Stearns & Foster® Springwall Mattresses

How to Choose a Springwall Mattress

Springwall is an innerspring maker, so start with what the spring actually does. Heat-tempered drawn spring steel is wire drawn to a consistent diameter and then heat-treated, which sets its temper: the property that substantially reduces the height a coil loses after being compressed thousands of times. It reduces that loss rather than eliminating it, and temper is not usually what gives way first. On most beds the comfort layers soften before the springs weaken. Above the springs sit polyurethane foam comfort layers, and how thick and how firm those layers are is what turns one spring unit into an extra firm bed or a plush one.

Choose firmness by how you sleep, not by how the bed feels in the first thirty seconds. Back sleepers generally want medium to firm, because the pelvis has to stay near the surface for the lower back to hold its natural curve without being flattened. Stomach sleepers want the firm end, and extra firm belongs there and to heavier bodies. Side sleepers generally want medium or plush, because the shoulder and hip need to sink for the spine to stay level. Weight moves everything about a notch. The foundation matters as much as the mattress: a spruce, pine and fir frame with steel wire, or a metal and wood build, spreads load evenly and keeps the spring unit flat.