In the best grade of solid cotton mattresses a longer-fibered cotton is used. These fibers are picked apart and interlaced by a felting process into thin layers, which are placed one upon the other. This felting, plus tufting or quilting, keeps the upholstery in place and retards the tendency toward lumping. A good felted mattress will give service for many years, but constant use eventually will destroy its resilience and produce lumps.
Between the blown cotton and the felted cotton mattresses in price range is found a combination mattress consisting of top and bottom layers of felted cotton, with a center of loose cotton. As the description implies, it is better than an all-blown cotton mattress and inferior to an all-felted one.
Curled Hair Mattresses.
Before the advent of the inner-spring unit, the curled hair mattress was the aristocrat of the mattress field. It is still favored by many persons who prefer to sleep on a comparatively firm foundation.
Animal hair, when permanently curled, has considerable resilience, as each hair is turned into a tiny spring. Four types of hair are used for mattresses. In order of value, they are: Horse-tail hair, cattle-tail hair, horse-mane hair, and hog hair.
These types of hair frequently are mixed to produce mattress fillings of varying degrees of resilience and softness. They vary in price and quality according to the percentage of each type that is used.
An advantage of the curled hair mattress is that it can be opened whenever desired and rebuilt, restoring the original resilience. Some new hair is usually added with each rebuilding. To give satisfactory service a curled hair mattress should be rebuilt every 5 to 7 years.
Kapok Mattresses.
With the exception of cotton, the only vegetable fiber used in making mattresses is kapok, which comes from the pod of a tropical tree. Kapok mattresses are soft, are moisture and vermin proof, and are light and easy to handle. The fibers, however, have a tendency to pulverize and form lumps. This tendency may be retarded by sunning the mattress frequently. Packing the kapok into compartments adds to its durability. Long life, however, should not be emphasized in selling a kapok mattress.