A question about the wool mattress?
Find answers to your questions below:
Frequently asked questions about the Le Briand wool mattress
Choosing a wool mattress means enjoying a natural material that works for your sleep. It creates a healthy space and an experience geared toward restorative sleep through the properties of wool, which are often underestimated.
Here are the 4 main reasons to sleep on a wool mattress:
- feeling wrapped up: it also guarantees a soft, warm surface feel.
- feeling protected: it keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer by wicking moisture away.
- feeling supported: the comfort of a wool mattress can at last adapt to each sleeper, made for each sleeper and not the other way around. It is a form of made-to-measure work.
- feeling at ease: dust-mite resistant, antibacterial. You do not breathe in any VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
Beyond its comfort benefits for sleep quality, it is a choice that serves the common good, respectful of the environment, supporting national supply chains, promoting a healthier productive model and rooted in our regions.
The wool mattress is the only bedding option that is entirely natural, healthy and refurbishable while being made entirely in France.
It means committing to the common good with no compromise on comfort.
Explore all the reasons to choose the wool mattress.
Yes, wool is an excellent choice for a mattress, one that time has put to the test, because it is the only material that offers everything the body needs to create the conditions for restorative sleep, respecting its biological cycles and working with the way it functions.
What an idea it is to sleep on synthetic materials that do not breathe, on petroleum-derived materials whose make-up is romanticized so that we imagine the rest of a living body could come from lifeless, undifferentiated, chemically generated elements.
Wool is an incredibly versatile and multifunctional natural fiber. It naturally regulates temperature, absorbs moisture and encourages deeper sleep.
Here are the 4 main benefits of wool for sleep:
- Thermoregulation: it keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer, even in humid conditions.
- Hypoallergenic and healthy: it is naturally dust-mite resistant, antibacterial and gives off no VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
- Comfort and health: it reduces pressure points, helps you fall asleep quickly and improves deep sleep.
- Durability: it is a naturally hard-wearing and recyclable fiber.
Explore all the benefits of wool for a mattress.
Sheep wool offers five direct benefits for sleep:
- Thermoregulation: warm in winter, cool in summer
- Supple support: it acts like a natural spring that follows the curves of the body and springs straight back
- Calm: contact with wool steadies the heart rate and neutralises ambient formaldehyde
- Hygiene: self-cleaning and antistatic properties, no dust build-up
- Health: zero chemicals, a 100% natural and biodegradable composition
Yes — sheep wool is one of the most comfortable materials for a mattress.
It acts like a naturally soft spring: supple at the surface, it adapts to your build and to every sleeping position, with no pressure points.
Unlike memory foam, it returns to its original shape as soon as you move. Firmness can be adjusted through the amount of wool and the density of the tufting.
We make our mattresses one at a time and to measure. Prices therefore vary with the specifics of your order, with one idea in mind: letting you sleep ever more comfortably.
As a guide, you can still look at a few price references for making a wool mattress corresponding to a basic job built to our standard specifications.
Learn more about the price of a sheep wool mattress from Les Ateliers Le Briand.
Beyond a price that may be out of proportion with your budget, we like to draw the customer’s attention to two points:
✅ Weigh up the value for money of this bedding option in the light of its qualities and its durability.
✅ Do not overlook the support, advice and guidance that come with it to choose the best solution the first time around.
Criticism of this type of bedding is largely colored by subjectivity.
These mattresses are sometimes too firm for some people. Others report that a wool mattress hollows out.
But objectively, the wool mattress has nothing to envy in other types of mattress.
Quite the opposite: it has strengths that set it apart from industrial alternatives.
That is why we wrote an article to put the negative points of the wool mattress into perspective that you may read on the internet or elsewhere.
Good timing!
We asked everyone who has slept on a Le Briand wool mattress what they thought.
Read reviews of the wool mattress from verified Le Briand customers to help you move your thinking forward.
We tell you everything about the advantages and disadvantages of sleeping on a wool mattress.
Yes, all our sheep wool mattresses respect the environment throughout their life cycle, from the sheep’s back to the end of life of this natural, eco-friendly French bedding, by way of the finished product.
They never end up in landfill. They can be remade and set off again as good as new.
