The BedTimes blog — ‘Can’t touch this’? Oh, yes, I can
At furniture markets my curiosity and need to touch things take over. I walk through mattress showrooms grabbing and squeezing stuff. This behavior dates to when I was in my single digits in the mid-20th century—it drove my mother nuts to take me shopping. My hands were a lot grubbier then and I was prone to wrecking store displays!
Sensorpedic Tulip pillow
Now that I’m older and better behaved, here is some of the small stuff I enjoyed caressing and squeezing on the bedding floors of the World Market Center. BTW, the BedTimes and Sleep Savvy market reports are coming your way in the September issues. First, as a pillow buff who awakes with a headache if a hotel pillow is too hard, it was great to feel the fluff in some new pillows. For instance, Tempur-Pedic expanded its large pillow collection to include poofier (is that a word?), lighter-weight Tempur-Cloud pillows—the kind you, I or Tempur Sealy’s Terry Brophey want to grab and squeeze.
On the other hand, the little Tulip Pillow at Sensorpedic was molded and compact—but its unique shape drew my eye. It’s supposed to satisfy different sleep positions—but, to me, it’s looks like the perfect travel companion and would fit nicely into a carry-on bag.
ComforPedic iQ point-of-sale materials
Aside from pillow hugging, another guilty pleasure is foam fondling. Fortunately, mattress makers have incorporated foams into “please touch” point-of-sale displays.
Simmons Beautyrest has a cute little foam-filled cube, beckoning you to pick it up and squeeze the different types used in ComforPedic iQ. I did.
At pillow and protector supplier CleanBrands LLC, there was this oh-so-squish-able, but fast-recovering, BeBetter Foam that the company said is a new, super-durable proprietary formulation.
CleanBrands LLC BeBetter foam
Running my hands over fabric is a favorite activity. I saw a number of satin-smooth, woven fabrics on some gorgeous, high-end beds. Old-fashioned jacquards with new luster and elegance are gaining prominence again. The industry’s textile suppliers certainly have plenty of looms to produce them on.
On its Natural Response beds, King Koil showed an especially pretty jacquard with a striking, chocolate-brown plant motif. I don’t think you can get that type of design contrast in a knit.
King Koil Natural Response bed with jacquard ticking
But, alas, soft stretch-knit panels have a fabulous hand, perfect for beds.
My favorite super-soft knit cover at this show was at Paramount Sleep. The pretty white and china-blue fabric on Back Performance MX Gel had a surprisingly detailed and high-contrast design. The cover is part of Innofa’s Co-Creative cover collection.
Paramount Sleep Back Performance bed with one-piece, stretch-knit cover
It’s a one-piece fabric that wraps all around the mattress, mimicking the look of a cut-and-sewn cover, complete with perfectly curving “seams” (they’re not seams) that continue from panel through the border.
Mattress makers have discovered how tough it is to stitch two contrasting fabrics in a smooth, even arc . Thank goodness for cut-and-sew suppliers.
