What Is a Natural Mattress and Is It Worth the Extra Cost?
If you've been shopping for a new mattress, you've probably noticed the word "natural" appearing more and more. It sounds appealing, and it often comes with a higher price tag, so it's fair to ask what you're getting for the money. This guide explains what a natural mattress is, how it feels to sleep on, and how to decide whether it's the right choice for you.
What Counts As A Natural Mattress?
A natural mattress uses fibres from plants and animals for its comfort layers, where other mattresses would use foam. The most common materials are wool, cotton, silk, cashmere-type fibres and plant-derived fabrics such as viscose. These sit on top of a spring unit, which provides the support.
The word natural covers a range of designs, so the materials list is the best place to see exactly what's inside the mattress you're considering. Our product pages name each fibre and tell you where it comes from.
What Does A Natural Mattress Feel Like?
Natural fibres are springy and breathable, so a natural mattress tends to have a more traditional feel. You lie a little more on top of the surface, and the cushioning comes from many layers of fibre that compress gently under you.
Wool is the material that a lot of the work. It's resilient, so it holds its shape well, and it's very good at managing moisture and letting air move through the mattress. That's why wool-rich mattresses have such a good reputation for temperature regulation, and it's a big part of their appeal if you tend to feel warm at night.
How We Make Ours
Our Natural Hybrid® range was designed with one aim: to combine natural materials with our patented Simba technology. There are three mattresses in the range, and all three combine natural cushioning layers with our patented Aerocoil® titanium alloy microsprings.
Source |
Escape |
Apex |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Layers |
8 |
10 |
12 |
|
Depth |
28cm |
30cm |
32cm |
|
Aerocoil® comfort layers |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Natural cushioning |
British wool and Hampshire wool |
British wool and Hampshire wool |
British wool, Hampshire wool, cashgora and silk |
|
Base |
CoreMax™ sprung base |
CoreMax™ sprung base |
CoreMax™ sprung base |
What makes our Natural Hybrid® range different:
- The Hampshire wool we use is sourced under the Traceable British Wool Scheme, in partnership with British Wool.
- The cover is a silky, plant-derived viscose with smooth, invisible tufting, so the sleep surface feels even.
- The microsprings sit at the top of the mattress, where comfort matters most, and they gently push air through the layers as they compress.
- Like all our mattresses, the Natural Hybrid® range is designed to feel medium-firm, with a cradled feeling in the top layers and firmer support in the base.
Where Does The Extra Cost Come From?
Natural fibres cost more to source than synthetic fillings, and you need a lot of them to build deep, comfortable layers. Traceable British wool, silk and cashgora are premium materials, and working with them takes skilled hands. Our Natural Hybrid® mattresses are sourced and hand-crafted in an established UK factory, creating local jobs wherever we can.
It's also worth knowing that the step up isn't always as big as you'd expect. The Source starts at a similar price to our Hybrid® Pro, so choosing natural materials can be a question of preference as much as budget.
Is It Worth It For You?
A natural mattress is likely to be worth the investment if any of these matter to you:
- You'd like the feel of wool over foam. If you've always slept on a traditional sprung mattress and loved it, a natural hybrid will feel familiar, with the added benefit of microsprings for pressure relief.
- Sustainability is a priority. Our Natural Hybrid® mattresses are glue free and foam free, which makes them easier to recycle at the end of their life.
- You're sensitive to allergens. Breathable, responsibly processed materials such as cotton and wool can help naturally deter potential allergens from settling in.
If you love a more contouring feel, our Hybrid® range might suit you better. These mattresses pair the same Aerocoil® microsprings with Simbatex® foam, which gives you all the comfort of memory foam without the heat. Both ranges are built around the same medium-firm feel and the same Simba sleep tech, so you're always choosing between two premium options.
Finishing The Bed In Natural Fibres
If you're choosing a natural mattress, it makes sense to carry the same thinking with your bedding. Breathable sheets let the wool underneath do its job properly, and you'll find gorgeous cotton and linen bedding in our collection, in a choice of fabrics and colours, along with mattress protectors that fit mattresses up to 40cm deep.
Caring For A Natural Mattress
Natural fillings settle a little over the first few months, which is completely normal. To keep them comfortable for longer, rotate your Natural Hybrid® mattress regularly during those first months and then twice a year after that. You don't need to flip it. We also recommend a mattress protector to guard against spills.
FAQs
Our Natural Hybrid® mattresses are delivered flat, wrapped in damp-proof plastic with cardboard corner protectors, and they're ready to sleep on straight away. They're quite heavy, so we recommend choosing delivery to your room of choice.
They're available in standard UK sizes. If you need a European size, you'll find those in our Hybrid® range.
Yes. Every new Simba mattress comes with a 200-night trial. If you decide it isn't for you within that time, we'll collect it for free and refund the cost of the mattress.
All new Natural Hybrid® mattresses come with our 10-year guarantee.
We think they're a lovely choice for children, because they combine natural materials with supportive springs. But for bunk beds and raised beds, we recommend our Hybrid® Kids mattress, which has a shallower 16cm depth to meet safety regulations.
Sometimes, yes. Our Refurbished range includes Natural Hybrid® mattresses when they're available, each with a 30-night trial and a 1-year guarantee.
