Why we don’t use pocketed coils in our mattresses

If you’ve visited a mattress store recently, you’ll notice that nearly every innerspring or hybrid mattress has one thing in common: a pocketed coil system.

What are pocketed coils? This system takes individual thin wire coils and wraps a light fabric around them to create pockets of springs. But you won’t find this type of coil in any of the mattresses at The Original Mattress Factory, so we wanted to explain why.

The history of the pocketed coil

While the pocketed coil suddenly became extremely popular with mattress manufacturers over the last few years, this style of coil is actually over 100 years old. James Marshall, a Canadian machinist and engineer, invented the pocketed coil (named the Marshall coil, naturally) after his wife became ill and he wanted to provide a mattress that would be softer for her.

The Marshall coil has been in use in mattresses ever since, but now, nearly every mattress manufacturer uses it as its primary support system.

So, why is this coil now in nearly every mainstream mattress?

With many mainstream mattress manufacturers, it’s all about building a mattress as cheaply as possible. The thin-wire pocketed coil is a softer coil, this allows mattress manufacturers to reduce costs by eliminating some of the upholstery layers in the mattress.

Firm support is vital to healthy sleep, but the pocketed coil system is much less supportive than interlaced innerspring units. This system also isn’t as durable as an interlaced innerspring unit, so the mattress may not last as long — putting you back into the market faster.

You don’t have to take our word for it. At each one of our locations, we have a display in which we have cut open one of our mattresses as well as one from a competitor. You can see and touch each material, including the springs in each model. We invite you to stop by so you can judge the quality of these two systems for yourself.

We believe in building the best mattress we can.

Would it be easier for us to follow the rest of the market and switch to a pocketed coil system in our mattresses? Sure. But that’s not what we’re about.

At OMF, we stick with what works. We choose the highest-quality materials to build our mattresses, and the pocketed coil systems simply don’t meet our standards. We don’t believe they can provide the best support or offer the best durability.

Check out Mattress Shopping 101. 

Ready to start your mattress buying journey? Come to The Original Mattress Factory first. No one knows more about what makes a mattress great than our team. Whether you buy from us or not, you’ll be better prepared to make a smart mattress buying decision. Find a store near you.