The sheep wool mattress is the healthiest option on the market: it contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), no chemical flame retardants and no endocrine disruptors.
Its keratin fiber — the same protein as the human nail — is non-allergenic and tolerated by sensitive skin and by people with respiratory allergies.
It is naturally flame-resistant, with no chemical treatment.
No, that is a misconception. Wool regulates temperature rather than fixing it. Wool is a natural thermoregulator that absorbs up to 33% of its weight in body moisture without ever feeling wet. Unlike synthetic materials, it avoids that clammy feeling and keeps a sense of coolness in summer while providing healthy warmth in winter.
Discover all the advantages and disadvantages of the wool mattress
No! Quite the opposite: the wool mattress absorbs the moisture given off by the sleeper’s body thanks to the extraordinary hygroscopic properties of wool.
Compared with other bedding options, the body is spared that unpleasant clammy feeling with a wool mattress. It will therefore enjoy a sense of coolness in summer.
More than 50 years and more if you have looked after it well!
Thanks to the durability of wool.
Mattresses pass through our hands that come back to the workshop with wool more than 50 years old.
That life expectancy does, however, rely on a few regular refurbishments over the life of the mattress, during which the wool is reused.
When this question is asked, it may also mean the length of use until the next refurbishment.
It is often said or written that a wool mattress lasts between 8 and 12 years.
That suggests it would have a lifespan similar to many other mattresses.
But the answer is incomplete. To be precise: the lifespan of a wool mattress is on average 8 to 12 years until its next refurbishment.
It is not unusual for us to refurbish mattresses that are more than 12 years old.
That is one of the essential advantages of the wool mattress: unlike many other mattresses, which are thrown away once worn out, the wool mattress can be remade.
Thanks to refurbishment, it is possible to have a mattress that is as good as new once again… with the same wool!
If the mattress is made properly with a made-to-measure approach (as it is at Les Ateliers Le Briand), the firmness can be adjusted to suit you.
The scale of firmness levels is far wider with wool than with any other material.
We can make wool mattresses that range from the softest to the firmest.
While the firmness can be customized as you wish, you also enjoy a soft surface feel, whatever the firmness level.
Over time, wool carries weight well. It therefore settles very little and breathes well.
Historically, the wool mattress was paired with a sprung box spring, which is why the box spring is often associated with the wool mattress. That pairing is explained as much by the historically craft nature of their making as by the comfort the combination provides.
Do you think they would have made it to the present day without delivering comfort?
Slatted technology arrived, and went on to flood the market, because it lends itself to mass production.
For a wool mattress, both technologies are possible, even if the box spring offers more synergy, in particular to spread the suspension effort better between the two elements, for the sake of comfort (subjective as that parameter is) and of longevity.
Between springs and slats, it is above all a question of experience. The range of movement is greater with springs than with slats, even flexible ones. That also means more bounce.
For information, a bed is a suspension system in which the two elements (base and mattress) work together.
For the full experience of a wool mattress, we point people toward the box spring (rather than slats), as the two make more complementary traveling companions in carrying the suspension of the whole.
In short, with a wool mattress, a slatted bed base firms up the whole, whereas the sprung box spring brings a more balanced firmness.
This is where firmness and support have to be told apart, firmness being something to consider along with the base. The box spring brings suppleness to the bed, following the sleepers’ shape, while the mattress provides the support that is needed.
Another point: most of the time a double slatted bed base is built in two parts with a bar in the middle that brings no suppleness at all. The structure where the two sets of slats meet is rigid, with no suspension.
It is important, by the way, to support the suspension effort of the mattress with a base. Do not overlook it.
There is nothing against using a slatted bed base with a wool mattress.
More generally, the vast majority of bed bases go well with a wool mattress.
The most important criteria for the structure the wool mattress rests on are the following:
– Provide a suspension function in synergy with the mattress
– Support the mattress on a flat surface with no gaping hollows or bumps
– Let air circulate under the mattress
The slatted bed base meets these conditions.
The sleeping experience is simply different depending on the comfort characteristics of each piece of bedding. It all depends on what you are looking for in comfort.
A slatted bed base tends to firm up the whole (mattress + base).
If, on the contrary, you are looking for suppleness, the sprung box spring makes more sense.
