Relyon Balmoral Mattress Reviewed

Cotton Layer

Cotton is often used in mattresses as a breathable plant fibre. It’s tough and resilient but more often needs to be blended with another fibre such as wool or more often polyester. This is because cotton has a really low loft. The loft is how fluffy or bulky a fibre feels. It’s how much lift and air the fibres have giving it a spongy fluffy feel. The higher the loft the greater the sink and more cushioning it will have. Cotton has a very low loft so it is blended to stop it compressing and flattening out completely.

We would again need to guess as there is no GSM given but this layer is probably a polycotton blend at 500gsm or thereabouts. This would be another soft layer with a quick sink sensation to it.

Wool, Cotton & Hair Layer

Again this is a blended layer with no details of the GSM or blends given. What we can establish is that this layer acts as the ‘bridging layer’ between the spring unit and the other softer upholstery layers above. with the inclusion of hair. This helps to prevent the softer fibres above from getting lost between the pocket springs and give consistency to the mattress. The Wool and Cotton are again blended to help keep their loft and stop them compressing entirely which is a good move.

We’re a little uncertain of the ‘hair’ layer as no details are given. Is this Cattle hair? Horse hair? Other?

We would imagine is again a blend within a blend which is why no details were given. Probably the lower grade horse and cattle hair mixed together to give the pad some resilience. Ideally, you’d want this layer to be entirely Horsetail or Horsehair especially at the price point of the mattress. This layer will probably be around the 500gsm weight.

Without the details of the blend and GSM you really are just guessing

Mattress detailing

This is where you can start to tell the entry-level ‘basic’ mattresses apart from the Mid-point to Luxury. Mattress details give you an indication of the skill level used in the construction of a particular mattress. However, care needs to be taken as there are lots of tricks and false details that other retailers can use to give the impression of a high-end mattress.

Hand Nested and Centre Tied

This relates to the spring support system, more details on that below. When a spring is hand nested it means that they are lifted and placed into a tying table frame. This is the ‘hand nesting’ element; laying them out by hand before being stitched/tied together. This nesting takes place in a large rectangular box that then allows a skilled craftsperson to then hand-tie/stitch the pocket springs together. This is incredibly time-consuming and only used in high-end mattresses. The craftsperson will pass a large needled through the centre of the springs which is what centre tied means. Knots are then used to finish off each row.

The benefit of this is that the springs are kept far more flexible than when they are ‘glued’ together. It provides flex, extension and far more progressive comfort for you. It’s nice to see Relyon using this traditional skill. We hand nest and centre tie all of our Artisan mattresses providing the best level of support and flexibility from our Calico Encased Pocket Springs.

3 Rows of Hand Side Stitching

Similar to the above when the mattress upholstery and side panels are being crafted you have two options. Hand side stitching, which is time-consuming but means each spring is hand-stitched to the side of the mattress. This stops the dreaded mattress bulging you see on cheaper mattresses when you sit on the edge. The second and less technical version is machine side stitching. This is when the side panel has a machine that then fires stitched through to the spring unit which is less targeted and far quicker.

The Spring Support Details

Here’s where we get to the really interesting part of this mattress as it features a Dual Spring. Dual Springs offer a very different sensation to regular ‘single-layered’ mattress springs. It means the mattress can feel far more lively which suits people who may move around a lot during the night or prefer a slight bounce to their mattress. Quite often these dual layers are made of cheap synthetic springs such as spring bond. In the Relyon, they use a fabric encased pocket spring.

There are two layers of 1000 springs making the total 2000. They don’t give a spring gauge or tension which us a real shame. From the selection, it looks like they may use a 1.2,1.4 and 1.6 gauge spring based on your weight. However, without confirmation, we’re not sure.

Is the Relyon Balmoral good value for money?

The honest answer is, possibly. If you knew the exact GSM’s of each of the fibres and more details on the ‘Hypoallergenic’ layer then you would be able to properly compare. We estimate that this layer is entirely synthetic meaning its a mixed mattress and not 100% Natural. Blended fibres are usually significantly cheaper than stand-alone fibre layers so bear that in mind. A good comparison is the Artisan Bespoke 002 which retails at around £2000 and is entirely natural and a significantly higher GSM to boot. It also uses Calico encased Vanadium springs which are the same springs used by the likes of Savoir and Vispring ie ultimate high-end support.

The Benefits

• Advanced mattress detailing such as plant-based fire retardancy
• Two-Sided Mattresses (Like all high end should be) so you can use both sides
• Hand Side Stitched which is a real skill

The Drawbacks

• No GSM or Blends are given for the upholstery making it harder to identify its value in comparison to other mattresses
• Has a synthetic top comfort layer out of keeping with the other Natural Fibres
• Anti-allergen may be confusing to buyers given it is likely to just be white fibre and not natural.

Summary

It’s really nice to see some genuine details going into the Relyon Balmoral such as the hand-side stitching and twin up spring construction method. It’s two-sided which brings a smile to our face as no quality mattress should ever need to be one-sided – unless it is half the price!

As always its frustrating to not get all of the details from Relyon on this model. It has a medium-soft feel in the top upholstery layer which will suit sleepers looking for more sink. It’s also lively and progressive with the dual-layer spring system. So if you’re a frequent mover at night it could be a benefit to you in making turning in the night easier.

We really would like more details on the springs used and gauge to provide a more detailed comparison, save cutting into the model which we don’t want to do!

If you need extra help in comparing mattresses or advice on what’s suitable for you then please get in touch with our small expert team.