As mattress manufacturers grapple with industry-wide foam shortages, Precision Textiles is meeting the increased demand for alternatives. The company’s fiber products can be used in a mattress’s top comfort layer and as an alternative to firmer foams that support spring units. Using a combination of both can reduce the amount of foam needed by up to five inches, minimizing bedding manufacturers’ reliance on the volatile raw material without sacrificing the feel of the mattress.
“Raw material availability, particularly in foam, is perhaps the most serious challenge our industry is facing today,” said Gerry Welkley, national sales manager of Precision Textiles. “As consumer demand for home furnishings and mattresses continues to grow at a rapid pace, we have been fielding calls from our customers looking for fiber products that can be used instead of traditional foam used in quilted comfort layers, as well as alternatives to the firmer foams used as support layers deeper inside the mattress build. As these raw material shortages and allocations on foam prevail, retailers and consumers alike are looking for manufacturers that can supply them with products in a timely fashion. Precision Textiles has three solutions in stock and available to help our partners bridge the supply gap without sacrificing the comfort feel of the mattress.”
ECOLOFT, ECOLOFT LUXE and Vertically Lapped Densified Eco-Pads
Engineered to perform as a foam alternative, Precision Textiles’ ECOLOFT, ECOLOFT LUXE and its line of Vertically Lapped Densified Eco-Pads provide the necessary “spring back” and support that foam products offer.
ECOLOFT is a high-quality quilting fiber made by combining conjugated spiral crimp pillow fill with bicomponent polyester. It reduces the amount of combustible materials in a finished mattress by eliminating the traditional polyurethane foam layer behind the fire-resistant (FR) barrier. The lofty polyester fibers in ECOLOFT also create an added dimension of luxury to mattress panels and borders, while serving as an easy-to-quilt product. A top layer of a mattress constructed with ECOLOFT can displace one quarter to three quarters of an inch of foam.
The fiber in ECOLOFT LUXE is produced by combining down alternative pillow fill with bicomponent polyester. Like ECOLOFT, it reduces the amount of combustible materials in a mattress by doing away with the polyurethane foam layer behind the FR barrier. ECOLOFT LUXE is also an easy-to-quilt product that adds a luxuriously silky dimension to a mattress’s panels and borders. Using ECOLOFT LUXE in the top layer of a mattress can also displace one to three quarters of an inch of foam.
Vertically Lapped Densified Eco-Pads are formulated to maintain indentation load deflection longer than any conventional fiber pad. Their vertical orientation, as opposed to the common horizontal orientation of other fiber pads, gives a mattress more spring-back for greater support and resilience. They also contain a lower level of volatile organic compounds than conventional foam. Using Eco-Pads can reduce the thickness of an inner support layer of foam by one to four or five inches.
“In addition to being a suitable alternative to bridge the gap, these three products offer increased breathability [for] a cooler night’s sleep, and inherent self-extinguishing FR properties,” Welkley added. “Additional benefits include non-allergenic and recyclable attributes.”
