Mattress covers or mattress protectors are designed to protect your mattress from everyday use and provide a barrier to allergens, whilst a mattress topper is also designed to provide extra comfort or support and may help to extend the life of a mattress.
At Sleep Limited we recommend that you replace your synthetic duvet at least every 5 years and synthetic pillows more frequently every 2-3 years. A good quality natural duvet can last up to 10 years, with natural pillows lasting up to 5 years.
| Term | Explanation |
|---|
| Air Flow | Holes are pre cut in the foam providing improved air flow through the product. |
| Allergy | Sometimes the body reacts to certain substances such as house dust, dust mite droppings or down and feathers. A person having an allergic reaction may suffer from skin irritation, runny nose, watering eyes, sneezing or in severe cases an asthma attack. |
| Anti-bacterial | Bedding products that help to prevent allergies and bacterial growth are termed anti-allergy. They may provide a barrier to allergens for example an anti-allergy mattress or pillow protector. Sometimes manufactures use chemical treatments to create anti-allergy products. |
| Cassette construction | Rectangular pockets to keep the filling evenly spread when in use. No more cold spots and filling trapped in the end of the duvet! |
| Double stitched seams | Two rows of stitching are provided for improved strength. |
| Down | The soft clusters found on the breast of a duck or goose. Down is very good at trapping air and so keep you warm. Down has no quill and so is lightweight and very soft. |
| Dust mite | A tiny microbiological creature that lives on house dust. Found in even the cleanest of homes, they tend to live in the mattress. Their droppings may cause allergies. |
| Easy Care | An easy care finish can be applied to fabrics which will reduce the need to iron the product. |
| Egyptian Cotton Fabrics | Soft tightly woven fabric that has been manufactured from fine, long and strong cotton fibre. |
| Elasticized Corner Straps | Lengths of elastic attached to the Topper that ensures it stays in position on the mattress. The elastic wraps under the corner of the mattress. |
| Firm rating pillow | Pillows are classed from soft to firm. Soft providing little support, firm providing maximum support. |
| g/m2 | This is the weight per square meter of the filling. The higher the g/m2 rating the thicker the filling. |
| Hollowfibre | Cylindrical shaped fibre e.g. the same shape as hose pipe. This traps air more effectively than a solid fibre and so makes a duvet warmer. Similarly the hollow fibre shape is harder to bend and so provides structure and loft. It is therefore possible to increase warmth and loft for less weight. |
| Mattress enhancer/ Topper. | A topper for the mattress that can be up to 12cm thick to provide extra comfort. An enhancer may help to extend the life of an older mattress or provide extra softness to a firmer mattress. |
| Mattress protector/ Cover. | A covering for the mattress to provide protection against everyday spills or a barrier to allergens. |
| Memory Foam | Viscose elastic foam that will retain its original shape after each use. |
| Percale | A closely woven, plain weave fabric. The high thread count gives the fabric a soft, silk-like feel. Used for bedding sheets, bedspreads and the higher quality duvet cover. Percale fabrics have a thread count of 180 and above. (Higher thread counts indicate higher quality fabrics.) |
| Piped edge | The high-quality finish on a duvet, pillow or used as part of the design on bedding. Fabric is stitched around a cord and secured into the seam. |
| Plain Dyed | A piece of fabric that has been dyed one colour |
| Polyester | The man-made fibre derived from oil based products used to fill most synthetic duvets and pillows. Polyester is non-allergenic, provides good warmth and is very affordable, but is less breathable than naturally occurring fillings such as down and feather. Polyester is normally used in a blend for bedding fabrics. |
| Sizes | The most common bed sizes in the U.K. are:-
Single: 91cm x 191cm = 3ft x 6ft 3"
Double: 137cm x 191cm = 4ft 6" x 6ft 3"
King: 152cm x 198cm = 5ft x 6ft 6"
Super King: 183cm x 198cm = 6ft x 6ft 6"
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| Sprung Polyester | A “polyester” fibre that is spiral shaped to provide improved shape and recovery. |
| Teflon | A coating applied to the fabric surface to protect against staining and minor spillages. |
| Tog | The tog value that often appears on duvets is a measure of their warmth or insulating value, technically called thermal resistance. The term is in common usage in the textile industry as the unit of thermal resistance.
The higher the number the greater the heat retained. The lowest tog value is 4.5 and they increase in 1.5 intervals to a maximum of 15.
Tog rating is simply a measure of how efficient the duvet is in preventing that heat from escaping.
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| Wadding | This is the polyester filling trapped between the two layers of fabric. |
Snorban
Synthetic
