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BedsCoil Mattresses Explained
Posted by Sally on Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Tags: mattress, mattress set, memory foam mattress, pedic mattresses, memory foam bed, mattress store, beds mattress, mattress los angeles, mattresses los angeles, mattress in los angeles, mattress store los angeles
"But... springs? Really?" You may be thinking to yourself.
And it is a bit of a strange concept- expecting dozens or hundreds of coiled bits of metal to cradle us into a restful slumber. Many in the comfort mattress business take it for granted, but it is on the surface a bit counter-intuitive.
But really, the core of a spring mattress supports your body, the degree to which the sensation is gentle depends on the gauge of the involved coils. The lower the score is, the thicker the spring is. Thus high-end mattresses usually have 14-gague coils, meaning they give more easily. 12-guage beds are much firmer.
While the contraction of the coil allows for depression, interconnections between them allow the mattress to maintain its shape, with the help of the fabric casing.
Coils also come in several varieties, with the most popular being Bonnell, Marshall, offset, and continuous.
The most generally used and the most classic variety is definitely Bonnell. They originally got their inspiration from the springs under the sears in buggies in the eighteen hundreds. These days they tend to be used in more economical mattresses. They are vaguely shaped like hourglasses, and the ends of each bit of wire is knotted around the top and bottom circles, tied in upon itself.
Marshall coils came afterwards, with each coil encased in a layer of fabric, tempered. Many manufacturers of these so-called Marshall coils actually pre-compress them, adding firmness and motion-sepearation such that movement on one side of the bed won't make the entire bed shake.
Encased springs are also each wrapped in some sort of fabric or textile. The term 'encased' is often used as a synonym for Marshall or Bonnell coils, but they are the broader category.
Offset coils are a more modern variety, and each individual is designed to 'hinge' under pressure, which allows them to conform to the shape of the object doing the compression. (Namely, your spine.) They're very sturdy despite their hinging engineering, and are very popular in almost any innerspring coil mattress.
Another hinging variety are the 'continuous' coils, which make one row of coils actually just one coil. Unfortunately, it is a somewhat noisy way to construct a bed, but it adds support.