In other words: the base contributes as much as the mattress to the suppleness, or the firmness, of the bed.
If you already have a slatted bed base, a wool mattress is perfectly possible. There is no need to change the base for a wool mattress.
Do not give in to the “golden rules” the world of bedding is full of.
Yes, there is a synergy between the mattress and its base as a set. But no, the slatted bed base is not incompatible.
Here is a guide that tells you more about choosing a bed base to go with a wool mattress.
The main drivers of a wool mattress hollowing out are:
– neglected care
– refurbishments that are not frequent enough
How much a mattress settles also depends on the “springiness” of the wool.
Hence the importance of the quality of the wool and of the relationship of trust built between the mattress maker and the suppliers who offer the best possible wool.
We use a very particular type of wool whose characteristics meet the demands of bedding.
We have worked with the same suppliers for more than 30 years.
In any case, if your wool mattress sags, the ticking is in no way responsible.
A mattress does not cure a physiological problem.
That said, a sheep wool mattress creates favourable conditions for resting the back, especially when it is paired with a box spring that follows the way the mattress gives under the body.
Its fiber acts as a natural spring, giving a soft surface feel that spreads out the pressure points.
It returns to its original shape as soon as you move, without the gradual sinking of foams such as memory foam.
Paired with the box spring, the mattress follows your build and your sleeping position.
Firmness is set during making, according to your build and your comfort needs. The amount of wool and the density of the tufting can both be adjusted to aim at the support the mattress has to give. It comes down to putting enough wool at the heart of the mattress to support your back.
Most of the time it is not possible to identify one particular cause for this kind of pain.
Many very different factors can influence back pain.
A poor mattress is not the only cause of a back problem in general.
As the causes are many, there is no miracle solution. It takes a combination of actions to cure the pain.
Changing mattress does not therefore necessarily mean the pain will ease or that the suffering will lessen.
Bedding does not magically cure a back problem that has generally settled in for the long term.
We have to stay humble about the curative powers of a mattress, however good it may be.
The wool mattress is not a therapeutic or medical device. It does not cure a physiological problem whose symptoms are back pain.
At most it can lessen the extent of the symptoms and so keep the problem from getting worse. In any case, its ability to cure a back problem is not proven.
Sleeping on a mattress designed around the sleeping experience that suits you is at most one of the helpful factors.
Taking the subject the other way round: prevention is better than cure.
It is in that spirit that the made-to-measure Le Briand wool mattress can have the hoped-for effect.
It can make sense when the first signals appear.
Do not let a situation of discomfort drag on: beyond the discomfort itself, it carries the risk of persistent pain points setting in, just because your bedding needs bringing back up to standard.
The wool mattress does well on this front, thanks to the absence of body impressions, the soft surface feel and the adjustable support.
It is not, however, a therapeutic or medical device. Medically speaking, on back pain, we cannot commit ourselves. It does not magically heal anything, but it may bring a form of relief. We can build you a very soft surface layer.
Yes, twin mattresses are well within our scope.
We make them fairly often for a few very specific scenarios that we list in an article devoted to two-part beds.
They are joined with a zip on the upper side.
There are therefore two zips per wool mattress, so that they can be turned over without difficulty.
The border rolls are filled with wool, so they are fairly supple.
We also make them fairly thin.
As a result, crushed under the sleeper’s weight and pressed against each other, the border rolls should not be felt.
Generally speaking, once they disappear under the sheets, you stop thinking about them.
The mattresses are then covered with a fitted sheet and/or a mattress protector, giving a single surface on top.
It is the same as with the hollows and bumps.
Whether you will feel them (or not) when sleeping in the middle also depends on how sensitive each person is.
Like the hollows and bumps, this does not cause discomfort as a rule.
A few photos to picture twin mattresses with a classic finish and the fastening system:
- Mattresses in place, fastened: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mc57ei8LmppdItRlZrzi9933UPXnCyNU?usp=drive_link
- Fastening system: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r1PWD6jPaGSlsHfqweHyX-Fip9_ZoUVu?usp=sharing
We offer a few solutions along those lines.
Solution 1: refurbishing the wool mattress. A wool mattress is not thrown away; it is remade and sets off again as good as new.
Solution 2: our recycling program
We offer a few solutions along those lines, for any type of mattress, to help you part with your old mattress.
