Durability testing of mattresses

Mattress designers and manufacturers often turn to SATRA for assistance during the design and product-proving process.

Before new mattresses are released onto the market, designers and manufacturers are often interested in the durability of the prototype product and how it performs during simulated use. To supply such information, SATRA uses a test method to provide data which can then be used to give answers or judgements on the performance or characteristics of the mattress.

Durability assessments

The durability of the mattress is assessed using a fatigue test machine incorporating a large round roller which applies a load of 1400 ±7 N. It is operated in accordance with EN 1957:2012 – ‘Furniture – Beds and mattresses. Test methods for the determination of functional characteristics’. This ‘rapid best test’ subjects the mattress and/or bed base to 30,000 cycles at a rate of 16 ±2 cycles per minute.

An ‘indentometer’ is used to measure the hardness and firmness of the mattress. The mattress is compressed using a loading pad under computer control and data is collected that enables the load versus indentation characteristics to be plotted. From this plot, EN 1957:2012 provides a mathematical calculation that gives a ‘hardness value’ in N/mm and also a ‘firmness rating’. The firmness rating is a number on a scale between one and ten, which expresses the firmness of the mattress. A rating of one corresponds to ‘very firm’ and a rating of ten corresponds to ‘very soft’. These measurements are completed before and after the main mattress rolling part of the test.

The ‘durability of bed edge test’ is assessed after the 30,000 cycles. This is conducted for 5,000 cycles in accordance with clause 7.5 of EN 1725:1998 – 'Domestic Furniture – Beds and mattresses – Safety requirements and test methods'. The durability of bed edge test determines if sitting on the edge of a product will, over time, have a detrimental effect on its performance.

The overall construction is assessed for the occurrence of any defects, such as broken springs, broken stitching and tufts, displaced fillings and rucked of loose ticking. The whole process can be completed within one week after suitable conditioning has been carried out.

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