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Mattress Tips

April 2019

Why Do Natural Fibre Mattresses Cost More?

Natural Fibre mattresses contain the absolute best quality of components that you can get for your money. By choosing a mattress filled with Natural Fibres, you’re making a transition from an average sleep experience to something sublime, soothing and substantially more supportive.

The best way to describe the difference is to think of it as a comparison between a Natural merino wool jumper vs a polyester synthetic jumper. The look, the feel and the longevity of the products are worlds apart.

It’s true that these mattresses generally cost more than any synthetic alternative, but considering their quality and the fact that your price per sleep is an investment in your overall health – they are certainly worth it.

The benefits of Natural Fibres in a mattress

Artisan Sublime Bamboo & Flax Natural Mattress

Animal and Plant fibres make up the two categories of Natural Fibres, and a huge variety of mattress products can be manufactured from them, through various combinations. Compared to synthetic or foam counterparts, Natural Fibres are far more responsive, durable, and above all breathable. This is the biggest benefit for sleepers is that they can regulate your temperature far easier than a synthetic foam.

If you happen to be a hot sleeper you’ll find your sleep experience vastly improved with Natural Fibres. This is because they are high wicking, which helps you keep cool throughout the night for a soothing sleep. We get comments on a weekly basis about people burning up during the night and unable to sleep on Memory foam mattresses. Here’s a really good example of the issue caused by heat retention in memory foam mattresses in particular.

These fibres are also incredibly resilient, which allows them to last far longer than synthetic alternatives, such as polyester. They don’t crush or breakdown as quickly as spunbond fibres do. They keep their high loft which means years more comfort with a natural fibre mattress compared to say a foam bed.

Synthetic mattress fillings can be made relatively cheaply and on a mass scale. Polyester or white fibre is created by spinning plastics into thin fibres which can then be woven as a fabric or filling. The raw materials cost is low and there’s very little effort required to make these basic fibres. However, with Natural Fibres you can’t simply ‘create’ these in a factory they have to be sheared, cleaned, carefully processed and then woven. This means their availability is much lower than a synthetic fibre. We have a handy table below to show how their availability affects their price.

The cost of natural fibres


Natural fibreCost / Availability
AlpacaVery expensive (low supply chain)
Bamboo Average price (good supply chain)
CamelVery expensive (low supply chain)
CashmereExpensive (good supply chain)
Cattle HairAverage price (good supply chain)
CoirAverage price (good supply chain)
CottonVery expensive (good supply chain)
FlaxAverage price (good supply chain)
HempAverage price (good supply chain)
Horsetail Very expensive (low supply chain)
Horsehair Less expensive (good supply chain)
MohairExpensive (low supply chain)
SilkVery expensive (low supply chain)
VicunaVery Expensive (Most expensive natural fibre in the world)
WoolModerate to expensive (good supply chain)

Shearing and processing

Swaledale Wool Mattress Fibre

Animal fibre components do tend to carry premium prices, largely due to the processing costs involved. Similarly plant fibres are widely available and in far greater supply for those who want to avoid animal products. However, the harvesting and processing costs for plant fibres can still be considerable. These harvesting and processing cost factors are what truly give these fibres their value and worth, as well as the quality benefits they offer to sleepers. They are not cooked up in a factory but grown, harvested and carefully processed to provide you with a far richer sleep fibre.

The worth of these Natural Fibres far supersedes the worth of any man-made, synthetic alternatives. These other fibres are cheap to manufacture by comparison and never short on supply. For this reason synthetic fibres are more widely used in low to mid price range mattresses. If your budget dictates a synthetic mattress you can still find some really high quality ones, but you’re going to need to know the grams per square meter of the fibres. Avoiding any mattress that doesn’t list the details or only contains cursory levels of fillings ie under 500gsm total.

How much to spend on a double mattress?What can I expect for my money?
Under £500Will not get you much at best a 13.5 gauge open coil/cage sprung with a thin polyester layer or a solid foam mattress.
£500Entry level spunbond springs with some form of synthetic upholstery. Usually one sided mattresses.
£750The beginnings of a basic pocket springs unit with 800 – 1000 count. No substantial amount of filling other than foams and synthetic materials. Two sided models.
£1000Should get you away from most low ranges and into the mid-range pocket spring models.
£1250Should get you a decent pocket sprung mattress with some Natural Fibre content.
£1500Should get you many manufacturers mid-range models with Natural Fibres
£1500-£2000Should get you a Hand Made primarily Natural Fibre Quality Mattress
£2000+You should expect 100% Natural Fibres and Traditional Hand Made Construction Method.
£5000+A Bespoke Hand Made Sleep System, High-end Spring Units & Featuring the Worlds Most Luxurious Natural Fibres.

However, if you want a mattress that will provide years of blissful nights sleep then Natural fibres are the way to go. Again you need to know the exact GSM of a Natural Fibre mattress, in order to truly know its value. We list the GSM of all of our mattresses along with the spring type and count. This makes it easier for you to compare mattresses allowing you to make a more informed mattress purchase decision.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our expert team today on 0161 437 4419 for more information or to help you compare mattresses you’re looking at.

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