Solution 1: when you buy a new mattress from Les Ateliers Le Briand, we may be able to take your old mattress back, provided it is arranged in advance. Share your request with us beforehand so that we can find a solution.
Otherwise, other solutions are possible.
Solution 2: our recycling program
If and only if your mattress is a wool mattress.
Solution 3: a take-back fee depending on the complexity and the distance of the collection. We take care of everything (organization + transport) to have the pieces brought back to the workshop with as little inconvenience as possible for you.
If and only if your mattress is a wool mattress.
Solution 4: refurbishing the wool mattress. A wool mattress is not thrown away; it is remade and sets off again as good as new.
If and only if your mattress is a wool mattress.
Solution 5: Drop your old mattress off at the waste collection center nearest you. This service is completely free in most towns, and it disposes of your bedding properly. If possible, choose a center fitted with an Eco-mobilier skip for used furniture. Note as well that proof of identity or an access card for the service may be asked for, to show that you do live in the town concerned.
Solution 6: Most towns offer a separate collection service for bulky waste, such as a mattress or your furniture. To dispose of your old mattresses, simply contact them to set a date and schedule the collection. Be careful: while this collection is usually free, that is not always the case and some towns charge for the service.
None.
The price does not vary with the fabric you choose.
Provided, of course, that you choose a mattress fabric from our ticking collection.
If you want to use an upholstery fabric, that is another story.
The fabric with the slate-gray striped pattern (100% cotton) is woven in the Vosges by the company Valrupt.
The Bisonne (a half-linen, half-cotton blend) is woven between France and Spain by two different makers, but to the same specification.
The linen thread used is of French origin.
The tickings with floral patterns are woven abroad.
And that is despite weaving capacity shrinking in France.
It is above all aesthetic considerations that separate these two types of ticking.
In practice, the blend (half linen, half cotton) can indeed last longer than the 100% cotton fabric, because linen stands up better to the sleeper’s perspiration.
That said, all our tickings are both comfortable and seasoned to the strains and deformations of bedding so that they last until the next refurbishment.
Otherwise we would not offer them to you.
Because of the tufting, the surface of a wool mattress is uneven.
The tufting operation is nonetheless necessary. Nothing is left to chance.
No need to worry! It is a matter of getting used to it.
Depending on how sensitive you are, you may feel these bumps the first few times you use the mattress.
After a few nights, you quickly get used to them, as some users tell us.
Depending on how sensitive you are, it takes more or less time to get used to them.
It is this set of little cushions that gives the tufted mattress a surface feel that is always soft.
These irregularities mold themselves under the weight of the body, becoming almost imperceptible.
They fade with use as the wool relaxes and settles into its final place under your weight and your movements during the break-in period.
If this is still a delicate point for you, you can come by the workshop to try the demonstration mattress and see for yourself that we do not feel them.
The surface feel is always soft with a wool mattress.
It is then a matter of talking through your preferences, your sleeping habits and your sleeper profile in order to adjust the firmness.
To set the firmness, we play with the following parameters:
- the amount of wool
- the density of the tufts
- how tightly the tufts are pulled
The firmness of the mattress can be adjusted to aim at the comfort you need.
If this is still a delicate point for you, you can come by the workshop to try the demonstration mattress and see for yourself that we do not feel them.
Yes, you choose the mattress cover you like from our ticking collection.
Choose the mattress fabric.
Bedbugs: many people share this worry with us, so we will try to be as complete as possible in our answer.
Bedbugs are blood-feeding parasites, as we know. They feed on blood.
They sleep by day to feed at night and are drawn to the carbon dioxide produced by human beings and their pets.
They take refuge in dark, warm, inhabited places, typically the bedroom.
From this simple knowledge about bedbugs, we know very well that our workshops, or any daytime workplace, are by their nature not places where bedbugs thrive.
Then, when a customer comes to us for the refurbishment of one or more pieces of bedding, we always ask a number of questions to pin down what we are dealing with.
We do not accept remaking a mattress or a bed base that has been contaminated by bedbugs, or by moths, precisely to guard against a possible invasion that would put production at risk. And that is true even where the pieces have been “treated” for any contamination.
