Ergonomic mattresses promise healthy sleep

Branded spring and latex mattresses are gaining popularity among discerning consumers seeking quality, healthful sleep.

"More consumers of the upper class are now aware that there is a direct link between quality mattresses and healthful sleep," said PT Slumberland Indonesia marketing manager Ali Sastro Utomo.

Many consumers make an effort to gather detailed information on quality mattresses, such as the materials used inside them, before deciding on a purchase. "Therefore, we provide informative catalogs or brochures for consumers," he said.

Isye Cecilia, sales executive of the UK's PT Dunlopillo Indonesia shares Ali Sastro Utomo's view, saying that a survey by the company recently concluded that many consumers seek mattresses that puts health first. "They consider quality and the health effects of a mattress as vital," Isye said.

Consumers no longer see softness as the only criteria for choosing a mattress, because softness does not necessarily mean healthy and comfortable, she said.

Even though there are different types of mattresses, such as spring, foam and latex, quality mattresses allow for shoulder and hip mobility while providing correct support for the lower back to prevent negative effects on a sleeper's spine, said an expert at www.comfortdirect.com.

"The mattresses have to adapt to the anatomy and the individual requirements of the sleeper to allow one sleeper to relax and recuperate his or her body," the website quoted the expert.

The growing consciousness among consumers on healthful sleep has encouraged mattress producers to focus on health issues in promoting their products. Health issues are included in the top lures for potential customers, whether for spring, foam or latex mattresses.

For instance, Slumberland Indonesia, which produces both spring and latex mattresses, has developed its Ergopaedic system highlighting the 12 Body Comfort Zones as remedies for the increasing health problems faced by people today, such as sleeping disorders and back and spinal aches.

Ali boasted that an Ergopaedic mattress incorporating the 12 Body Comfort Zones will make sleepers feel refreshed, rested and healthy upon waking, because the design supports every part of the body. Zones Three and Four, for example, provide ultimate back support to relieve common back pains. Meanwhile, Zones Five and Six help to relieve fatigue and ease painful joints through the use of specially designed pocketed posture springing (PPS) springs that provide firm, but not rigid, support.

The company also says its Posture Spring System enables sound sleep because the interrelated springs support the entire body weight in a natural posture. "The more springs used means the more points for distributing and supporting body weight. As a result, the sleeper sleeps well and wakes without any back pains or aches in the neck," Ali said.

Spring mattresses are the preferred choice among Indonesian consumers because, in addition to a range of prices, they also offer good ventilation.

Industry players say that a quality spring mattress has an air cushion in the spring unit to enable the mattress to adapt to the sleeper's body temperature quickly and without accumulating heat, which provides good moisture regulation. "A mattress should have adequate ventilation so that the body will not produce too much perspiration during sleep that will be absorbed by the mattress," said marketing manager Rob Nijkrake of the U.S.' PT King Koil International Indonesia.

A spring mattress can be purchased for Rp700,000, but the price of branded, quality spring mattresses range from Rp 2 million to Rp 30 million, depending on design, construction, mattress layers, density and thickness. Natural latex mattresses, on the other hand, sell for between Rp 4 million and Rp 60 million.

Dunlopillo Indonesia, which specializes in natural latex mattresses for upmarket consumers, boasted that the lure of its latex mattresses was their resistance to microbes and dust mites, microscopic creatures that live by the millions in a bed. Natural latex mattresses thus provides a healthful, germ-free environment for safe and comfortable sleep.

"In addition, latex mattresses provides ventilation to prevent body heat from being trapped in the mattress and prevents moisture build-up," said Isye. "Latex mattresses are mostly sought by those suffering from asthma and allergies."

King Koil's Rob Nijkrake said the company imported most of its raw materials from the U.S. to ensure that its products maintain its established top-quality standards.

For example, its Talalay model, which uses standard latex, has open round cells and thousands of ventilating ducts for better circulation and moisture control, and is thus healthy and ecologically friendly.

With such a variety of quality mattress models and designs from which to choose, today's sleepers can rest assured that they will find the right mattress to support their physiological and health needs.