Welcome to the home of natural mattresses
Written by Louise Silver
When most people think about mattresses (if they think about them at all), they see a white fabric rectangle, full of springs and soft stuff, possibly with memory foam in it if you’re being fancy. And for many years, the ‘stuff’ is a mix natural or synthetic materials that do a comparable job. It doesn’t matter what’s in it, as long as it feels comfortable.
But what goes in a mattress, matters.
It matters for your health, the environment, and of course, your comfort. And when it comes to buying a mattress, convenience comes into play. This has led to a mattress industry that mass produces synthetic mattresses, coated in toxic chemicals.
Words like viscoelastic polyurethane foam, polypropylene, and triphenyl phosphate, don’t conjure visions of soft, indulgent sleep. And yet this is what millions of people choose to sleep on every night. But as we’ve become more conscious of our use of plastics and harmful materials, that’s beginning to change. According to Google Trends, interest in natural mattresses is up 60% since 2025, reflecting people’s desire to return to naturally filled, chemical-free mattresses.
Feather & Black is home to the UK’s biggest collection of natural mattresses. Sourced from experts in mattress making with a passion for doing things the right way, you’ll find the likes of Hypnos, Vispring, Sleepeezee, and Harrison Spinks all under one roof.
And unlike other retailers, we prioritise natural materials; mattresses that are sourced from nature, not synthesised in laboratories. We believe that it’s better for your sleep, the quality of our mattresses, local communities, and the environment.
Natural materials we use
Comfort layers
The perfect night’s sleep starts with that feeling of comfort. For us, that comes from a rich combination of comfort layers, all naturally sourced by our mattress manufacturers.
British wool
From Shetland to Devon and everywhere between, we work with local farmers and British Wool to guarantee a fair price for the highest quality local wool, as well as full traceability.
Wool is one of the most extraordinary materials in nature. Naturally temperature-regulating, it’s designed to keep sheep warm in winter, yet cool in summer. It achieves this thanks to its natural structure – wool fibres absorb water through a process called adsorptions, bonding moisture chemically. When this happens, it releases heat through an exothermic reaction, keeping you warm. Reversing the process absorbs heat, which cools you down when you’re hot. This is why you can wear a wool jumper in summer and not overheat.
The properties of sheep’s wool vary by breed, which is why our mattress makers source different types. For example, hardy breeds like Shetland sheep have dense wool that’s highly efficient at regulating temperature. Wensleydale sheep, on the other hand, have long, lustrous wool that’s much softer.
Sheep’s wool is also natural flame resistant. This is essential in mattress production because it allows our manufacturers to meet fire safety requirements without resorting to spraying our mattresses with synthetic, fire resistant (FR) chemicals.
With so much versatility, wool can be combined and blended to create sumptuously soft or more supportive mattresses.
Alpaca wool
Alpaca wool shares many properties with sheep’s wool. It’s naturally temperature-regulating, crimped, and comfy. But unlike sheep’s wool, it contains no lanolin, making it itch-free and safe for people with sheep wool allergies. Huacaya wool is fluffy, creating a softer mattress, while Suri wool is dreadlocked like natural silk, making it a viable alternative to silk if you want a smooth mattress feel. Most of our mattress makers source their alpaca wool from South America, the natural home of the alpaca.
Cashmere
Cashmere is a natural fibre obtained from goats; a humble origin for one of the most famously luxurious materials on the market. Coveted for its silky-smooth finish, our mattress makers use cashmere in our most luxurious mattresses. Lighter than sheep’s wool and highly breathable, if you lay on a mattress and experience cloud-like softness, cashmere is probably the reason.
Silk
Unlike cotton, which is a plant fibre made of cellulose, silk is a protein fibre produced by insects. Feed these tiny creatures enough mulberry leaves and they’ll make you an extraordinarily strong, yet silky fibre. Its low elasticity makes it unsuitable as a support layer material, but for softness and comfort, it’s hard to beat.
Our mattress makers strive to source peace silk – a type of silk derived from processes that don’t harm or kill silkworms.
Mohair
Another goat-sourced fibre, mohair is also known as the ‘diamond fibre’ for its lustre and sheen. Elastic and durable, mohair can perform a dual role as a comfort layer and support layer, creating an extra feeling of firmness to a mattress.
Cotton
Famous for its use in clothing, cotton is a natural, fully biodegradable fibre that works as a mattress filling and in the thread that holds a mattress together. Far more breathable than polyester, its synthetic alternative, cotton has been used for centuries in garments and mattresses as the natural choice for comfort.
Flax
Flax is a plant and is used in mattresses in the form of linen-like fibres. Naturally cooling and anti-bacterial, Flax absorbs sweat odours and creates airflow, making it ideal for hot weather. Stronger and more resilient than cotton, flax is often used in mattresses that people invest in for long-term performance.
Support layers in our mattresses
Mattress comfort is about support as well as softness. These layers work with mattress springs to provide the essential support that guarantees natural spinal alignment when you sleep.
Horsetail
You’ll find horsetail in our Vispring mattresses. Thanks to its tensile strength and spring-like structure, it’s used in mattresses as an alternative to metal micro-springs or memory foam. By combining the qualities of a natural, hollow fibre with the resilient springiness to survive a thousand sleeps, horsetail gives you excellent support without the downsides of man-made support layers.