When we remake a mattress that has already been refurbished a number of times, we card the wool thoroughly with a powerful carding machine, which combs the wool and removes dust from the fibers by drawing off the microparticles, and we use essential oils on the wool.
Spike lavender, tea tree, peppermint and clove are all essential oils known for their antiparasitic properties.
This is not necessary for refurbishing the piece, but it is pleasant for the customer, as well as being known as excellent parasite repellents.
The way we are organized internally keeps us informed about the state of our premises, the pieces we make or remake, where they come from and where they are going. We would be shooting ourselves in the foot if this were not a daily concern.
A properly cared-for wool mattress does not suffer from moths. Natural wool contains lanolin, which forms a natural barrier. To prevent any risk: air the bedroom every day, put the mattress out in the sun and beat it regularly. At every refurbishment our craftsmen apply essential oils with repellent properties. A mattress that is never cared for or aired is, on the other hand, vulnerable.
Just as we are demanding about sourcing our wool, it is important to have as much control as possible over every element that makes up the mattress.
Read the frequently asked questions about wool.
Our striped tickings and our bisonne are woven in the Vosges, in one of the last weaving mills in France, in a region historically known for its textile industry. The fabrics that come out of this manufacturer meet the OEKO-TEX Standard 100.
Our maker also holds the Vosges Terre Textile label.
The thread used to weave the 100% cotton striped fabrics is spun from African cotton. The thread comes partly from an African spinning mill and partly from a Spanish one.
The thread used to weave the half-linen, half-cotton bisonne is spun from African cotton, Spanish cotton and French linen. The thread comes partly from an African spinning mill and partly from a Spanish one.
Our damask tickings from the “standard” collection are woven in Italy.
Our damask tickings from the “special” collection are woven in Spain.
The white pompoms, which we call bouffettes in our jargon, are cotton.
The string we use for the tufting and for shaping the border rolls and the corners comes from one of the last ropeworks in France, 100% French-made. It is a polyester string, chosen for strength. It is not the most natural thing there is, but it accounts for less than 1% of all the material used in a wool mattress.
Just as we are demanding about sourcing our wool, it is important to have as much control as possible over every element that makes up the mattress.
Read the frequently asked questions about wool.
Our striped tickings and our bisonne are woven in the Vosges, in one of the last weaving mills in France, in a region historically known for its textile industry. The fabrics that come out of this manufacturer meet the OEKO-TEX Standard 100.
Our maker also holds the Vosges Terre Textile label.
The thread used to weave the 100% cotton striped fabrics is spun from African cotton. The thread comes partly from an African spinning mill and partly from a Spanish one.
The thread used to weave the half-linen, half-cotton bisonne is spun from African cotton, Spanish cotton and French linen. The thread comes partly from an African spinning mill and partly from a Spanish one.
Our damask tickings from the “standard” collection are woven in Italy.
Our damask tickings from the “special” collection are woven in Spain.
The white pompoms, which we call bouffettes in our jargon, are cotton.
The string we use for the tufting and for shaping the border rolls and the corners comes from one of the last ropeworks in France, 100% French-made. It is a polyester string, chosen for strength. It is not the most natural thing there is, but it accounts for less than 1% of all the material used in a wool mattress.
Caring for a wool mattress comes down to 4 essential habits:
- Turn the mattress every week during the running-in period (4 to 8 weeks), then monthly — alternating head-to-foot and face-to-face
- Air the bedroom for 10 to 30 minutes every morning, to clear the night’s moisture and keep dust mites down
- Protect the mattress with a mattress protector in breathable natural fiber
- Plan a refurbishment every 8 to 12 years: the wool is carded, dusted and put back into a new ticking — the mattress recovers its original comfort
Read the full guide to caring for a wool mattress
Air it regularly, turn it over, protect it with a fitted sheet and/or a non-waterproof mattress protector.
No intensive washing is needed.
Plan a refurbishment every 8 to 12 years to keep the comfort.
Read the care actions for a wool mattress.
The “standard” seat height is between 50 and 55 cm, if a standard exists at all for this comfort parameter.
Seat height is the following sum: height of the feet + height of the base + thickness of the mattress
It depends above all on your habits.
That is why we advise taking your current seat height as a reference. What is it? Does it suit you?
