---
title: "What is a Mattress made of?"
description: "Steel springs or polyurethane foam, comfort layers, and a legally required fire barrier under the quilted cover. Every component, the material it uses, and the const"
url: https://atoneplace.net/made-of/mattress/
site: "At One Place"
---

# What is a Mattress made of?

**What is a Mattress made of?: Steel springs or polyurethane foam, comfort layers, and a legally required fire barrier under the quilted cover.**

A mattress is one of the few household products with a federal flammability standard behind its construction: since 2007, US mattresses have had to survive a 30-minute open-flame test, which is why almost every mattress has a barrier fabric that manufacturers rarely mention. The other thing worth knowing is that firmness is not durability — a mattress usually fails because the comfort layers above the core compress permanently, leaving a body impression, long before the springs give out. Memory foam is a viscoelastic polyurethane developed from NASA-funded aircraft seat research in the 1960s, and its temperature sensitivity is intrinsic: the same foam is noticeably firmer in a cold room.

## Component by component

*Every material is a choice, and the third column is the constraint that drove it.*

| Part | Material | Why that material |
| --- | --- | --- |
| support core | pocketed steel coils, continuous coils, or high-density polyurethane foam | Pocketed coils move independently so one sleeper moving does not transmit through the bed; foam cores are lighter and silent. |
| comfort layers | viscoelastic memory foam, latex foam or gel-infused polyurethane | Memory foam softens with body heat and spreads pressure, at the cost of sleeping warm and being slow to respond. |
| fire barrier | a knitted rayon-silica or modacrylic sock beneath the cover | US mattresses must survive an open-flame test under 16 CFR 1633, and a barrier layer is how that is met without soaking foam in chemicals. |
| cover | quilted polyester or polyester-cotton ticking | It has to survive years of abrasion and be stretchy enough not to fight the foam underneath. |
| edge support | a foam rail or a heavier gauge perimeter coil | Without it the edge collapses when you sit on it and the usable sleeping width shrinks. |

## Other around the house objects

- [Banknote](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/banknote/) — Cotton and linen rag paper, or polymer film — never wood pulp, which is why notes survive the wash.
- [Lego brick](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/lego-brick/) — ABS plastic moulded to a tolerance of about ten micrometres — the tightness of the fit is the whole product.
- [Soap](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/soap/) — Fats reacted with lye to make fatty acid salts — and most modern "beauty bars" are not soap at all.
- [Toothpaste](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/toothpaste/) — Mostly abrasive and humectant, with a detergent for foam — the active ingredient is about 0.15% fluoride.
- [Coin](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/coin/) — Base-metal alloys chosen for wear and cost — most modern "silver" coins are copper-nickel and most "copper" ones are plated steel or zinc.
- [Sunscreen](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/sunscreen/) — UV filters — mineral, chemical or both — suspended in an emulsion whose job is to hold them in an even film.
- [Credit card](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/credit-card/) — Laminated PVC sheets 0.76 mm thick, carrying a silicon chip in epoxy and a copper antenna coil.
- [Candle](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/candle/) — Wax that is really a fuel, and a braided cotton wick that acts as a pump rather than as the thing burning.
- [Lipstick](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/lipstick/) — Castor oil carrying pigment, set into a stick with waxes — the oil is the workhorse, not the colour.
- [Shampoo](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/shampoo/) — Three-quarters water, a primary detergent, a milder secondary one, salt to thicken, and silicone to make hair feel smooth.
- [Balloon](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/balloon/) — Party balloons are dipped natural rubber latex; foil balloons are metallised plastic film and are not rubber at all.
- [Deodorant](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/deodorant/) — Deodorant kills the bacteria that cause the smell; antiperspirant uses aluminium salts to plug the sweat duct. Different products.

## Common questions

### What is a Mattress made of?

Steel springs or polyurethane foam, comfort layers, and a legally required fire barrier under the quilted cover.

### What is the support core of a Mattress made of?

Pocketed steel coils, continuous coils, or high-density polyurethane foam. Pocketed coils move independently so one sleeper moving does not transmit through the bed; foam cores are lighter and silent.

### What is the comfort layers of a Mattress made of?

Viscoelastic memory foam, latex foam or gel-infused polyurethane. Memory foam softens with body heat and spreads pressure, at the cost of sleeping warm and being slow to respond.

## Related pages

- [Banknote](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/banknote/)
- [Lego brick](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/lego-brick/)
- [Soap](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/soap/)
- [Toothpaste](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/toothpaste/)
- [Coin](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/coin/)
- [Sunscreen](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/sunscreen/)
- [Credit card](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/credit-card/)
- [Candle](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/candle/)
- [Pencil](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/pencil/)
- [Tennis ball](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/tennis-ball/)
- [Golf ball](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/golf-ball/)
- [Paper](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/paper/)
- [Glass](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/glass/)
- [Soccer ball](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/soccer-ball/)

## Sources

- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)