What use is my futon mattress for?

This is an interesting area for discussion and can, sometimes, be confusing when confronted by words like layers, natural and tri-fold to name but a few. What we’ll look at here is how to go about making the correct choice of futon mattress to suit your requirements. This is the first question to ask and what you need to look at here is what is the main use of our futon mattress? Is it for sleeping on every night, is it for sitting on as our sofa, is it for a guest bed or even a bit of each of these? So let’s start with………



A Futon Mattress for every night sleeping.

More and more people are now using a futon as the mattress on their main bed, this mainly being due to the good support that a futon mattress offers by molding itself to the shape of your body forming what we would call a people shaped impression on the futon mattress. We would recommend using this type of futon mattress on top of a wood slatted bed frame, tatami matting or, providing it is regularly turned, directly on a wood floor.

The main question to look at here is regarding comfort, or firmness, levels. Our most popular futon mattress for everyday sleeping is the 8 Layer Traditional Futon Mattress which, as the name suggests, is constructed in a traditional manner using simple layers of lambswool as the top and bottom layers and woolfelt layers in-between. This type of futon mattress will provide a firm but supportive feel and is a popular choice for people who are accustomed to sleeping on futons. 

Every night use continued.....

The next stage on from the Traditional Futon Mattress is to look at a type of futon that has a medium softer feel, making it a great choice if you are moving from a conventional sprung mattress to a futon for the first time. Here we would recommend our Pocket FutoFlex Futon Mattress which, in addition to the lambswool and woolfelt layers features a mini pocket spring layer in the middle of the futon which ensures that this type of mattress has more give or rebound to it, therefore providing the support of a futon mattress with a medium soft feel.

In addition to the above two futon mattresses, which are the two most popular choices, we can offer another medium feel futon in the Supreme Natural Latex Futon Mattress which is manufactured again using layers of lambswool top and bottom but this time we use layers of a cotton-rich filling (mixed with a small amount of polyester fibres) and a central core of natural latex foam (made from latex sap from rubberwood trees). This type of futon mattress is a good choice if you want a slightly softer feel but without the use of the pocket springs found in the Pocket FutoFlex.



Cottonsafe...the natural choice!

For customers looking for a truly natural product don't forget to have a look at our full range of CottonSafe Natural Futon Mattresses which are upholstered in the lovely CottonSafe fabric, a blend of Organic Cotton and Wool that passes UK fire regulations naturally without the need for industry standard chemical treatments making it a great choice for safe sleeping, we have a dedicated range of Cottonsafe futon bed mattresses and can also now offer the Cottonsafe fabric as an upgrade option on any of our futon bed or sofa bed mattresses..

A Futon Mattress for my Sofa Bed

I guess the most common use for a futon mattress is providing seat cushioning and a mattress for a futon sofa bed so when selecting your new futon you need to take a few points into consideration, the main point to start with is;

Is my futon a two seater or three seater sofa?

A simple question but very important as the type and quantity of fillings and the way the futon mattress folds are very different between two and three seaters….



My Futon is a two seater…

Well, if your futon sofa bed is a two seater then the futon mattress should be folding on it in a semi-S kind of fashion, like our picture here, this type of futon mattress is often referred to as a tri-fold or three fold meaning it folds into three sections; two on the seat and one up the back. This type of tri fold futon mattress is usually used when the futon is required to be a part time sofa and part time bed, i.e. for guest use. Typically the Tri-Fold Futon will be around a 6-layer thickness, close to 14/15cms and filled using lambswool on the top and bottom layers with woolfelt inbetween and a central layer of rebound polyester to ensure the futon stands up correctly on the frame.

My Futon is a two seater…

My Futon is a three seater…

My favorite type really, three seater futons make great sofas and are generally easy to convert from a sofa to a bed and back again. On a three seat futon sofa bed the futon mattress usually folds in an L-shape, i.e. folding once lengthways, as per our picture here. These types of futon mattresses are often referred to as bi-fold or two-fold. The big question to look at here is how often do you use the futon as this will influence which type of futon filling to go for..




My Futon is a three seater…



I use my three seat futon as my main sofa…

If this is the case then we would suggest looking at a futon mattress with a strong foam core, such as reflex or high density foam, to ensure that the futon mattress is resilient to regular use. We offer our Ultimate Foam Futon Mattress for this purpose which uses layers of lambswool on the top and bottom, woolfelt inbetween and then sandwiched layers of rebound polyester and reflex foam, giving a thickness of around 16cm. This type of futon mattress has been present since around 1994 so is a well proven choice for regular use. Again we offer an option to upgrade to cotton rich futon fillings if you require a bit more bounce to your futon mattress.
My three seat futon is in a guest room…

Many futon sofa beds are used in guest rooms, home offices and kids playrooms and if this is the case our standard Twin Loft Futon Mattress makes a great choice. This type of futon mattress is around 16cms thick and is made up using layers of lambswool, woolfelt and two central layers of rebound polyester, a stiff filling designed to keep the futon mattress standing correctly on the frame. Finally, if you’d like more bounce in your futon you take the option for cotton rich futon fillings.

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