Our tallest feet are 15 cm. All our bases are, however, made with metal inserts fitted with standard threads (nominal diameter 8 millimeters / M8). You can therefore screw in feet you might find elsewhere. We can also help you with this.
The standard height of our bases is 20 cm.
After running in, the mattress is about 16-18 cm thick. That is an optimum.
We are therefore within the range of the “standard” seat height.
We can guide you on which element to vary in order to reach the seat height you want.
8 simple questions to get straight to the point.
Guiding you toward the essential information we need to make estimating your project easier.
Frequently asked questions about making the Le Briand wool mattress
All our sheep wool mattresses are made entirely in a human-scale workshop in Paris, in the 11th arrondissement.
Making a sheep wool mattress draws on the century-old know-how of our workshops, which guarantees proven experience and work that respects the natural qualities of wool.
The Le Briand mattress makers deliver a careful finish.
The thickness of our mattresses, measured from border roll to border roll (the side panel), is between 14 and 16 cm.
– about 15 cm at the side panel, measured from border roll to border roll
– about 16-18 cm of overall thickness, taking the crown into account
That is an optimum for comfort. It is the thickness we recommend.
It is an optimum for reasons of comfort as much as of durability.
For a given firmness, this thickness corresponds to the right amount of wool.
Less thickness means less volume of wool.
Less volume means less material to carry out the suspension work.
That means each unit of volume of material is subject to more mechanical stress. And so less comfort, with the filling settling faster.
Below a certain thickness, the durability of the product cannot be guaranteed.
When it leaves the workshop, as the wool mattress has a slight crown because of the tufting, the total thickness is greater.
With the crown, the overall thickness is a good twenty centimeters when the mattress is new. It could also be shorter and narrower.
After a break-in period of about one to two months depending on use, the filling stabilizes and the mattress loses a little thickness, coming to about 18 cm overall.
More thickness means that
– Some levels of suppleness cannot be reached.
– The mattress will take longer to settle in. The break-in period will be longer.
If there is more wool to obtain a greater thickness, a mattress has an even bigger crown and so this break-in period is doubled.
Optimal comfort is then reached later.
We advise against playing with this variable as a parameter when making your choice.
Increasing the thickness of the mattress does not make it better. Nor the other way around.
Thickness does not affect the comfort of the mattress, quite the opposite.
The point is to put the functional side before the aesthetic side.
Another solution: to give an impression of more thickness, we suggest playing with the things around it, with an imposing bed frame for example.
If you have particular requirements about thickness for reasons that escape us, do share them from our first exchanges so that we can guide you as well as possible.
In some very specific cases (mainly depending on use), we can slightly reduce or increase this thickness. Let us talk about it.
That is the case in particular for the decorative bench mattress or for a mattress for an animal.
The “normal” height of a bench mattress is 15 cm.
We can go down to 11-12 cm.
We advise against it for seating use, however, because with so little wool the comfort is not enough.
This thickness works with any fitted sheet.
Our workshop is open. Come by whenever suits you. We will be delighted to introduce you to natural, eco-friendly French bedding and perhaps to move your project forward, so that you can sleep ever more comfortably.
If we have bedding at the workshop available to try (it is a workshop, not a showroom), you will be able to discover the wool mattress experience.
Just give us a quick call before you come by ( +33 1 43 72 08 87) to make sure we are not out on a delivery at the moment you would like to visit.
Opening hours are as follows:
8am-12pm and 1pm-6pm, Monday to Friday
And to get there, here is the address and access map for Les Ateliers Le Briand.
Do come and visit us.
It usually takes between 4 and 8 weeks for the making of our wool mattresses.
To that must be added the transport and delivery time.
Note that there is no quality logic in going ever faster in bedding, a trade whose processes and techniques cannot be compressed and are incompatible with fast delivery if the work is to be good.
Yes, we sell wool mattresses.
And we sell only this type of mattress.
But better still! Beyond selling this type of bedding item with its extraordinary qualities and benefits, we make them ourselves, with a standard of know-how that belongs to the house.
No subcontracting.
It is quite normal for us to take the time to add some depth of field and to share our experience.
We are fully aware of the impact such a choice of mattress has on a budget. On the other hand, we do everything in our power to make this kind of bedding as accessible as possible.
