“I’m not having one with buttons – I can feel them!”
It’s something we hear surprisingly often in our showrooms.
And our answer is always the same: if you can feel the tufts and you don’t like them, don’t buy that mattress.
A mattress is personal. You’re the one who’s going to sleep on it every night, and we’re certainly not going to persuade you to buy something you don’t find comfortable.
But we also think the humble mattress tuft deserves a little defending.
Because tufted mattresses have changed – and those little “buttons” you see across the surface aren’t simply decorative.
In fact, traditional hand tufting remains a feature of some of the finest mattresses made in Britain.
First Things First – What Actually Is a Mattress Tuft?
Those “buttons” aren’t really buttons in the traditional sense.
Tufting is a method of securing the different layers of a mattress together.
On a traditionally made mattress, the tuft passes through the mattress and helps hold the upholstery and fillings securely in position.
It’s a technique still used by luxury British bedmakers today.
Our Norfolk Collection uses hand tufting as a way of securing its natural fillings and maintaining the structure and comfort of the mattress. Healthbeds similarly threads tufts through the mattress layers by hand to hold the fillings securely in place.
Depending on the mattress, manufacturers may use materials such as felt washers, woollen tufts, pompoms and twine.
So that little tuft on the surface is doing rather more work than you might think.
“But I Don’t Want to Feel the Buttons!”
Neither do we!
A well-designed tufted mattress should still feel comfortable when you lie on it.
However, everybody is different. Some people are particularly sensitive to the contours of a mattress surface and simply prefer the smoother feel of a quilted mattress.
That’s absolutely fine.
This is precisely why we encourage customers to lie on mattresses properly when they visit us rather than choosing one from a photograph or specification.
Give it a few minutes. Move around. Lie in your normal sleeping position.
If you notice the tufts and don’t like them, we’ll show you something else.
But don’t automatically dismiss every tufted mattress because of an uncomfortable one you slept on 15 or 20 years ago.
Modern mattress design, upholstery and comfort layers can make the experience very different.
Why Do Quality Mattress Makers Still Use Tufting?
Because all those lovely layers inside a mattress need to stay where they’re supposed to be.
A good quality mattress can contain substantial amounts of wool, cotton, cashmere, alpaca, horsehair and other natural fibres alongside its pocket spring system.
Tufting compresses and secures those layers through the depth of the mattress, helping maintain its construction.
It’s one reason you’ll still find hand tufting on mattresses from some of Britain’s best-known luxury bedmakers.
Our Norfolk Collection continues to be hand tufted, while Healthbeds features traditional hand-tufted construction across its premium ranges. Other premium mattress makers we stock also use hand tufting to secure springs and natural fillings in their traditionally constructed mattresses.
Sometimes the old methods survive for a very good reason.
Tufted vs Quilted – Is One Better?
Not automatically.
There are excellent mattresses made using both methods.
A quilted mattress generally gives you that smoother, flatter-looking sleeping surface that some customers love.
A tufted mattress has the distinctive dips and rises created by the tufts, which secure the internal upholstery through the mattress.
What matters is the quality of the entire mattress – the springs, fillings, construction and whether it feels comfortable and supportive for you.
But there is another issue worth understanding: settlement.
All Mattress Fillings Settle – But Mattress Care Matters
We increasingly meet customers who are replacing single-sided or heavily cushioned mattresses because they’ve experienced noticeable body impressions.
It’s important to be fair here: settlement isn’t automatically a fault.
Natural and soft upholstery fillings compress as you sleep on them. Healthbeds, for example, explains that body impressions are a normal feature of handmade mattresses as their fillings settle around the sleeper.
Regular mattress care helps those fillings settle more evenly.
A rotate-only mattress can be moved from head to foot, but you continue sleeping on the same surface.
A traditional double-sided mattress gives you two sleeping surfaces, allowing the mattress to be both turned and rotated where the manufacturer’s instructions allow it.
That’s one reason we’re seeing renewed interest in traditional turnable mattresses in our showrooms.
Customers aren’t suddenly obsessed with mattress buttons.
They’re looking for mattresses that are well constructed, can be properly maintained and are designed with longevity in mind.
What About Sheets and Mattress Protectors?
This is another question we get asked.
Once you’ve put a good quality mattress protector and fitted sheet over your mattress, the surface naturally feels different from when you’re pressing your hand directly onto an uncovered tuft in the showroom.
That doesn’t mean you should buy a mattress where the tufts genuinely bother you – comfort always comes first.
But before ruling one out, try it properly.
Lie on it rather than pushing the tufts with your hand.
That’s the only way to know how you actually feel when sleeping on it.
So… Are Tufts Making a Comeback?
From what we’re seeing in our King’s Lynn and Wisbech showrooms, we’d say they’re certainly getting another look.
We’re finding more customers interested in traditionally constructed mattresses, particularly after experiencing excessive settlement or being disappointed with previous mattresses.
Natural fillings, pocket springs, turnable mattresses and traditional tufting can sound rather old-fashioned.
But sometimes old-fashioned simply means a method that has stood the test of time.
So next time you see those little tufts across a mattress, don’t automatically think:
“I don’t want buttons.”
Give it a try.
And if you can feel them?
Tell us!
We’ll find you something else.
At Bedtime Bed Centre, we’ve spent over 30 years helping customers find mattresses that suit them – not telling them what they ought to like.
Visit our King’s Lynn or Wisbech showrooms, take your time and try both tufted and quilted mattresses for yourself.
Because there’s only one person who can decide which feels better. You.
