Of all the things affecting the mattress industry right now, foam shortages and price hikes are at the top of the list—which is why so many mattress manufacturers are pushing alternatives to foam.
One of which is Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co., which has been working on new ways to use its coil and fiber solutions to replace foam across different products.
For example, the company’s Micro Comfort Layer micro-coil system is one foam replacement option that features coil counts as high as 5,000 for a queen-size mattress and can be used in various mattress types, like hybrids and beds in a box.
HSM’s Inner Rest coil products line can substitute for or offset the amount of foam used in mattress edge supports.
And the company’s Flexecore glue-free spring system, which debuted last year, can also be used to replace layers of foam typically used in the mattress-making process. It’s constructed of fine gauge wire and sonically welded fabric combined in a concertina construction pattern, which eliminates the glue that is used to bond coil springs.
Leggett and Platt also found a way around foam shortages by adding more of its NanoCoils to its mattresses to give them a profile when there’s no foam to fill the space.
When it comes to foam material alternatives, Enkev has been a leader and its proprietary mattress material has even been nominated for Green Products Award.
The spaghetti-like mattress layer blends fully recyclable, synthetic fibers to create a comfort layer designed to replace polyurethane foams and other mattress materials.
Durability testing shows Labyrinth loses only five percent of its thickness after rolling a 140-kilogram weight over the material 60,000 cycles.
And according to the company’s website, they compare it to a breeze blowing on a hot summer day where “the horizontal air movement caused by natural body movement during the hours of sleep gives you the most comfortable micro-climate.”
Dos Marcos recently did a podcast talking about raw material alternatives, and they made the point that today, many bedding producers choose to go vertical in producing their own raw material to achieve consistent supply.
We are in uncharted territory here. The industry has never seen raw material shortages and price increases all hitting the market at the same time.
The futurist Doug Stephens said recently that there were two things that could topple companies in the next few years if they don’t get it right. First, you have to be creative in how you approach your business, more now than ever.
But you also have to be able to change at a rapid rate, which for some is not that easy to do.
One thing we know for sure is that change is a certainty these days.
