Wood Furniture Care Guide

First things first, you need to choose the right size of bed. Our beds and mattresses fit into the single, double or king size category as these are the most popular customer choice, however, should you need a different size within the table below, please contact us and we will do our best to satisfy your requirements.

Best-Selling Sizes Available Online Now:

DESCRIPTION WIDTH X LENGTH (CM) WIDTH X LENGTH (IMPERIAL)
Single 90 x 190 3’ x 6’3”
Double 135 x 190 4’6” x 6’3”
King 150 x 200 5’ x 6’6”

Sizes Available on Request:

DESCRIPTION WIDTH X LENGTH (CM) WIDTH X LENGTH (IMPERIAL)
Small Single 75 x 190 2’6” x 6’3”
Small Double 120 x 190 4’ x 6’3”
Super King 180 x 200 6’ x 6’6”

Please note that bed sizes are not officially standardised, so please double check these measurements against the size description from the retailer you are purchasing from.

As a general rule of thumb, a bed should be around 10cm (4”) longer than the tallest person sleeping in the bed to allow plenty of leg room, so if you are of longer length it is worth knowing that king size beds offer 10cm of additional length than beds up to a standard double.

When assessing what you would like and what you can afford, go for the best value rather than the lowest price. The better the construction of the bed, the longer it will last and offer you support for a comfortable night’s sleep. If you think that every £100 extra you spend only equates to less than 3p extra per night over the average ten year lifespan of a bed, a bed should offer the best comfort and support for you that you can afford.

Types of Bed

Beds can generally be divided into two types: divan beds and bed frames.

Divan beds are historically the UK’s bed of choice and it’s easy to see why with so much variety to suit any budget. You may opt for a plain divan with no storage, which come as either a platform top or the more luxurious sprung edge. A platform top divan has a non-sprung panel usually made of hardwood that offers support to the accompanying mattress, whereas the sprung edge divan has an extra layer of springs mounted on the edge of the frame to act as a shock absorber and boost the durability of your mattress.

Both of these options are also available with two drawers and four drawers to provide a space-saving storage solution.

Bedsteads, or bed frames, have seen a surge in popularity in recent years, with a variety of finishes available. Best-selling options include metal bed frames and sleigh beds, while ottoman beds are a more recent addition to the type of bed frame available.

For children, novelty bedsteads offer a great way to bring fun to bedtime. We have a range of bedsteads available as frame only or complete with mattress, including a racing car and jungle jeep or create an underwater adventure with the moby pink or moby blue.

Types of Mattress

Mattresses can generally be divided into sprung and non-sprung types.

Most mattresses provide support using some type of spring in the interior construction of the mattress. Springs vary by type e.g. open coil, continuous or pocket sprung, thickness and distribution to provide different levels of support.

Open coil springs are arranged in rows and attach vertically to the top and bottom of the mattress with an outer rod to strengthen around the edge. The gauge of the spring will determine the level of support provided by the spring: a 13.5 gauge spring is the comfort gauge while a 12.5 gauge spring is an orthopaedic gauge of spring indicating a mattress with a firmer level of support than the 13.5 gauge spring mattress. Zoned springs are arranged to provide firmer support where the body needs it most while you sleep around the hips and shoulders. An open coil mattress will usually fall into the budget to mid level price range.

A mattress with a continuous spring interior has a single length of wire which runs horizontally through the mattress rather than vertically. The coils are usually smaller than in an open coil mattress and formed with a softer gauge of wire, resulting in a responsive mattress.

Pocket springs are smaller than open coil springs and are fitted within fabric pockets, hence the name. These pockets allow the springs to work independently of each other, providing individual support and preventing pressure points from building as you sleep. Pocket sprung mattresses are generally constructed using higher quality materials and will fit into a higher price range than the open coil ranges.

Non-sprung mattresses use foam fillings to provide support with the main types used being memory foam, also known as visco-elastic, and latex foam.

Memory foam, or visco-elastic, mattresses are the most widely known non-sprung type of mattress, created using polyurethane foam which provides excellent support by responding to the user’s body weight and temperature.

While memory foam mattresses traditionally fall into a non-sprung category, memory foam alone will not provide adequate ventilation while you sleep and will take longer to change shape if you turn in the night or regain its shape once you get out of bed. With this in mind, all of our memory foam mattresses combine springs and layers of memory foam to provide the comfort and support of memory foam with the added breathability and bounce back of a sprung mattress.

Latex foam is a premium quality material with natural elasticity that allows the mattress provides individual support but can recover its shape as soon as pressure is removed from the surface. The latex is derived from the sap of rubber trees and this also provides the added benefit of being naturally anti-microbial, making this an ideal choice for allergy suffers and asthmatics.

The Finishing Touches

Now that we’ve covered the interior construction of mattresses on offer, the last thing to consider is the finish. The mattress cover, or ticking, can give you an indication as to the quality of the mattress you are looking at. A bonded or stitchbond fabric may be found on budget range mattresses, polyester on cheaper models, while knitted / woven cotton or viscose provide a better quality finish.

Quilted mattresses attach the upper fillings to the cover to create a smooth surface and decorative finish.

A tufted mattress will be recognisable by tags at regular intervals creating, for example, a diamond shape effect on the surface of the mattress. These tags are in place to secure tapes that have been threaded through the mattress to prevent the movement of loose fillings inside the mattress.

A hand-stitched mattress is of a higher quality than the quilted or tufted mattress, and will keep its shape for longer.