Glossary
The glossary below provides a number of words and phrases you'll see on our website, related to Hypnos beds and mattresses - just click on the relevant word below to find out more information:
Active turns
Alpaca
Bamboo
Camel hair
Cashmere
Coir
Comfort layers
Cotton
eOlusTM
Euro headboards and strutted headboards
Hand side stitching
Hand teasing
Hand tufting
Horsehair/tail
Latex
Mattress protector
Mohair
Pocket springs
ReActive™ pocket springs
Seasonal turn vs no turn mattresses
Silk
Silver
Steel spring
Ticking
UltraSens™ Pocket Springs
White hair
Wool
Active turns refers to the number of coils in a spring. The more active turns in a single continuous pocket spring, the greater its ability to sense the exact comfort and support requirement of you and your partner, seamlessly and smoothly spreading vertical downward pressure.
A single continuous pocket spring also creates a ‘bellows-like’ affect that drives cool air around the mattress and facilitates greater hygiene. This extra breathability ensures better ventilation, helping to reduce moisture and maintain a comfortable body temperature for a healthy, relaxing and energising night’s sleep.
Alpaca
Alpaca is made up of hollow fibres that allow water molecules to move freely, which in turn keeps you cool and dry during the night. The fibres are almost indestructible, providing a strong and durable filling when added to a mattress. Alpaca benefits those who suffer from allergies as it naturally does not harbour dust-mites or their allergens which cause asthma or allergies in the bedroom. This makes alpaca an excellent filling for a more comfortable and healthy night’s sleep.
Bamboo
Bamboo is a natural and sustainable resource. Due to its natural antibacterial properties, bamboo is resistant to fungi, pests and bacteria, which can help avoid allergic reactions. Bamboo has the added benefit of being able to wick away moisture, and is about three to four times more absorbent than cotton making it the perfect fibre to be used in mattresses and in mattress ticks.
Camel hair
Camel hair is used in a mattress due to its excellent thermostatic properties. The fibres have great moisture wicking properties keeping you dry and your mattress fresh, with the added benefit of providing a soft and comfortable feel.
Cashmere
Cashmere has a unique softness and adds a luxurious feel to a mattress. The fibre is naturally stretchy which ensures you can benefit from the exquisitely soft filling. The high moisture content allows its insulation properties to change with the relative humidity in the air helping keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Coir
Coir is extremely durable and adds to the spring of a mattress or divan. It is a naturally sourced insulator and is heat and moisture resistant, which prevents the mattress from overheating.
Comfort layers
Hypnos comfort layers sit on top of the mattress and provide an extra layer of comfort, increasing the contact area you have with the bed and cocooning your body whilst you sleep.
Cotton
Cotton is a naturally soft and fluffy fibre which provides great ventilation for a mattress, wicking away perspiration and high humidity. The fibres have great absorbency features allowing the filling to breathe naturally. Cotton is strong and durable, making it a hygienic and comfortable filling to be added to a mattress.
eOlusTM
eOlusTM is made from re-using discarded polymer-based bottles which helps conserve natural resources and decreases the use of landfill sites and reduces pollution. eOlusTM is created using a unique vertically-crimped design which allows air to pass through it easily, helping to actively regulate body temperature. It acts as a breathable layer that reduces moisture compared to foam, yet provides a similar soft feel like that of foam. No harsh chemicals are used in the manufacturing process, and there are no ‘end-of-life’ disposal issues which means it can be 100% recycled.
Euro headboards and strutted headboards
A Euro headboard is upholstered all the way to the floor and is available in the same width as the divan (Euro slim), or slightly wider than the divan (Euro wide). A strutted headboard is attached to the divan with two struts and rises from the top of the mattress.
Hand side stitching
Side stitching is a process by which our craftsmen stitch by hand the outer row of pocket springs to the side panels of the mattress. The benefit of this is to prevent the edge of the bed sagging, creating true edge-to-edge support and increasing the sleeping surface.
Hand teasing
This labour intensive process is the age-old craft of separating the fibres of the natural fillings used in the layers of the mattress. It is necessary to tease the fibres carefully by hand in order to achieve an even layer of soft upholstery. Hand Teased Hair provides a luxurious loft and has excellent resilience. This also helps regulate body temperature. Hand teased lambswool acts as a natural insulator, and also benefits from having hydroscopic properties encouraging the evaporation of body moisture. This helps create a more comfortable and fresh sleeping environment.