Before you look into the possible paradoxes in what we are saying, allow us to add a few points of perspective so that you can decide with full knowledge of the facts:
- You can pay in installments (interest free). We understand that you may want to spread this investment over a few months.
- Buying a natural mattress is best seen as a long-term investment. A distinction is therefore drawn between the purchase price and the cost in use. The initial effort turns into savings over the long term. The cost is amortized by its longevity and by the possibility of remaking it rather than replacing it.
- The price is forgotten, the quality remains. We suggest considering the price by weighing the objective qualities of the product, in particular its longevity and the extraordinary powers of wool.
If a mattress can last so long while keeping most of its virtues and benefits, the value for money for sleeping well becomes interesting, does it not?
And what about the impact on the environment and on the local economy?
Learn more about the price of a wool mattress from Le Briand.
It gradually reaches its final dimensions after 2 to 6 weeks, depending on use, build and whether the bedding is new or refurbished.
This is what we call the break-in period.
Another thing to note, which is normal: a wool mattress is smaller when it leaves the workshop.
During the break-in period, it gains between 5 and 15 cm in width and in length.
During that same period, the mattress also loses 1, 2 or 3 cm in thickness.
To learn more about the break-in period, we invite you to read this article for a gentle transition.
It is what makes it possible to reach a high technological level in the making, with the most direct possible relationship between the maker and the mattress being made, while keeping the use of machines to a minimum.
With two hands, we reach an extremely efficient result given the demands that the importance of sleep imposes, while keeping the materials used (thread, cotton and wool mainly), the effort and the energy spent, including muscular energy, to a minimum.
The processes and techniques for turning wool into a mattress have always been thought out and refined around the intelligence of the hand, and are therefore hard to industrialize. It is low-tech.
Good distribution of the wool is indeed necessary in order to obtain a quality mattress, and that can only be judged by touch.
We also reinforce the areas where the weight of the body will be greatest.
The tufting and our border rolls are also made by hand.
Assuming the wool mattress is what you prefer, this way of making it may well be an optimum for having a mattress that helps you sleep better.
We also make wool and horsehair mattresses.
2 composition options are possible:
- 100% sheep wool
- a mix of sheep wool and horsehair (depending on the case)
Depending on what is needed, the filling of an old wool mattress varies in order to build a made-to-measure product.
If horsehair is present during a refurbishment, we generally reuse it.
8 simple questions to get straight to the point.
Guiding you toward the essential information we need to make estimating your project easier.
Frequently asked questions about refurbishing a wool mattress at Les Ateliers Le Briand
Yes! Thanks to refurbishment, the ticking is replaced, the wool is carded again, and the mattress recovers all its comfort — an economical and eco-friendly option.
That is one of the essential advantages of the wool mattress: it can be remade.
We recommend calling on a mattress maker or bedding maker to refurbish them, and they will set off again as good as new.
We recommend having your wool mattress remade every 8 to 12 years.
When you sleep on this kind of mattress, the wool fibers cross over one another and lose their elasticity.
When the mattress has lost its cushioning ability, discomfort gradually sets in.
Do not let it drag on. That is the moment to renew the mattress.
Les Ateliers Le Briand can help you refurbish a wool mattress that then sets off for another 8 to 12 years. Provided the condition of the wool allows it.
If you want to get rid of your old bedding for one reason or another, we also offer a recycling program.
A wool mattress can last more than 50 years thanks to refurbishment.
In principle it is refurbished every 8 to 12 years. Its wool is carded and reused so that it becomes as good as new. The mattress recovers its original comfort with its original wool. It is the only bedding on the market that never ends up in landfill.
A wool mattress has an average lifespan of 8 to 12 years, that is, the length of use before refurbishment.
That is one of the essential advantages of the wool mattress: it can be remade. Unlike many other mattresses, which are thrown away once worn out, the wool mattress can be repaired.
This lifespan corresponds to the average time between making and the first refurbishment, or between each refurbishment.
It is a theoretical value. The theory varies from one mattress maker to another.
In practice, as long as your bedding shows no signs of discomfort, the lifespan can be extended. Wool tends to settle over time, which can reduce comfort.
