury is a 100% natural fibre mattress with a very deep comfort layer. The tailored tension calico pocket spring unit creates a softer feeling sleep surface. It’s far softer/deeper than the Origins Comfort.


Artisan Luxury Mattress
1: 1200 GSM BRITISH FLEECE WOOL AND COTTON
2: HAIRPROOF CAMBRIC COVER
3: 1200GSM PURE HORSEHAIR
4: 500GSM PURE WOOL
5: 1200GSM PURE HORSETAIL
6: 500GSM PURE WOOL
7: 1476 CALICO ENCASED POCKET SPRINGS [51MM] [1.42MM]
TOTAL: 4600GSM
DEPTH: 27-30CM
CHEMICAL FREE COVER

The Artisan Luxury is a truly wonderful mattress for those wanting an ultra-deep soft sink. Fully breathable and a true investment in quality. Have a look and then maybe get back in touch if you have other questions on 0161 437 4419.

All the best
John & Ryan