Hand tufting
Tufting is the process by which ‘tufts’ are threaded from one side of the mattress to the other, creating the distinctive mattress surface made up of ‘fabric buttons’. The advantage of hand tufting is that it allows the craftsman to create the precise level of firmness required from the mattress, as well as creating internal pockets to hold the fillings in place.
Horsehair/tail
Horsehair is an amazing filling to be added to a mattress. The fibres have an inherent strength and springiness so they won’t break or lose its natural flexibility, helping to restore the integrity of a mattress. Each strand cushions and supports every contour of your body. Horsehair has its own built in ventilation system, allowing moisture to pass through the hollow strands transporting humidity away from the body creating a comfortable micro-climate. As the fibre has a greater surface area, it can wick away moisture helping to regulate body temperature as well as being quick drying. Horsehair creates an ideal sleep environment.
Latex
Latex is naturally derived from the rubber tree moulded with air pockets for breathability, it is the most naturally durable cushioning material available. Latex has a natural elasticity which recovers its shape quickly when pressure is removed, providing superior back support and outstanding pressure relief. In turn this reduces the tossing and turning that interrupts sleep. This resilient and long lasting filling has exceptional moisture-absorbing and thermal qualities which reduces the heat build-up typically associated with other types of foam. Latex has the added benefit of being anti-microbial, dust mite resistant and hypo-allergenic making it an ideal filling for allergy sufferers. By conforming quickly to the shape of your body, it provides excellent support and cushioning.
Mattress protector
The Hypnos wool mattress protector helps protect your mattress against dust mites by creating an environment whereby they cannot survive. This creates a more hygienic and clean sleeping environment, as well as helping to regulate your body temperature.
Mohair
Mohair is a luxurious fibre which acts as a strong and durable filling in a mattress. The natural fibre helps regulate body temperature keeping you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It is often blended with silk, where it becomes the strongest natural fibre.
Pocket springs
Pocket springs are individual springs, each located in their own fabric ‘pocket’. This means each spring can move independently, without being affected by the movement of another spring. This is important as two people sharing a bed can move on a high quality pocket spring mattress without disrupting the sleep of their partner.
ReActive™ pocket springs
The more active turns in a single continuous pocket spring the greater its ability to sense the exact comfort and support requirement of you and your partner, seamlessly and smoothly spreading vertical downward pressure. ReActive™ pocket springs have up to 10 active turns.
Seasonal turn vs no turn mattresses
These terms simply refer to how frequently your mattress should be turned. As the names suggest, seasonal turn mattresses should be turned with the seasons i.e. every 3 months, while no turn mattresses require no turning at all, only rotating.
Silk
Silk is a luxuriously soft and sensuous fibre with exceptional moisture-absorbing and thermal qualities helping to regulate body temperature throughout the year. Silk is a very strong and durable filling and has the added benefit of being very breathable, allowing air to pass through quickly.
Silver
Silver is added to a mattress as it combats and dramatically reduces microbial growth which provides a fresh and hygienic sleeping surface. Silver helps create a more comfortable and healthy night’s sleep.
Steel spring
Hypnos’ patented system means that each spring can move more independently of the others, creating the most comfortable and flexible bed. Each spring reacts to the shape of your body, providing the utmost support and comfort, and avoids movement in areas that have very little pressure from your body. The spring system is heat treated to provide excellent and long lasting support.
Ticking
Ticking is the name given to the tightly woven material on the surface of a mattress.
UltraSens™ Pocket Springs
The patented UltraSens™ pocket spring has been uniquely designed to provide unparalleled support, resilience and comfort. Our intelligent ‘3-in-1’ UltraSens™ pocket spring is a progressive pocket spring that uniquely and smoothly reacts to vertical downward pressure allowing each of the three integrated tiers of active turns to collectively engage and provide dynamically controlled rebound and deep progressive support. The result is a truly rejuvenating and memorable night’s sleep.
White Hair
White hair is added to mattresses to provide loft and resilience. The fibre allows the mattress to breathe and helps give a luxurious feel.
Wool
Wool is a soft and durable sustainable fibre. This natural filling has the ability to act as a climate control unit keeping you warm in the winter and cool in the summer months, ventilating the mattress and allowing it to breathe. Wool has moisture wicking properties and can absorb twice as much moisture than cotton creating a more comfortable sleeping environment. Wool can help inhibit the growth of bacteria fungi and dust mites creating a more hygienic mattress filling. It also has the benefit of being naturally fire retardant which means it doesn’t require additional chemicals to be applied.