Before the mattress, the tree

The core of every mattress we make is 100% natural latex, the white latex of the rubber tree. A tree gives it for more than thirty years without being felled, and at the end of its life its wood goes into furniture.

Dominique Bienfait in a white shirt and dark trousers, bent to the trunk of a rubber tree, cutting its bark with a tapping knife, a cup tied to the trunk below, rows of rubber trees behind him. — Dominique Bienfait tapping a rubber tree; rubber trees in rows; latex running from a cut into its cup.

Rows of tall rubber trees on green grass, small black cups tied to the trunks under their tapping cuts. — Dominique Bienfait tapping a rubber tree; rubber trees in rows; latex running from a cut into its cup.

Tapped at night

Between midnight and four in the morning, the coolest hours, when the latex flows best. In full sun it would thicken, so the harvest stops at first light.

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First light

Close view of white latex running down a stained metal spout into a black cup full of white latex, the bark of the rubber tree above it and sunlit grass behind. — Latex running from the spout into the cup.

Into the cup, until it sets by itself

From the slanting cut the latex runs into a cup hung below. It sets by itself and the flow stops, usually after about four hours.

Rubber trees grow widely in Thailand, the world's first producer of natural latex. Ours comes from a supplier about two hours from Bangkok: we find our materials mostly close by, which limits transport.

A metal cup tied to a rubber tree, full of white latex that has set into a soft lump at the top. — Latex set in its cup.

Close view across a sheet of natural latex, rows of round pin holes running away from the camera. — The pin holes, close.

One block of natural latex

The core is one block, moulded in one or two layers and divided into seven comfort zones. It is perforated: the pin holes and the open cells of the foam let air move through it.

A block of cream natural latex in daylight, seen low from one corner, its top covered in rows of pin holes, its soft shadow on the floor.

Two hands bending a piece of latex over a lamp, the light showing its open cells round the pin holes. — Held to a lamp: the open cells round the pin holes.

It recovers its shape rather than hollowing out

Natural latex is prized for its softness, its elasticity and its longevity. We guarantee it for 10 years.

Wrapped in cotton, twice

The outer cover is quilted and comes off. On the sleeping side it is organic cotton, with lyocell in its fabric, from Jacquard Textile (Asia) Ltd. in Thailand. Under it a thin inner cover of white fabric, almost see-through, wraps the latex. Cotton absorbs moisture, bends easily and lets air through.