Harrison Spinks’ Flexecore, a new easy-to-recycle, glue‐free pocket spring system, soon will be available to North American mattress manufacturers through an expanded partnership between the luxury bedmaker’s components division Spinks and its joint venture partner HSM.
Leeds, England-based Spinks launched the new spring unit at Interzum Cologne in May 2019 under the name Cortec. The pocket springs have ultrasonically welded fabric pockets, unlike most other wrapped coils, which are sealed and laminated with an adhesive.
Spinks and Hickory, North Carolina-based HSM describe the new spring unit as more environmentally friendly because it “drastically improves the economics of mattress recycling and could eventually prevent millions of mattresses from entering landfills,” according to a news release. This is because glue can contaminate mattress coils and mattress-recycling machinery, making pocket springs more difficult to recycle than traditional spring units.
“After two decades of pioneering advancements in microcoil technology, our latest component — five years in the making — redefines sustainable comfort technology and is set to change the industry forever,” said Simon Spinks, Harrison Spinks managing director. “Eliminating adhesives and volatile organic compounds has actually improved the comfort of the product, meaning consumers will sleep better on mattresses containing Flexecore. They can also rest easy knowing this groundbreaking, heat‐sealed, glue-free system is 100% recyclable resulting in zero landfill.
“Cortec — and Flexecore — are already being delivered in the United Kingdom and Europe, and we are excited to work with HSM to bring this technology to North America.”
HS2, the joint venture between HSM and Spinks, gives HSM the exclusive rights to produce and distribute Flexecore in North America. HSM has partnered with Spinks since 2012, when the companies began jointly producing microcoil springs for North America.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the success of our microcoil product line through our partnership with Spinks, which has become increasingly popular as hybrid mattress sales have continued to grow,” said Mark Jones, HSM president and chief executive officer. “We’re excited to bring this new Flexecore technology to North America and provide eco‐friendly products and a truly sustainable solution for the industry by eliminating glue.”
According to the news release, the secret to Flexecore’s comfort is a smaller, finer, more tightly coiled spring made by using ultra‐fine, high‐tensile wire. By providing more individual points of contact, the spring core offers greater contour accuracy and precision, allowing it to contour to the body and deliver superior comfort and support.
“Not only is this spring unit more sustainable because of the glue-free and fine wire technology, it also provides superior comfort – it really is the best of both worlds,” said Darren Marcangelo, Spinks commercial director. “We’re really excited to bring this new sustainable solution to our customers all around the world.”
HSM will bring Spinks’ proprietary Flexecore coiling machinery online in several of its U.S. plants later this year. Until that time, North American demand for Flexecore will be supplied via machine capacity in the United Kingdom.