Natural latex
We use the term ‘natural latex’ because synthetic latex is popular in budget mattresses. Natural latex comes from rubber trees and as such, is bouncy, springy, and resilient – just like memory foam. In fact, latex is the leading natural alternative to memory foam in mattresses. But unlike memory foam, natural latex has an open-cell structure, which creates airflow, keeping you cooler than chemical memory foam.
Hemp
Hemp has long been used in industry for its fast growth, minimal water requirements and versatile use cases. In mattresses, hemp is used for its moisture absorbing qualities and high tensile strength. Combined, this allows our mattress makers to add a resilient supportive layer that acts as a natural shock absorber alongside your springs. Like all our natural materials, it’s moisture wicking and promotes airflow, keeping you cool without the need for gels and other synthetic augmentations.
Natural alternatives: how do they compare?
Here’s the thing about natural mattresses: every lab-made material is simply a derivative of something already found in nature. For every polypropylene spring pocket, a natural calico cotton pocket was there first.
| Man-made material | Natural alternative | Pros & Cons |
| Memory foam | Natural latex | Natural latex is much more breathable than memory foam, which means that it doesn't retain heat like memory foam does. They provide comparable support and that signature 'cradling' feeling. |
| Foam | Wool | Wool is a natural resource that offers temperature-regulating qualities to a comfort layer. Unlike foam, wool wicks moisture away from your body, keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter. Different types of wool provide different comfort feels, adding extra customisation. |
| Polypropylene | Calico cotton | Calio cotton and polypropylene are both wrapped around the springs in your mattress. They act as tiny bellows, expelling moisture to keep your mattress hygenic and keeping you cool. Calio has better absorbtion, but polypropylene lasts longer. |
| FR chemicals | Wool | Regulations demand that mattresses don't catch fire. Fire retartant (FR) chemicals are used on synethtic mattresses so they comply with regulations. Wool is naturally fire-resistant, so a natural wool mattress doesn't burn. This removes the need for FR chemicals, which are bad for the environment and potentially harmful. |
Most synthetic materials in mattresses are some form of long chain polymers: plastics. And like all plastics, they’re terrible for the environment. This makes synthetic mattresses notoriously hard to recycle and when they are recycled, it’s usually just for alternative fuel. When we do use polyester in our products, we ensure that it's tufted, not glued to ensure it can be sent to the correct recycling stream.
Compare that to a natural mattress: the fillings are biodegradable and the metal in the springs can be reforged into anything – there’s no waste at all. And by sourcing locally you can reduce the production carbon footprint to a fraction of the size.
Natural mattresses also use renewable resources. Wool regrows every year on the sheep and natural fibres like hemp and flax grow rapidly and can easily be grown organically. Natural fillings and comfort layers naturally decompose at the end of their life when they can't be recycled. This helps us maintain a reasonable supply of mattresses while keeping our environmental impact as responsible as possible.
Our best natural mattresses
Hartley
The Hartley mattress is built around a double layer of pocket springs, individually nested in breathable cotton calico to deliver enhanced support and long-lasting stability.
Around the springs, you’ll find generous layers of natural fillings. Carefully selected blends of British fleece wool, cotton, bamboo, cashmere, silk, alpaca, and layered Shetland wool work together to provide resilient, supportive comfort and excellent breathability, while maintaining the mattress’s shape over time.
Finished with four layers of traditional hand side-stitching, an elegant damask cover, tailored handles, and tape edging, the Hartley reflects our dedication to expert craftsmanship, thoughtful design, and natural materials.
Solstice
If you value sustainability, heritage, and natural materials you’ll find true comfort in the Solstice mattress. Responsibly sourced Yorkshire wool provides a soft, temperature-regulating layer. For natural breathability and support, the Solstice includes homegrown flax and hemp fibres. Expertly layered by hand along with cotton, mohair, silk, cashmere, and alpaca wool, the Solstice keeps you cool in summer and warm in winter.
When you lie on a Solstice, you’ll discover that it gently encourages perfect spinal alignment and deep, restorative sleep. Unlike regular pocket spring mattresses, which have gaps by design, the Solstice uses handsewn calico pocket springs. This traditional, time-intensive process means that each pocket is sewn to the next for truly uninterrupted support and a mattress that feels designed for your body shape.
Five rows of traditional hand side-stitching and padded handles complete this masterpiece of mattress design.
Origins collection
Sleep soundly on cloud-like comfort that’s gentle on your body and on the environment. Handcrafted in Buckinghamshire, our Origins collection is endorsed by the Eden Project for being kinder to the natural world and celebrating sustainable practices.
This collection’s extraordinary comfort comes from the indulgent softness of its sustainably sourced materials. As many as five fleeces of the purest organic British lambswool go into every mattress. Combined with layers of natural latex and comfort springs, this collection effortlessly relieves the pressure of the day.
The organic wool and cotton breathable sleep surface is finished with rows of genuine hand-sewn side-stitching for complete edge-to-edge border support.
Feel the difference of a natural mattress
A quality mattress can’t be fully understood through a screen. The feel of premium fibres and the comforting support of hand-nested springs must be experienced first-hand. So when you’re ready to invest in natural sleep, visit one of our Feather & Black showrooms where you can test our recommended range in person with the help of our expert team.