In practice, it depends above all on the quality and the condition of the wool, the density of the filling, how demanding the mattress maker’s know-how is, how intensively it is used, the profile of the sleepers and the conditions of storage and care.
The first step in refurbishing a wool mattress is to take the mattress apart so that the whole filling can be carded again and dusted with a carding machine.
Thanks to the durability of wool (provided it is well chosen), it is then reused to fill a new mattress in a new 100% cotton fabric woven in France, with no proven risk to human health.
You thus get a new mattress with its original filling.
All of that with no loss of comfort.
Learn more about refurbishing the wool mattress
Reusing the ticking is possible only for the border roll finish and provided there is no fatigue linked to age.
Let us explain: even when it looks new (and/or clean, with no stains), a cotton fabric ages and over the years the fiber becomes fragile.
The last step in making a wool mattress, pulling the tufts tight, puts very strong stress on the ticking, which will tear if it has been weakened.
This fatigue of the ticking can only be judged by seeing the mattress.
To give you a precise answer case by case, we would therefore need to have the mattress in our hands.
If the original fabric wrapping the mattress (the ticking) can no longer serve, it can always be converted into rags or a protective sheet.
We recommend having our wool mattresses remade every 8 to 12 years.
How often a wool mattress is refurbished depends mainly on:
– actual use
– the build of the sleeper
– sensitivity
– the firmness level of the mattress
– the condition and the quality of the wool
– care
That said, it is not unusual for many of our customers to wait at least 15 years. That is what we see in practice.
Beyond the fact that the wool mattress can be remade (it is, by the way, the only type of mattress that can be made like new again), it is possible to change some of its specifications, including the size.
It is therefore possible to turn your double mattress into 2 single mattresses during the refurbishment. And the other way around too.
It might also be necessary to add a little wool, as is often done during a refurbishment.
We can also adjust comfort characteristics such as firmness. Do tell us about it.
If the mattress fabric (which is not reused) is no longer to your taste, we can offer you others.
The aim behind the refurbishment lead time is above all to keep the time your bedding is out of action to a minimum.
With that in mind, the operation is planned ahead. It is therefore by appointment.
Lead times depend essentially on the distance to be covered and on any traffic conditions along the way.
There are 4 main cases:
– Case 1: if you can bring the mattress to us (ideally before 8am) and collect it: the refurbishment is done from morning to evening.
– Case 2: if we have to handle transport, and provided the mattress is a short enough distance from the workshop and traffic conditions have little or no impact: the refurbishment can be done from morning to evening.
– Case 3: if we have to handle transport and the distance between the mattress and the workshop is exposed to traffic trouble: we will need 2 days.
– Case 4: if we have to call on a carrier (mostly for distances beyond the Paris region), we do our utmost to carry out the operation within the week.
If you would like to have your wool mattress remade, we invite you to book an appointment by contacting us.
That is normal.
Refurbishing a wool mattress gives it back its loft and its suppleness.
That is the aim of such an operation.
In the weeks and months after the refurbishment, the mattress firms up.
If the mattress were as firm as it was before, that would have meant it had not been remade.
Refurbishing a wool mattress means reusing the wool without washing it.
Washing it requires large facilities that we do not have and that belong to a separate trade. Washing it would also lengthen the operation and, above all, push up the bill.
If the wool is soiled (following any kind of accident that has gone through the ticking), we may advise replacing it with new wool. Wool also has the characteristic of being self-cleaning. A stain may be seen on the surface without having damaged the wool deep down, and without any smell.
The wool is held inside a fabric cover. If the environment around the mattress is not dusty, there is no reason for the wool mattress to be dusty. If the environment around the mattress is healthy, there is no reason for the wool mattress to smell of damp or to be infested by pests.
The wool goes through the carding machine, whose functions include removing part of the dust from the wool.
It is a form of cleaning.
Only new wool is washed.
A few actions taken with wool mattresses that have not been able to enjoy adequate conditions of preservation, within reason (because there are hopeless cases too):
Building two good outer layers of new wool. A refurbishment is more economical than a new mattress, even if we have to add more wool than usual for a refurbishment.
Spraying a few essential oils at the heart of the mattress
Related topics that also come up frequently
Box Spring | Orders | Wool | Bed Fabrics
Head to our guide ‘Wool mattress: care advice’ for more information.