Finally the American consumer has access to ”Swedish” mattresses. The lines that have made their way to America are Duxiana, Hastens and Carpe Diem. They share a very distinctive plush feel. All three have that unique luxurious feel due to the “top mattress” design that they share. It is a 2-4 inch separate pillow top that is not attached to the main mattress. Because it is not attached you get an immediate responsive plushness that cannot be duplicated by any other technology.
The Swedes developed the “top mattress” centuries ago. Sweden is subject to long dark damp winters, and the Swedes did not like the very musty oder that would permeate their homes. They discovered that if they exposed their household items to the sun during their short summer, the mustiness would be removed. The scientific reason was that sunlight is a source of UV radiation, which is what hospitals and modern air purifiers use to disinfect. Transporting the entire mattress into the sunlight was difficult, but a separate “top mattress” was relatively easy to remove and expose to the sun to be re-freshed. They discovered a collateral benefit of this separate ”top mattress”, it greatly increased their comfort and added a more responsive feel, since it was not attached to the main mattress.
Beyond the plush surface feel, Duxiana, Hastens, and Carpe Diem use a more responsive coil design than conventional American mattresses, they utilize all include 2 or more layers of coils in their sleep systems. There is a select few “handmade” American mattresses that utilize a “coil on coil”system. That would be the ones that still use true coils in their “box spring”. The coils in those true “box springs” are very stiff and aren’t as responsive as the base coils in the “Swedish” lines. An exception would be Vi-Spring from England that does utilize pocketed coils in their “divan”, box spring.
How do the three compare? Duxiana’s main support and response component is a responsive continuous coil system. The single wire is used to construct an entire coil layer, depending on the model, there can be up to 3 layers of coils. There are two possible disadvantages of this coil technology. Since the coils are all attached there is not a true seperation from one coil to the other and so there is potential for a “hammock effect” also if there are partners involved they will definitely feel each other’s movement.
Both Hastens and Carpe Diem utilize the pocketed coil technology. The “independently encased coil” technology has been recognized as the best design for 3 main reasons. First, since each coil is truly independent from the other this technology really contours to the curves of the body, that is important for proper body alignment and eliminating pressure points. Second, the coils are compressed by 20% inside the encasement. Coils that are not compressed can take a 15%-20% set, ”pocketed coils” are already compressed they will not sag over time. Third, since “pocketed coils” are truly independant they also isolate movement between partners. Hastens, means horse in Swedish. Their cushioning component are natural fibers, the primary one being horse hair. Horse hair is very durable, and relatively resilent. The downside to all natural fibers is that they can require some maintenance since over time the may compress. The Hastens mattress and “top mattress” will require some fluffing and “massaging” periodically.
Duxiana and Carpe Diem use as their cushioning components, some natural fibers but the most important one is natural latex. Latex is extremely resilent and requires no maintenance. There is one other mattress that is refered to as a “Swedish mattress”, Tempur-pedic, but that is another story for another time.