support your mattress for the duratation
of its life. Each Manufacturer will usually produce there
own supporting structure.
Most of us know it as the box spring, but not all of them
are. Some manufacturers still use a real box springthat
will have a coil or modular coil spring system within. These
coils act as little shock absorbers, so when force and weight
are applied to the top of the mattress, the box spring will
give slightly underneath, helping to prevent all the layers
of the mattress padding from getting crushed. In most cases,
a box spring can help a mattress last longer. We use the
word foundation today because some vendors make a non-shock
absorbing box, known as a foundation.Either framed in wood
or in steel this regular looking box spring will have no
give and is rigid throughout. They are lower in cost to
manufacture and offer no energy absorbing protection to
the mattress. Today's mattresses are very expensive; a box
spring helps to prolong that investment. Not only do they
allow the mattress to last longer, but it can also add to
the overall comfort of a mattress set. Using a working box
spring has long been considered the best way to build a
premium set by most peers in this industry. Many high end
luxury innerspring mattress sets are built with a box spring.
Recent technology changes have some high end mattresses
using a foundation. For example, some luxury mattress sets
are now built on a foundation. The non flexing base allows
manufacturers a more stable platform to then engineer the
mattress on. The base has no components to wear out, and
provides a more rigid feel, and they cost much less to manufacture.
The box spring has been around longer and is more expensive
to produce but the change in today's mattress design allows
for the use of a foundation for reasons other than manufacturing
costs.
With air beds and memory foam beds a foundation is considered
best, and has been used for decades.
Below is a diagram showing which manufacturer utilizes
which supporting system.
| Manufacturer |
Box Spring |
Foundation |
| Stearns and Foster |
X |
|
| Serta Perfect Sleeper |
|
X |
| Simmons Beautyrest |
|
X |
| Sealy Posturepedic |
X |
|
| Select Comfort |
|
X |
| Tempurpedic |
|
X |
| Bassett Dream Maker |
X |
|
Additional Mattress Information:
Shopping for a Mattress Online?
Check out our sponsor, US-Mattress.com,
the nation’s largest online mattress store. |