In 2011 Sleep Well began studying the science of sleep and the bedding environment. After much research, and product testing we developed a simple yet effective approach to a better bedding system.
We were astounded at the difference the right products in the bedding system make to our sleep and we want to share these benefits with you. The products we offer, we have tested for ourselves and are personally convinced of their benefits. We are sure that you will be too.
Our story began earlier after the birth of our second child when we purchased a new bed for ourselves. It revolutionised the way we slept, and radically changed the way we functioned during the day ...despite the broken nights.
However what we began to experience turns out to be a very familiar story for many - we purchased a highly regarded bed from a major New Zealand retail chain. It was considered top of the line and had a similar value to our car - but...
Within six months the bed began to sag where we slept, and developed a large ridge down the middle. Just over a year later it went back to the factory and the company replaced all the springs, comfort layers and the fabric on the top. Less than a year later, it went to the factory a second time to replace the springs that were catching on each other. A few months after that it needed to go back a third time because the sags had come back. We had had enough and were able to reject it under the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act.
Our experience was like many other people's, not only in New Zealand but throughout Australia and the US. What we were hearing from overseas was that the quality of the components, from the steel used in the springs to the polyurethane in the comfort layers, had been dramatically reduced. Where beds used to last 20-25 years now seem to develop issues in as few as 2-3 months.
A common and consistent issue we were hearing is how hot the mattresses have become as a result of all the so called comfort layers compacting down in the pillow-top, trapping heat around the sleeper. The beds that felt great in the showroom, were consistently creating issues at home after a very short time. After a quick investigation, it didn't take us long to find out what people were turning to as an alternative.
Petroleum based memory-foam was getting a bad name for being hot, smelly, damp, a host to dustmites and other allergens, as well as having a variable service life. Latex on the other-hand was consistently getting much better independent customer reviews.
We bought our first latex mattress and it was fairly good. It had good pressure relieving attributes, was better than memory foam in temperature regulation and we had no problems at all with allergens. Compared to a conventional sprung-mattress, it was a winner.
We were amazed by how many people we were hearing from who were dissatisfied with their beds and their sleep. They said that their beds were too hard or had become too soft, sagged in places, developed big ridges down the middle, were too hot, no longer supportive and so on. Many of these beds were less than five years old!
Before long we had helped a few family members and friends with similar purchases and they too benefited from improved sleep. We also began to explore the other components that make up the sleep environment and came to understand the importance of breatheability in the whole bed system.
We ditched our luxury down duvet for a wool one and immediately benefited from better sleep, our Deep Sleep and REM Sleep time was being increased giving us a much better quality sleep. Despite broken nights with additional children joining the family, we were much better equipped to face each day.
While our standard latex mattress was most satisfactory compared to what we had sampled so far, we felt that it was still missing something and it still tended to sleep a bit hot.
As latex becomes scarcer, it is becoming increasingly expensive. This is due in part to an increase in demand, but also due to the incredible distances the resource must travel. Yes latex can be grown sustainably, but it also must travel a long way in its raw form from the tropical growing regions to where it is manufactured into a mattress. Radium Foam on the other hand are based in Germany and have developed high quality natural foams derived from locally produced Sunflower oil. By mixing and frothing sunflower oil with water, a highly durable and environmentally sustainable foam can be made that breathes as well as latex, and can even outperform latex in durability tests.
We looked closely at how we could introduce this premium product to the smaller New Zealand market, and were introduced to a company in Italy who use foam derived from Sunflower oil in their mattress lines. They also share a very similar approach to the whole bedding system.
Dorsal is a family run company near Venice in northern Italy employing forty people.
Sourcing our bases, mattresses and pillows from Italy has several advantages. One is that Dorsal export their range to over twenty different countries world-wide and have an extensive range of products to meet the world market.
Another advantage is that Italy lies at a similar latitude north, as New Zealand does south. They have a range of bed systems that have been designed for a climate that is similar to ours. In fact the Italian climate is a lot harsher with hotter summers and colder winters and often have higher humidity than what we experience in New Zealand.
A third advantage is that the lovely team at Dorsal genuinely care that people sleep well. Not only do they keep developing innovative products, but Dorsal are responsive and quick to fine-tune their products to suit each market's subtle differences.
Slatted bed bases gained some popularity in NZ in the late '80s and '90s but the technology often did not keep up with the latest European developments. In NZ the slats were said to sag, break and loose support. However, the slats and the slat-holders used here were often based on designs and materials no longer used overseas and despite their popularity in Europe (still used in over 70% of European beds) and their growing use in America, they are seldom seen in NZ.
What we have seen with New Zealand bedding manufacturing is a move to a platform base that is covered with upholstery and has solid timber slats spaced out across the surface. This has simplified the manufacturing but it has also reduced the airflow around the mattress and also means that the base is no longer providing any dynamic support or comfort to the bedding system. It is simply now a way to lift the mattress off the floor.
What we are seeing overseas, especially in places such as the US, Japan and even many parts of Europe, is a growing move towards (or back towards) slatted bed bases. Why? Because the slatted bed base is designed to work in synergy with the mattress in providing support and increase the comfort in the sleep environment.
Most slatted bed bases also incorporate a degree of adjustability. Even if it is just one or two sliders to change the firmness in the lumbar, this can make all the difference in the level of support a person needs.
The slatted bed base can accommodate changes in requirements as the body changes over time and even if the mattress changes as the layers free-up. But most importantly, it does what no solid base can do, and that is work with your mattress to bring support and comfort through dynamic pressure relief.
No one would purchase a high performance car yet leave out the suspension and handling system. Why? Because the suspension is an integral part of the car's design. While the car may feel comfortable enough in a showroom, ...if it does not have working suspension, the ride will be a disaster.
The bed base is an equally integral and indispensable part of the bed system. A bedding system that incorporates a properly matched flexible slatted bed base will be working fully to its best potential and will have a much greater capacity, potential and ability to provide a better climate, better support and better comfort - and a better sleep.
There is a vehicle that works really well without suspension. It's called a tractor.
When you purchase your Intelligent Bedding Systems from Sleep Well, you can rest in the knowledge that the systems have been tried, tested and proven to increase the quality of your sleep potential.
Read the Bedware Story here
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